New Social Business Mechanisms Are Changing the World / Toshihiro Nakamura (Copernic)

While various public and private organizations are engaged in supporting developing countries, many regions and people still require assistance. Kopernik is an international NPO gaining attention for creating new mechanisms to support developing countries through "technology." We spoke with its co-founder and CEO, Toshihiro Nakamura, about these mechanisms, the background of their activities, and the kind of international NPO work needed in today's era.

Affordable and simple technology is precisely what developing countries need

This April, our U.S.-based NPO, Copernic, was honored to receive the Nikkei Social Initiative Award in the international category. Copernic's mission is to reduce poverty by connecting individual and corporate donors, developing country organizations, and product manufacturers through a business model that spreads "technology" to developing countries. We interpret this award as recognition that our efforts are valued both as a business contributing to the economy and as aligning with the broader direction of corporate activities in society.

While technology encompasses many things, we focus on solutions that address challenges and improve lives in developing countries. For example, there is demand for simple, affordable, easy-to-use, and durable products like solar lamps, water purifiers, and cooking stoves.
The target areas are diverse, including energy, water, sanitation, education, agriculture, and healthcare.

The basic operational mechanism is as follows: Copernic first explores technologies developed for developing countries and provides this information to local partners. The local partners then create proposals outlining which products to distribute. Based on these proposals, Copernic launches projects and raises the necessary funds through crowdfunding and corporate donations. Once the funds are secured, Copernic delivers the products to the local partners. Local people purchase the products at a fair price for their region through the local partner. The local partner repays Copernic with the sales proceeds minus a commission. This repayment is then used as funding to purchase new technologies.

With Indonesian partners (July 2011, Lombok)

Breaking the barrier where aid doesn't reach the "last mile"

The background to launching Copernic lies in the reality that, despite various international public and private organizations providing support activities in developing countries, aid often fails to reach the "last mile" – remote, rural areas with poor infrastructure where the poorest people live. Furthermore, private ventures with the technical capability to develop affordable products face significant hurdles in expanding their own distribution channels. This is despite the fact that possessing that "technology" alone could visibly transform the lives of people in the last mile immediately.

From a social business perspective, starting with "technology" can encourage grassroots participation from more companies. When venture engineers hear that technology with high demand in developing countries and strong market impact is needed, they become motivated to engage in product development. On the other hand, for companies contributing donations, products backed by technology are easier to understand as support targets, increasing their willingness to participate. With technology at the core, partnerships can more easily expand in both product development and economic support.

Innovative Thinking for an Era of Interdependence

Building Partnerships with Companies Building partnerships with companies is a point we place great emphasis on. We provide information in the form of quantified "impact assessments" showing what kind of social returns the technology and donations have generated. To conduct this research, we actively promote a fellowship program that sends graduate students to the field for several months.

Meanwhile, on the corporate side, there's a growing trend away from strictly separating core business from CSR activities. Increasingly, companies view social contribution initiatives as a stepping stone to rethinking the very nature of their core business. With such companies, we engage in thorough discussions, collaboratively planning feasible actions and encouraging them to visit recipient countries to experience local needs firsthand.

Looking ahead, to significantly increase the impact of direct support in developing countries, we aim to strengthen our platform function to engage more individuals and companies. By connecting and integrating the resources and wisdom each possesses, we should be able to more efficiently address imbalances between countries and regions, as well as the poverty issues facing developing nations.

Traditionally, NPO activities relied heavily on financial aid from governments and public institutions. Today, however, we can build diverse support systems involving corporations and individuals. This also allows us to boldly pursue innovative solutions and projects. Meanwhile, as global and regional interdependence grows stronger, each citizen must now consider world events as personally relevant.

Precisely because we live in such times, innovative thinking unconstrained by existing systems and conventions is essential. We chose the name Copernik because, like Copernicus who proposed the heliocentric theory, we aspire to radically transform perspectives and make a significant impact on the world of developing country support.