Information processing system, information processing method, and program

Abstract

This will enable us to understand the businesses upstream and downstream of the supply chain. [Solution] The information processing system is characterized by comprising a supplier information storage unit that stores the name of a product or service and information identifying the supplier of the product or service, a reception unit that receives from a user activity amounts related to greenhouse gas emissions and item names indicating the activity amounts, and a provision unit that provides the user with information identifying suppliers corresponding to names that match the item names.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Estimation of carbon dioxide emissions has been carried out (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2022-091900 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is necessary to understand the greenhouse gas emission situation throughout the entire supply chain, and it is necessary to cooperate with business entities upstream and downstream in the supply chain.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and aims to provide a technique that makes it possible to grasp business entities upstream and downstream in a supply chain. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The main invention of the present invention for solving the above problem is an information processing system comprising a supplier information storage unit that stores a name of a product or service and information identifying a supplier of the product or service, a reception unit that receives from a user an activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and an item name indicating the activity amount, and a provision unit that provides the user with information identifying the supplier corresponding to the name that matches the item name.

[0007] Other problems and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and the drawings. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to grasp the upstream and downstream business entities in the supply chain. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of an information processing system. [Diagram 2] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a management server 2. FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 illustrates an example of the software configuration of a management server 2. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the management server 2. [Diagram 5] 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the software configuration of a management server 2 according to a second embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] <System Overview> An information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The information processing system of this embodiment calculates emissions of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, etc.). The information processing system of this embodiment also aims to facilitate the collection of primary data (data measured by the business entity itself, data collected by interviewing other companies, etc.) by connecting users of the system. The information processing system will be described below.

[0011] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system. The information processing system of this embodiment is configured to include a management server 2. The management server 2 is communicably connected to a user terminal 1 via a communication network. The communication network is, for example, the Internet, and is constructed by a public telephone line network, a mobile phone line network, a wireless communication path, Ethernet (registered trademark), etc.

[0012] The user terminal 1 is a computer operated by a user. The user terminal 1 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer.

[0013] The management server 2 may be a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

[0014] <Administration Server> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 2. Note that the illustrated configuration is an example, and other configurations may be used. The management server 2 includes a CPU 201, a memory 202, a storage device 203, a communication interface 204, an input device 205, and an output device 206. The storage device 203 is, for example, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or a flash memory that stores various data and programs. The communication interface 204 is an interface for connecting to a communication network, for example, an adapter for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark), a modem for connecting to a public telephone line network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector or an RS232C connector for serial communication, etc. The input device 205 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a button, a microphone, etc. that input data. The output device 206 is, for example, a display, a printer, a speaker, etc. that output data. Each functional unit of the management server 2 described below is realized by the CPU 201 reading a program stored in the storage device 203 into the memory 202 and executing it, and each storage unit of the management server 2 is realized as part of the storage area provided by the memory 202 and the storage device 203.

[0015] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the management server 2. The management server 2 includes a supplier information storage unit 231, an emission coefficient storage unit 232, an activity amount storage unit 233, a linkage information storage unit 234, a reception unit 211, a search unit 212, a provision unit 213, a linkage confirmation unit 214, an emission amount calculation unit 215, and a report creation unit 216.

[0016] <Storage section> The supplier information storage unit 231 stores information (hereinafter referred to as supplier information) about business entities (hereinafter referred to as suppliers) that belong to the upstream or downstream of the supply chain of the business entity to which the user belongs. The supplier information may include the name of the product (including services; the same applies below) provided by the supplier and information identifying the business entity that is the supplier (hereinafter referred to as business entity ID). The supplier information may include the classification of the product (which may be a hierarchy of major classification, medium classification, small classification, etc., or may be a single classification). The supplier information may also include the name of the supplier and the contact information of the supplier (which may be, for example, an email address, a chat service account, a telephone number, etc.). The supplier information may include, for example, items such as the major classification "ironworks", the medium classification "steel", the small classification "hot-rolled steel", the product name "A steel", the business entity ID "G001", and the supplier name "X Steel".

[0017] The emission coefficient storage unit 232 stores emission coefficients for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. In this embodiment, the emission coefficient storage unit 232 stores information including emission coefficients (hereinafter referred to as emission coefficient information). The emission coefficient information can include the name of the product, the classification of the product, a business entity ID that identifies the supplier that provides the product, and an emission coefficient (primary data) for calculating the emission amount by the supplier that provides the product. Note that, for a combination of a supplier and a product for which a primary data emission coefficient is not available, the emission coefficient storage unit 232 can include the name of the product and / or the classification of the product, and an emission coefficient of secondary data (data other than the primary data, for example, data standardized (statistically processed) from the emissions of multiple companies that provide the same type of product) in the emission coefficient information.

[0018] The activity amount storage unit 233 stores information on the amount of activity (hereinafter, referred to as activity amount information). The activity amount information may include information identifying the user (user ID), an entity ID indicating the entity to which the user belongs, an item name of the amount of activity input by the user, the amount of activity, the name of a product corresponding to the item name input, the classification of the product, and an entity ID identifying a supplier providing the product. The activity amount information may include a scope of the amount of activity. For Scope 3, the activity amount information may include a category. For example, the activity amount information may include items such as a user ID "U002", an entity ID "G002", an activity amount item name "Steel A", an activity amount "100 kg", a product name "Steel A", a classification "Ironwork-Steel-Hot Rolled Steel", an entity ID of the supplier "G001", a scope "Scope 3", and a category "Category 1 (Purchased Products and Services)".

[0019] The linkage information storage unit 234 stores information on data linkage between business entities (hereinafter referred to as linkage information). The linkage information may include a pair of information (referred to as business entity ID) indicating two business entities that will be linked. The emission coefficients (primary data) corresponding to the two business entities indicated by the linkage information may be mutually referable. The activity amounts corresponding to the two business entities indicated by the linkage information may also be mutually referable.

[0020] <Functional section> The receiving unit 211 receives the activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and the item name indicating the activity amount from the user. The receiving unit 211 may receive the activity amount from, for example, an accounting system. For example, when the input data is accounting data, the account title or summary related to the journal entry may be set as the item name, and the amount may be set as the activity amount.

[0021] The search unit 212 searches the supplier information storage unit 231 for a name that matches an item name indicating an activity amount included in the input data. The search unit 212 can search the supplier information storage unit 231 for a name that matches or is similar to an item name indicating an activity amount, for example. The search unit 212 may search for supplier information including a matching name. Furthermore, the search unit 212 can search for an item name that matches the received item name among item names indicating an activity amount corresponding to other users stored in the activity amount storage unit 233, and search the supplier information storage unit 231 for a name that matches the searched item.

[0022] The providing unit 213 provides the user with information identifying a supplier corresponding to a name that matches an item name indicating an activity amount. A match between an item name indicating an activity amount and a name can be determined, for example, by whether the item name indicating the activity amount and the name are identical or similar. The providing unit 213 can search for supplier information including a name that matches an item name indicating an activity amount, for example.

[0023] The providing unit 213 can provide the user with a business entity ID corresponding to an item name indicating the received activity amount that matches or is similar to the item name indicating the activity amount among the item names indicating the activity amount corresponding to other users stored in the activity amount storage unit 233. The providing unit 213 can search the supplier information storage unit 231 for a name that matches or is similar to the item name indicating the activity amount.

[0024] The receiving unit 211 can also receive a product classification related to the amount of activity together with the item name indicating the amount of activity.

[0025] The providing unit 213 can also search for supplier information corresponding to a classification matching the received classification when a name matching the item name indicating the received activity amount is found or not found.

[0026] The linkage confirmation unit 214 confirms whether data linkage is possible. The linkage confirmation unit 214 can inquire of the user whether data linkage is necessary between the supplier related to the provided supplier information and the business entity to which the user belongs. When the user desires data linkage with the supplier, the linkage confirmation unit 214 can transmit a request (hereinafter referred to as a data linkage request) to the supplier to inquire whether data linkage with the business entity to which the user belongs is possible, and can receive a response from the supplier regarding whether data linkage is necessary. When the user desires data linkage and the supplier approves the data linkage, the linkage confirmation unit 214 can create linkage information including a business entity ID indicating the business entity to which the user belongs and a business entity ID indicating the supplier, and register the linkage information in the linkage information storage unit 234.

[0027] The emission calculation unit 215 calculates the emission amount by multiplying the received activity amount by an emission coefficient corresponding to a name that matches an item name indicating the activity amount. The emission calculation unit 215 can search for emission coefficient information including a classification from the emission coefficient information storage unit 232, and calculate the emission amount by multiplying the received activity amount by an emission coefficient included in the searched emission coefficient information. The emission calculation unit 215 can also totalize the calculated emission amount. The emission calculation unit 215 can totalize the emission amount by, for example, scope and / or category of the GHG Protocol.

[0028] The report preparation unit 216 can prepare a report on greenhouse gases. The report preparation unit 216 can prepare the report in a format such as a PDF file, a word processor file, a text file, etc. The report preparation unit 216 can prepare documents related to the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions required by, for example, the Global Warming Countermeasures Act (Act on the Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures), the Energy Conservation Act (Act on the Rational Use of Energy and Conversion to Non-Fossil Energy), TCFD (Task Force on Financial Disclosures), etc.

[0029] <Operation> FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the management server 2. As shown in FIG.

[0030] The management server 2 accepts an input of an activity amount (and product name and category) from a user (S301), registers the activity amount (S302), searches for supplier information corresponding to the product name or category (S303), and if the supplier information is found (S304: YES), provides the supplier information (which may be a part of it) to the user (S305). The management server 2 can provide the supplier information together with a message such as "May be a business partner." On the other hand, if the supplier information is not found (S304: NO), the process is terminated, but the management server 2 may provide a message such as "There is no business partner."

[0031] The management server 2 inquires of the user whether or not to cooperate with the supplier (S306). The management server 2 provides options, for example, "data cooperation with this user" and "do not cooperate with this user", and can obtain the selection result from these options from the user terminal 1. If "data cooperation with this user" is selected (S307: YES), the management server 2 can notify the supplier of a data cooperation application (S308). If the management server 2 receives approval for data cooperation from the supplier (S309: YES), it registers cooperation information between the user's business entity and the supplier (S310). Note that if "do not cooperate with this user" is selected (S307: NO) or if approval for data cooperation is not received from the supplier (S309: NO), the management server 2 ends this process.

[0032] As described above, the information processing system of this embodiment can provide the user with suppliers related to the activity amount input for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. This makes it easier for the user to collect primary data, and allows the user to calculate emissions (especially Scope 3 emissions) more accurately.

[0033] <Second embodiment> In the second embodiment, business entities that can belong to the supply chain of the user's product and that are registered by the user are provided.

[0034] 5 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the management server 2 according to the second embodiment. The management server 2 includes a supply chain information storage unit 235 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG.

[0035] The supply chain information storage unit 235 stores information related to the supply chain (hereinafter referred to as supply chain information). The supply chain information can include a product classification (small classification is assumed, but it may be a large classification or a medium classification) or a product name, a product classification that exists upstream or downstream in the supply chain of the product, and information indicating whether the product is upstream or downstream in the supply chain. For example, supply chain information including a classification related to semiconductors and a classification such as semiconductor assembly processing and sales can be registered in the supply chain information storage unit 235.

[0036] In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the supplier information storage unit 231 also registers supplier information about the business entity to which the user belongs.

[0037] The providing unit 213 can search the supply chain information storage unit 235 for supply chain information corresponding to the classification of the product included in the supplier information of the business entity to which the user belongs, acquire the upstream or downstream classification included in the searched supply chain information, search for supplier information corresponding to the acquired classification, and provide the searched supplier information to the user. For example, when a user of a semiconductor manufacturer registers supplier information of a semiconductor product, the providing unit 213 can search for supplier information that assembles, processes, and sells semiconductors based on the supplier information of the registered product, provide supplier information of a business entity (e.g., an electronics manufacturer) that assembles, processes, and sells semiconductors to the user, and ask the user whether data linkage is necessary, as "possibly a downstream value chain partner." The acquisition may be performed by providing a function separate from the providing unit 212 so as to be the acquiring unit.

[0038] <Modification> In the first embodiment, information on suppliers offering products related to the activity amount is provided, and in the second embodiment, information on suppliers offering products that may be located upstream or downstream in the supply chain of the product of the user's business entity is provided, but supplier information may be provided based on location. For example, the supplier information may include an address, and supplier information located in the same region, prefecture, or city, ward, town, or village as the address of the business entity to which the user belongs may be searched for and provided.

[0039] In addition, a group information storage unit may be provided as a management unit for managing corporate groups, and business entity IDs indicating business entities belonging to the group may be managed. In the group information storage unit, business entities belonging to the same group as the user's business entity may be identified, and supplier information relating to the identified business entities may be searched for and provided to the user.

[0040] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the above embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention.

[0041] <Disclosures> The present disclosure also includes the following configurations. [Item 1] a supplier information storage unit that stores a name of a product or service and information that identifies a supplier of the product or service; a receiving unit that receives from a user an activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and an item name indicating the activity amount; a provision unit that provides to the user information identifying the supplier corresponding to the name that matches the item name; An information processing system comprising: [Item 2] The information processing system according to item 1, a search unit that searches the supplier information storage unit for the name that matches or is similar to the item name; the providing unit provides, to the user, information identifying the supplier corresponding to the searched name; An information processing system comprising: [Item 3] The information processing system according to item 1, an emission coefficient storage unit that stores an emission coefficient for calculating the emission amount by the supplier in association with the name; an emission calculation unit that calculates the emission by multiplying the received activity amount by the emission coefficient corresponding to the name that matches the item name; An information processing system comprising: [Item 4] Item 2. An information processing system according to the present invention, an activity amount storage unit that stores, in association with each other, information for identifying the user, the received activity amount and item name, and the name corresponding to the item name and information for identifying the supplier; the search unit searches for item names corresponding to other users stored in the activity amount storage unit that match or are similar to the received item name, and searches the supplier information storage unit for the name that matches the searched item; the providing unit provides the user with information identifying the supplier corresponding to the searched name; An information processing system comprising: [Item 5] storing information identifying a name of a product or service and a supplier of said product or service; receiving from a user an activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and an item name indicating the activity amount; providing the user with information identifying the supplier whose name matches the item name; An information processing method characterized by being executed by a computer. [Item 6] storing information identifying a name of a product or service and a supplier of said product or service; receiving from a user an activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and an item name indicating the activity amount; providing the user with information identifying the supplier whose name matches the item name; A program for causing a computer to execute the following. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1 User terminal 2 Management Server

Claims

1. a supplier information storage unit that stores a name of a product or service and information that identifies a supplier of the product or service; a receiving unit that receives an activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and an item name indicating the activity amount from a first user; an activity amount storage unit that stores information for identifying a user, the received activity amount, and the item name in association with each other; a search unit that searches the activity amount storage unit for an item name that matches or is similar to the item name received from the first user among the item names corresponding to information identifying a second user different from the first user, and searches the supplier information storage unit for the name that matches the searched item name; a provision unit that provides the user with information identifying the supplier corresponding to the matched name; An information processing system comprising:

2. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, an emission coefficient storage unit that stores an emission coefficient for calculating the emission amount by the supplier in association with the name; an emission calculation unit that calculates the emission by multiplying the received activity amount by the emission coefficient corresponding to the name that matches the item name; An information processing system comprising:

3. storing a name of a product or service and information identifying a supplier of the product or service in a supplier information storage unit; receiving, from a first user, an activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and an item name indicating the activity amount; storing information for identifying a user, the received activity amount, and the item name in an activity amount storage unit in association with each other; searching the activity amount storage unit for an item name that matches or is similar to the item name received from the first user among the item names corresponding to information identifying a second user different from the first user, and searching the supplier information storage unit for the name that matches the searched item name; providing the user with information identifying the supplier corresponding to the matched name; An information processing method characterized by being executed by a computer.

4. storing a name of a product or service and information identifying a supplier of the product or service in a supplier information storage unit; receiving, from a first user, an activity amount related to greenhouse gas emissions and an item name indicating the activity amount; storing information for identifying a user, the received activity amount, and the item name in an activity amount storage unit in association with each other; searching the activity amount storage unit for an item name that matches or is similar to the item name received from the first user among the item names corresponding to information identifying a second user different from the first user, and searching the supplier information storage unit for the name that matches the searched item name; providing the user with information identifying the supplier corresponding to the matched name; A program for causing a computer to execute the following.

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