OMRON Joins The Valuable 500, a Global Initiative to Promote Disability Inclusion

• January 14, 2021

OMRON Corporation has joined The Valuable 500, a global initiative created to promote disability inclusion in business, in support of its pledge.

The Valuable 500 was launched at the World Economic Forum's Annual Summit in Davos in January 2019. It aims to get leaders of multinational companies to join in the movement to bring about changes in business, society, and economy so that persons with disabilities can play an active role and realize their true potential value.

Ever since the 1972 opening of OMRON Taiyo Co., Ltd., the first welfare factory in Japan that employs persons with disabilities, along with social welfare corporation Japan Sun Industries (Taiyo no ie), OMRON has led Japanese society in promoting employment of workers with untapped talent. In an attempt to create a society where persons with disabilities can work fulfilled, we have since endeavored to create job opportunities and offer more positions for them through various business undertakings. Now, employees with disabilities can be found everywhere within the OMRON Group at Sales, Human Resources, General Affairs, Legal Affairs, Development, and other departments, and of course in our special subsidiary companies of OMRON Taiyo Co., Ltd. and OMRON Kyoto Taiyo Co., Ltd.

True to the spirit of the OMRON Principles, we will leverage our diverse workforce, including those with disabilities, to drive the development of our business and create innovation, thus continuing to contribute to a better and more affluent society where people shine.

Initiatives for Expanding Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities

• Employing Persons with Mental Disabilities
  The OMRON Group remains committed to creating a workplace environment in which persons with physical and mental disabilities including those with developmental disabilities (PDD), to give fully demonstrate their capabilities and bring out their unique potential.

An Employee with Mental Disabilities Working in a Development Team at OMRON Software Co., Ltd.

• Promoting Employment of Persons with Disabilities
  OMRON Taiyo and OMRON Kyoto Taiyo have gone beyond merely employing persons with disabilities at their factories to frequently organizing factory tours and giving educational lectures. By sharing their many years' of knowledge and know-how regarding the employment of persons with disabilities, we hope to expand job opportunities for persons with disabilities in the communities and society and improve their working environments. In 2016, OMRON Kyoto Taiyo, Kyoto Prefectural Government, and Kyoto City Government signed an agreement on the creation of an environment related to employment of persons with disabilities. Under this agreement, the three parties tap into each other's strengths to encourage businesses to employ persons with disabilities and support them in finding jobs, in a bid to increase the employment rate of those persons throughout Kyoto and also in Japan.

Factory Tour (OMRON Kyoto Taiyo) *Held in 2019

• Developing Technologies for Improving Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities
  OMRON and four other companies are jointly developing "AI Suitcase," an AI-driven integrated solution for supporting the independent mobility of the visually impaired. After forming the Consortium for Advanced Assistive Mobility Platform in December 2019, the five companies commenced demonstration experiments of the technology in November 2020 for its social implementation.

Each Company Offers its Expertise to Jointly Develop AI Suitcase

About 「The Valuable 500」
The Valuable 500 is the global movement putting disability on the business leadership agenda. Caroline Casey, a social entrepreneur from Ireland, is the the founder and they aim global businesses to commit to putting disability on ther board agendas at the World Economic Forum's Annual Summit in Davos in 2020.
https://www.thevaluable500.com/

About OMRON's Diversity Initiatives
OMRON uphold the idea of "respect for all" as one of Our Values that we live up to as we implement the OMRON Principles. Based on this value, we aim to become a corporate group that encourages a diverse assembly of people with varied thoughts and value perceptions to fully demonstrate their capabilities and bring out their unique potential. OMRON's initiatives for promoting diversity including persons with disabilities can be found at:
https://sustainability.omron.com/en/rights/diversity/

About OMRON's Initiatives for Persons with Mental Disabilities
https://www.edge-link.omron.com/articles/449.html
https://www.edge-link.omron.com/articles/514.html

About "AI Suitcase", an AI-driven Integrated Solution for Supporting the Independent Mobility of the Visually Impaired
https://stg.edge-link.omron.com/articles/502.html

About OMRON Taiyo Co., Ltd.
http://www.omron-taiyo.com/en/

About OMRON Kyoto Taiyo Co., Ltd.
https://www.kyoto-taiyo.omron.co.jp/
(Japanese only)