At its core, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an effort by organisations to achieve their economic, environmental and social goals. For many such organisations, balancing these objectives is a complex, continuous task that must consider the state of the world they are operating in. This is why, at Hitachi, we are now focusing our CSR efforts on creating new social value with a unique vision for the future.
After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, lives continue to be dramatically impacted. Aside from highlighting long-brewing socio-economic challenges, our world is also feeling the most adverse impacts of climate change. On both the social and environmental fronts, there is an urgent need for sustainability. Today, the scales on which companies have been balancing their economic value with sustainability imperatives must now be tilted to the latter.
Southeast Asia’s youths now live in a world experiencing rapid change, fostered by elements such as digital transformation, the growing ability to participate in civic engagements and environmental pressures that heighten their concerns towards the world that they will inherit.
In supporting youths to influence lasting positive change, the Hitachi Young Leader’s Initiative (HYLI) seeks to fulfil our societal commitment by helping build future generations through innovative education. The initiative seeks to identify and nurture potential leaders by bringing them together to engage on regional and global issues with government officials, business leaders, academics, and civil society groups.
First initiated in Singapore, a nation known for its high standards of leadership, the HYLI has since been expanded, bringing together delegates from across Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan. Together, they broaden their perspectives with their regional peers while promoting cross-cultural exchanges, all toward the effort to generate ideas that will pave the way for a more sustainable future.
Hitachi Young Leader’s Initiative fosters innovative education to encourage youth encouragement
Promotes cross-cultural exchanges to welcome fresh perspectives on sustainability
Although the digital boom has been growing steadily in Southeast Asia, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this technological paradigm shift throughout nearly all aspects of life. To prepare societies for the digital age, Hitachi has made the transition towards making e-learning one of its social innovation priorities.
This is exemplified in Malaysia, a nation steadily accelerating inclusive digital transformation to prepare itself for Industry 4.0. Here, Hitachi worked with the House of Joy community centre on the Hitachi eBworx Laptop Donation drive to inculcate effective e-learning for more underprivileged societal segments. The initiative was primarily aimed at helping the centre’s children to continue their studies that had been disrupted by the pandemic, while also providing the technological exposure needed for them to thrive in the future.
Although Southeast Asia has made great strides in improving health security, the region still grapples with the massive health burdens of numerous diseases. Paired with the ongoing global pandemic, this has served as a severe litmus test for the state of healthcare infrastructures across the region. As such, there has been a great push for more health-focused innovations and strategies to secure post-pandemic recovery. However, this is a task that cannot just be left to state institutions; they require assistance from private sector organisations and communities themselves in taking ownership of their people’s healthcare needs.
Especially in countries such as Indonesia where geographical divides make it difficult to sustain nationwide healthcare delivery, Hitachi has been leveraging our expertise and networks to conduct one of the country’s largest healthcare outreach programs. Dubbed Siaga Sehat (or Health Alert in English), this initiative has seen us working with the Yayasan Rumah Zakat philanthropic foundations to facilitate the provision of free medical consultation, medical provisions and general health education throughout Indonesia, with a sharp focus on empowering lower-income communities.
Through Siaga Sehat, Hitachi has been helping to strengthen public awareness in areas with limited access to healthcare infrastructures and resources. In addition to providing healthcare services, these educational outreaches will help to promote lasting, positive impact through greater awareness of preventative healthcare.
The decade ahead will provide organisations with the challenging task of not only maintaining their economic relevance, but also doing good CSR work that ensures the long-term prosperity of communities. At Hitachi, we continuously emphasise dialogues and engagements with collaborative partners as part of aligning our environment, social and governance (ESG) principles with corporate activities. With this shared social responsibility, we remain committed to powering good through our social innovation efforts to be good corporate citizens, as we have done for over a century.
Date of Release: February 2022
Updated: March 2022
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