Nishimura & Asahi and FRONTEO hold “Economic Security Initiative
84% of survey respondents identified economic security as an "issue that needs to be addressed now.
On January 31, Nishimura & Asahi and FRONTEO Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Morimoto, President & CEO; hereinafter referred to as "FRONTEO") held a lecture titled "Economic Security Initiative," featuring speakers with deep knowledge in the area of economic security, who provided an overview of legislation, due diligence, and AI-based economic security solutions.
(From left) Suguru Ono, Of Counsel, Nishimura & Asahi; Akira Amari, Member of the House of Representatives, Liberal Democratic Party; Masahiro Morimoto, President and CEO, FRONTEO; Mari Yamamoto, Director, AI Solution Business and General Manager, President Office, FRONTEO
This lecture is intended for directors and executive officers of Japanese companies with global operations, as well as executives in the legal, compliance, procurement, materials, and purchasing departments who are involved in economic security. In addition to presenting the risk measures that Japanese companies need to understand regarding economic security in the context of laws and regulations in the U.S. and China, it also aims to explain and raise strategic initiatives to position corporate economic security measures as an opportunity for new growth strategies.
In response to the intensifying global situation in recent years, including the struggle for technological supremacy between the U.S. and China, various companies and ministries have launched departments with the words "economic security" in their names, and there is a growing movement to achieve "security" through "economy.
Reflecting this situation, immediately after the announcement of the lecture, we received numerous inquiries from corporate officials in various fields, and about 800 people registered to attend. Of these, about half were listed companies with annual sales of 100 billion yen, and about 90% were related to legal and trade management departments related to corporate security issues.
In a questionnaire survey conducted after the event, 84% of the respondents answered that they were "aware that economic security is an issue that needs to be addressed now "*1, confirming the growing interest in this issue among corporate officials.
On the other hand, more than half of the respondents*2 were undecided about the timing of their efforts to address economic security, indicating that many companies are concerned about this issue but have yet to take concrete steps to address it.
*1 Total of "This is an issue that needs to be addressed now and we are considering countermeasures" (25.26%), "This is an issue that needs to be addressed now, but we are still gathering information" (38.95%), and "We are already aware of the issue and are taking measures" (20.00%)
*2 Regarding economic security initiatives, 51.58% are undecided, 17.89% will start within 3 months, 3.16% within 6 months, and 3.16% a year or more in the future.
In his opening speech, Mr. Suguru Ono, Of Counsel at Nishimura & Asahi, pointed out that economic security can also be a positive opportunity to reform existing corporate governance, review global value chains, and restructure business and supply chains. He also stressed the need for a proactive shift in management by taking a strategic view of the situation in each country and the company's own situation, rather than thinking of problems as mere regulations or risks.
Following this, Akira Amari, a member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, who was invited as a special guest, gave a keynote speech, saying that the fate of a country depends on the establishment of economic security. If we look at it the other way around, if we are well equipped with this, it will be a deterrent that protects our companies and protects our country," he said, stressing the importance of the political and business communities working together on this issue.
Akira Amari, Member of the House of Representatives, delivers his keynote speech.
In Session 1, Kazuho Nakajima, a partner at Nishimura & Asahi, explained about economic security-related regulations in the U.S. and China, and the risks and measures that Japanese companies should be aware of.
In Session 2, Masahiro Hiraya, Partner at Asahi Law Offices, discussed the trends in economic security-related regulations and the points to keep in mind when conducting supply chain risk investigations, which are becoming increasingly necessary in light of these trends.
In Session 3, Mari Yamamoto, Director of AI Solutions Business and General Manager of the President's Office at FRONTEO, demonstrated the use of AI in the area of economic security, including supply chain network and shareholder control network analysis, and explained how AI can be used to visualize the situation surrounding a company and support the formulation of optimal management strategies.
In his closing speech, Masahiro Morimoto, President and CEO of FRONTEO, said, "High-tech solutions are indispensable for the analysis of vast and complex networks, such as substantial shareholder control and supply chains. I would like to contribute to the solution of this problem by providing a package of wide-ranging information collection and advanced information analysis.
Closing remarks by Morimoto
FRONTEO has been holding study sessions with invited experts every month since April 2009. Following this initiative, FRONTEO plans to continue to provide information, recommendations and explanations to corporate personnel on strategic economic security measures.
In addition, through the expansion of the functions of Seizu Analysis, a network analysis system equipped with the AI Looca Cross, FRONTEO will support companies in discovering the information they want to know in a short period of time and in making decisions for strategic planning related to economic security.
For more information on FRONTEO's economic security solutions, please visit:
https://osint.fronteousa.com/
■ About Nishimura & Asahi: https://www.nishimura.com/en
Nishimura & Asahi is Japan's largest international law firm, providing one-stop legal services of the highest caliber through the close cooperation of more than 700 domestic and international lawyers in 18 offices worldwide.
With a basic mission to realize a prosperous and fair society based on the rule of law, Nishimura & Asahi will contribute to the development of our clients and society by promising "Leading You Forward" to all parties concerned.
■ About FRONTEO URL: https://www.fronteo.com/en/
FRONTEO is a data analysis company that supports corporate businesses by extracting meaningful and important information from vast amounts of text data using KIBIT, conceptencoder, and Looca Cross, an AI engine developed in-house that specializes in natural language processing. Since its establishment in August 2003, the company has expanded its business globally to Japan, the U.S., Korea, and Taiwan, focusing on the legal tech business of e-discovery (electronic discovery) and digital forensic investigation to support international litigation. Based on the AI technology cultivated in the legal technology business, we have expanded our business field to the life science field, business intelligence field, and OSINT since 2014, and by "turning text data into knowledge" using AI, we are contributing to solving various corporate issues such as drug discovery support, dementia diagnosis support, and financial, human resource, and sales support. The company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers on June 26, 2007, and obtained a Type 1 Medical Device Manufacturing and Sales License (License Number: 13B1X10350) on January 13, 2021. Capital: 2,973,975 thousand yen (as of March 31, 2021).
※FRONTEO, KIBIT and conceptencoder are registered trademarks of FRONTEO in Japan.
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