ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it was selected, by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), as “Noteworthy IT Strategy Companies” in the 2017 Competitive IT Strategy Company Stock Selection.

In their Competitive IT Strategy Company Stock Selection, METI and TSE select companies that are engaged in “competitive” strategic IT-related investment as a means of increasing corporate value and enhancing competitiveness, from a medium-to-long-term business management perspective. Companies that are implementing progressive, forward-thinking initiatives with regard to particularly important themes receive recognition as “Noteworthy IT Strategy Companies.”

ITOCHU has continued to focus its energies into implementing internal work style reforms as a means of strengthening its front-line capabilities, which it regards as the source of its competitiveness, and has made proactive use of ICT in constructing the infrastructure to support these reforms; including the development of its telework and BCP (Business Continuity Planning) environment, and its DOKODEMO NAISEN (Anywhere Extension Lines*1) and DOKODEMO LAN (Anywhere LAN systems*2).

ITOCHU is also planning and developing a health management support service that will make use of wearable devices and mobile apps to promote and improve the health and well-being of each and every one if its employees, through a joint development project in cooperation with NTT DoCoMo, Inc., and Wellness Communications Corporation (an ITOCHU Group company engaged in health checkup-related businesses in Japan). ITOCHU’s involvement with non-system-biased initiatives such as these—which utilize ICT from new perspectives—and other such measures are what lead to ITOCHU’s selection and recognition as “Noteworthy IT Strategy Companies” on this occasion.

Looking ahead, ITOCHU will endeavor to continue making proactive use of ICT in order to further increase its corporate value and enhance its competitiveness.