SOCIAL IMPACT PRESENTATION SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD

Abstract

To calculate social impact with appropriate contents, the social impact being caused by a project conducted by a fund provision object person having received the fund provision from a funder.SOLUTION: A social impact presentation system includes: an impact-related information acquisition unit 11 which acquires impact-related information contributing to quantification of social impact which is caused by a project conducted by a fund provision object person having received the fund provision from a funder, at a plurality of periodic or non-periodic timings from the start of fund management; and a quantitative impact calculation unit 13 which calculates, based on the acquired impact-related information, quantitative impact which is quantitative social impact, at each of the plurality of timings. The social impact presentation system is configured to calculate the quantitative social impact with appropriate contents by calculating the quantitative social impact so as to be monitored at each of the plurality of periodic or non-periodic timings.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a social impact presentation system, an information processing device, and an information processing method, and is particularly suitable for use in a system that visualizes the social impact created by businesses undertaken by funding recipients who receive funding from funding providers such as investors. [Background technology]

[0002] Since the 2015 United Nations Summit proposed the "International Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs)," there has been growing attention on businesses that are more public-interest and sustainable for the long term. In recent years, investment activities known as impact investment have also been attracting attention. Impact investment is an investment activity that aims not only to obtain economic returns, but also to simultaneously create social impacts, which are social or environmental outcomes, through business or activities. Against this background, there is a demand for the creation of a mechanism to accelerate investment in businesses that are beneficial to society by visualizing the social impacts created by the activities of business operators in response to investments by investors.

[0003] In response to this, a technology is known that aims to evaluate and visualize the social impact of a business with little effort (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the business evaluation device described in Patent Document 1, a business theory creation program generates a business theory template based on information extracted from a database according to the type of business, and a user inputs the results and outcomes of the business using indicators set in this business theory template. Then, a social impact evaluation program generates an evaluation result of the social impact of the business by converting the input results and outcomes of the business into a quantitative and qualitative format. In addition, a report creation program generates a report template, and a user uses this report template to input the evaluation result of the social impact of the business generated as described above to create an impact report on the business. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2022-77772 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] According to the description in the above Patent Document 1, it is possible to reduce the human and time burden required for the social impact evaluation of various businesses by using the technology described in the Patent Document 1, and also to provide standard methods and evaluation criteria for the social impact evaluation of various businesses. However, although Patent Document 1 discloses the creation of reports according to various report formats for report recipients (governments and licensing organizations), project implementers, project beneficiaries, project evaluators, and supporters (accompaniers) of evaluators, it does not disclose the appropriate calculation of the impact amount for investors who have made impact investments.

[0006] The technology described in Patent Document 1 aims to ensure the appropriateness of social impact evaluation by having two or more users with different user attributes evaluate, but the more types of evaluators there are, the higher the cost becomes.In particular, in impact investment, where the investment amount per investee is small, it is difficult to make a profit and to continue, so it is necessary to be able to accurately calculate the impact amount even with a limited number of evaluators.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and aims to make it possible to appropriately calculate the social impact created by a business undertaken by a recipient of funding provided by a funder such as an investor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, impact-related information that contributes to quantifying the social impact created by the business conducted by the funding recipient that receives funding from the funding provider is obtained at multiple regular or irregular intervals from the start of the investment of funds, and quantitative impact, which is a quantitative social impact, is calculated at multiple intervals based on the obtained impact-related information. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention configured as described above, the quantitative social impact created by a business undertaken by a recipient of funding provided by a funder who provides funds through investment, donations, loans, etc. can be calculated by monitoring the business at multiple regular or irregular intervals, so that the social impact can be calculated appropriately. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a social impact presentation system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an impact management server according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a planned amount of quantitative impact. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of information in which planned and actual amounts of quantitative impacts are visualized as cumulative values. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a report created by a report creation unit. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the impact management server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a social impact presentation system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an impact management server according to a second embodiment. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the impact management server according to the second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a social impact presentation system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an impact management server according to a third embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a plurality of report formats. [Figure 13] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the impact management server according to the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] (First embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a social impact presentation system according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the social impact presentation system of this embodiment includes an investor terminal 10, an investment target terminal 20A, an investment manager terminal 20B, a partnership manager terminal 20C, an information collection server 30, an investment management server 40, and an impact management server 100. The impact management server 100 corresponds to an information processing device in the claims.

[0012] The investor terminal 10 is a terminal used by an investor making an impact investment in a desired business or a business operator (which may be either an individual or a corporation) that carries out the business, and is configured as a personal computer, a smartphone, a tablet, etc. The investor terminal 10 is equipped with a web browser, and through the web browser, the investor can view web pages provided by the investment management server 40 or the impact management server 100 and input information through the web pages.

[0013] The investment target terminal 20A is a terminal used by the investment target who receives investment from the investor, and is configured with a personal computer, a smartphone, a tablet, etc. The investment target terminal 20A is equipped with a web browser, and the investment target can view web pages provided by the information collection server 30 through the web browser and input information through the web pages.

[0014] In this embodiment, a case will be described in which an enterprise receives investment from an investor to carry out a business, but the present invention can be widely applied to cases in which an enterprise receives funding from a funder to carry out a business. The funder may be any funder, including an investor, a person who provides donations, subsidies, grants, etc., or a person who provides loans at a financial institution, and the fund recipient refers to a person who receives the provided funds and thereby creates an impact. Therefore, in the following explanation, the investor can be read as the funder, and the investment target can be read as the fund recipient. Furthermore, the management of investment can be read as the management of funds.

[0015] The operation manager terminal 20B is a terminal used by an operation manager who manages the operation of the business conducted by the investment target, and is configured with a personal computer, a smartphone, a tablet, etc. The operation manager terminal 20B is equipped with a web browser, and the operation manager can view web pages provided by the information collection server 30 through the web browser and input information through the web pages.

[0016] The association manager terminal 20C is a terminal used by an association manager related to the business conducted by the investment targets, and is configured with a personal computer, smartphone, tablet, or the like. A plurality of investment targets belong to the association, and the investment targets conduct business under the management of the association. The association manager terminal 20C is equipped with a web browser, and the association manager can view web pages provided by the information collection server 30 and input information through the web pages through the web browser.

[0017] In the following description, the investment target terminal 20A, the operation manager terminal 20B, and the partnership manager terminal 20C may be collectively referred to as the business associate terminal 20. The investment target, the operation manager, and the partnership manager may be collectively referred to as the business associates. Depending on the content of the business carried out by the investment target, at least one of the operation manager and the partnership manager may not be involved in the implementation of the business. In this case, at least one of the operation manager terminal 20B and the partnership manager terminal 20C may not be present.

[0018] The information collection server 30 collects, from the business associate terminal 20, impact-related information that contributes to the visualization of the social impact created by the business conducted by the investment target that has received investment from the investor. The impact-related information includes at least information that contributes to the quantification of the social impact, and may further include information that contributes to the qualification of the social impact. Details of the impact-related information will be described later. Note that in the following explanation, an individual who manages whether an investment is actually creating both a social impact and an economic return from the investor's perspective may be referred to as an investment manager. In some cases, the business associate and the investment manager are the same, but for convenience, the term investment manager will be used when explaining from the investor's perspective.

[0019] The information collection server 30 collects information that contributes to the quantification and qualification of social impacts in a prescribed format from the business associate terminal 20. For example, the information collection server 30 provides the business associate terminal 20 with an information input webpage in a prescribed format including prescribed information input items, and collects impact-related information input from the business associate terminal 20 through the information input webpage. By collecting information based on the prescribed format, a certain level of quality of information can be ensured. In particular, information that contributes to the qualification of social impacts is likely to vary more than information that contributes to quantification, but by collecting information based on the prescribed format, a certain level of quality can be ensured.

[0020] A web page for inputting information in a predetermined format is prepared in advance for each business category, for example. By selecting a category that corresponds to the business to be implemented, the business associate causes the web page for inputting information corresponding to the selected category to be displayed on the web browser of the business associate terminal 20, and inputs impact-related information into information input items included in the information input web page, and transmits the information to the information collection server 30. The information collection server 30 provides the impact-related information collected from the business associate terminal 20 to the impact management server 100.

[0021] The investment management server 40 is a device for managing investments from investors. For example, the investment management server 40 executes processes related to crowdfunding. The processes related to crowdfunding include processes related to soliciting business support requests from investment targets, processes related to soliciting investment from investors for the supported business, processes related to providing funds procured from multiple investors to the investment target and managing them, processes related to managing the results of the investment target's business implementation, and processes for calculating economic returns to investors based on the results of the business implementation. The investment management server 40 provides at least a portion of the information related to investments obtained through these processes to the impact management server 100.

[0022] The investments managed by the investment management server 40 are not limited to crowdfunding. Any fund for a business may be used, for example, a fund in the form of an investment trust or investment business partnership implemented by a financial institution. Also, the investment does not necessarily have to be a fund, and may be a 1:1 investment from an investor consisting of one person or one organization to an investee consisting of one person or one organization.

[0023] The various information provided from the information collection server 30 and the investment management server 40 to the impact management server 100 is managed by linking it to, for example, an investor ID that uniquely identifies each investor and an investment target ID that uniquely identifies each investment target. The impact management server 100 executes various processes related to visualization of the social impact generated by the business conducted by the investment target that has received investment from the investor, based on the information provided from the information collection server 30 and the investment management server 40. The specific contents of the various processes will be described later with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent figures.

[0024] In this embodiment, the impact management server 100 visualizes the social impact in the form of a report and provides the report to the investor terminal 10. The report may be provided to the investor through a web page, by sending an e-mail (either as a description in the body of the e-mail or as an attachment), or by sending a printed document to the investor's address.

[0025] Here, a configuration has been described in which the impact management server 100 and the information collection server 30 exist separately, but the impact management server 100 may have the functions of the information collection server 30. Here, a configuration has been described in which the impact management server 100 acquires information about investments from the investment management server 40, but the information may be acquired by another means. For example, the information about investments may be acquired by importing information exported from the investment management server 40 to a specified data file, or by an operator manually inputting the necessary information based on information exported from the investment management server 40 to a specified data file or printed out information. Similarly, the impact management server 100 may have the functions of the investment management server 40.

[0026] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the impact management server 100 according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the impact management server 100 according to the first embodiment includes, as its functional configuration, an impact-related information acquisition unit 11, an investment-related information acquisition unit 12, a quantitative impact calculation unit 13, a qualitative impact evaluation unit 14, a report creation unit 15, and a report presentation unit 16. The quantitative impact calculation unit 13 includes, as its specific functional configuration, a planned impact calculation unit 13A and an actual impact calculation unit 13B.

[0027] The functional blocks 11 to 16 can be configured by any of hardware, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and software. For example, when configured by software, the functional blocks 11 to 16 are actually configured with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. of a computer, and are realized by the operation of a program stored in a storage medium such as the RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory.

[0028] The impact-related information acquisition unit 11 acquires information that contributes to quantifying the social impact generated by the business conducted by the investment target that has received investment from the investor (information that contributes to visualizing the quantitative social impact) from the information collection server 30. In addition, the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 acquires information that contributes to qualifying the social impact generated by the business conducted by the investment target (information that contributes to visualizing the qualitative social impact) from the information collection server 30. In the following description, quantitative social impact is referred to as quantitative impact, and qualitative social impact is referred to as qualitative impact. In addition, information that contributes to quantifying and qualifying social impact is referred to as impact-related information.

[0029] The investment-related information acquisition unit 12 acquires information related to investments (hereinafter referred to as investment-related information) from the investment management server 40. The investment-related information includes information about the investor, information about the investment target, information indicating the investment management period, information indicating the economic return to the investor, and the like.

[0030] The impact-related information acquisition unit 11 and the investment-related information acquisition unit 12 acquire impact-related information and investment-related information at multiple regular or irregular intervals from the start of investment management, and store and preserve the acquired information in a storage medium. The start of investment management refers to, for example, the end of a contribution solicitation period for crowdfunding or an investment management fund for institutional investors, when funds procured from multiple investors are provided to the investment target and management begins. The start of investment management can be recognized from the investment-related information acquired by the investment-related information acquisition unit 12 from the investment management server 40.

[0031] The multiple regular or irregular timings for acquiring information are, for example, timings for creating a report on social impact. Regular timing is, for example, once a month. Irregular timing is timing for creating a special report other than the regular timing. The irregular timing can be arbitrarily specified by, for example, the administrator of the impact management server 100. Note that, since a report may be created a certain period of time after the information is acquired, the timing of acquiring information and the timing of creating a report do not necessarily have to be completely the same. In addition, the information acquired at multiple times may be used for creating the above-mentioned report, and may also be used only for the investment manager to check whether an impact is being created. In the latter case, a report for investors may not be created.

[0032] The quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates the quantitative impact created by the business implementation of the investment target based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 and the investment-related information acquired by the investment-related information acquisition unit 12. Here, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates the quantitative impact for each of the above-mentioned multiple timings. The quantitative impact calculation unit 13 stores and saves the calculated quantitative impact in a storage medium so that it can be used for creating reports this time and thereafter.

[0033] The quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates two types of quantitative impacts using the planned impact calculation unit 13A and the actual impact calculation unit 13B. The planned impact calculation unit 13A calculates the planned amount of quantitative impact that may be generated by the implementation of the business during a predetermined reporting period from the start of the investment management. The actual impact calculation unit 13B calculates the actual amount of quantitative impact that is actually generated by the investment target's implementation of the business after the start of the investment management for each of the above-mentioned multiple timings.

[0034] The reporting period is a period set as a calculation period for the quantitative impact to be included in the report, and includes the investment management period (fund management period) and the monitoring period after the end of the management period. The fund management period is determined in advance for each crowdfunding or investment fund implemented by the investment management server 40, and information indicating the management period is included in the investment-related information. Alternatively, the administrator of the investment management server 40 can arbitrarily set the management period depending on the content of the business implemented by the investment target, etc.

[0035] The monitoring period is the period during which the calculation of the quantitative impact performance amount continues even after the end of the fund management period. The monitoring period may be determined in advance for each crowdfunding implemented by the investment management server 40, or may be determined arbitrarily by the administrator of the impact management server 100 depending on the content of the business implemented by the investment target, etc.

[0036] The planned amount of quantitative impact may be calculated for a period longer than the combined period of the fund management period and the monitoring period, in which case the reporting period further includes the period after the monitoring period ends. The period for which the planned impact calculation unit 13A calculates the planned amount of quantitative impact is the entire reporting period. The multiple timings for which the actual impact calculation unit 13B calculates the actual amount of quantitative impact include timing during the fund management period and timing during the monitoring period.

[0037] In this embodiment, the investor, the investment target, the content of the business conducted by the investment target, etc. are arbitrary. As an example, the investment target is an individual who conducts a business with investment from an investor, and the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 can include the increase in income obtained by the business conducted by the investment target using equipment purchased by taking out a loan, from the original income before the business started.

[0038] In this case, the investment target is assumed to be a poor individual who does not have the funds of his / her own to purchase the equipment necessary for carrying out the business, and is unable to take out a loan. If this type of investment target takes out a loan using the funds raised from the fund to purchase the equipment and start the business, it is expected that income will increase significantly. The quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates this increase in income as the quantitative impact.

[0039] Here, the loan repayment period is set to be the same period as the fund management period. The quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates the increase in income obtained by subtracting the original income before the start of the business from the income after loan repayment as the quantitative impact during the fund management period. The income after loan repayment is the amount obtained by subtracting the monthly or annual loan repayment amount from the actual income obtained by implementing the business. In addition, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates the increase in income obtained by subtracting the original income before the start of the business from the actual income during the period after the end of the fund management period as the quantitative impact.

[0040] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the planned amount of quantitative impact calculated by the planned impact calculation unit 13A. In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates monthly income. In the example of FIG. 3, the management period is set to 36 months from the start of fund management. This fund management period is the same period as the loan repayment period. In addition, a monitoring period is set to several months from the end of the fund management period. In addition, the reporting period is set to the period from the start of fund management to the end of the useful life of the equipment purchased by the investment target. In this case, the reporting period is longer than the sum of the fund management period and the monitoring period.

[0041] In Figure 3, IC0 is the original income before the start of the business, IC1 is the income after loan repayment during the fund management period after the start of the business, and IC2 is the actual income after the end of the fund management period. The investee's income increases significantly in a short period of time upon the start of the business, and then remains at a constant amount. During the fund management period, there is a loan repayment amount, so the income after loan repayment IC1 is lower than the actual income IC2, but after the loan repayment period ends, it will fluctuate at the actual income IC2.

[0042] 3, the planned impact calculation unit 13A calculates the difference between the post-loan repayment income IC1 and the original income IC0 as the planned amount of quantitative impact during the fund management period, and calculates the difference between the actual income IC2 and the original income IC0 as the planned amount of quantitative impact during the period after the end of the fund management period. The original income IC0, the post-loan repayment income IC1 (or the loan repayment amount), and the actual income IC2 are included in the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11.

[0043] Here, the expected impact calculation unit 13A calculates the expected amount of quantitative impact during the reporting period (during the fund management period and the period after the end of the management period) based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 at a timing of a predetermined period from the start of the fund management period. The timing after the predetermined period is a timing when the amount of income is expected to stabilize at a nearly constant level. For example, it can be the timing of four months (the first quarter) after the start of the fund management. It is also possible to acquire impact-related information several times to determine whether the amount of income has stabilized. In this case, the expected impact calculation unit 13A makes a statistical judgment by looking at the rate of fluctuation of the amount of income. Since the regular amount of income differs depending on each investment target, a more accurate expected amount can be obtained by acquiring the information multiple times.

[0044] The planned impact calculation unit 13A may recalculate the planned amount of quantitative impact for the period after the end of the fund management period based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 at the end of the fund management period or at a timing thereafter. This is because there may be a difference between the actual income IC2 at that time acquired as impact-related information four months after the start of fund management and the most recent income IC2 acquired as impact-related information after the end of the 36-month management period. By recalculating the planned amount of quantitative impact after the end of the fund management period based on the most recent income IC2, a more accurate planned amount can be obtained.

[0045] The planned impact calculation unit 13A may calculate the total amount of the planned quantitative impact during the reporting period. Similarly, the actual impact calculation unit 13B may calculate the total amount of the actual quantitative impact from the start of the fund's management to the current timing. In the example of Figure 3, the total amount of the planned quantitative impact during the reporting period corresponds to the total amount of the shaded area, and can be roughly calculated by the following formula. IC1 x 36 months + IC2 x (reporting period - 36 months) - IC0 x reporting period

[0046] When the investment target who raises funds from the fund and conducts a business is one or more individuals (for example, multiple individuals belonging to a business association), the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 acquires impact-related information on each of the one or more individuals. Then, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 may calculate the planned amount and actual amount of quantitative impact per person for each individual based on the impact-related information on the one or more individuals acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11. The planned amount of quantitative impact per person is as shown in FIG. 3.

[0047] In addition, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 may calculate the planned amount and actual amount of the quantitative impact of the entire fund. The quantitative impact of the entire fund can be obtained by summing up the quantitative impact per person calculated for each individual. Furthermore, when calculating the planned amount of the quantitative impact of the entire fund, the planned amount of the quantitative impact of the entire fund may be calculated according to a function including a loss rate determined taking into consideration the possibility that some investment targets may leave the business during the reporting period. In this case, the planned amount of the quantitative impact of the entire fund can be calculated by the following formula. Σ(total planned amount of quantitative impact per person) x (1-loss rate) for number of people

[0048] The qualitative impact assessment unit 14 assesses whether the lives of the investment targets have improved qualitatively compared to before the investment targets started their business, based on the impact-related information (particularly, information that contributes to the qualification of social impact) acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11. The qualitative impact assessment unit 14 stores and preserves the quantitative impact assessment results in a storage medium so that they can be used for creating the current and subsequent reports.

[0049] Information that contributes to the qualification of social impacts is, for example, images, videos, interview articles, questionnaire response information, etc. that show the living conditions of the investment target. The qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 evaluates whether or not the living conditions have improved based on, for example, the questionnaire response information. Alternatively, the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 may evaluate whether or not the living conditions have improved by performing natural language analysis on the sentences of the interview articles to extract words, and analyzing whether or not the extracted words match keywords registered in advance as words indicating that the living conditions have improved. In addition, the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 may perform speech recognition on the speech included in the video to convert it into text, and analyze the natural language analysis from the text to analyze whether or not the extracted words match keywords, thereby evaluating whether or not the living conditions have improved.

[0050] In addition, the qualitative impact may be classified into multiple categories, and for each category, whether the investment target's life has improved qualitatively compared to before the investment target started the business may be evaluated. For example, the categories may be three: food, clothing, and shelter. In addition, categories such as savings and education may be added.

[0051] The report creation unit 15 creates a report including the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 and the qualitative impact evaluated by the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14. In addition to the evaluation results by the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14, a report may be created that includes information that contributes to the qualification of the social impact acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 (images, videos, interview articles, questionnaire response information, etc. that show the living conditions of the investment target). Furthermore, in addition to the quantitative impact and the qualitative impact, a report may be created that includes the economic return on the investment acquired by the investment-related information acquisition unit 12. Note that, in the case where the funding provided by the funder is a donation or the like that is not intended to obtain profits, information on the economic return does not need to be included in the report.

[0052] For quantitative impact, a report is created that visualizes the planned and actual quantitative impact. For qualitative impact, a report is created that visualizes the qualitative improvements in the lives of the investment targets compared to before they started their business. For individual investors, especially those with a strong social contribution mindset, qualitative effects tend to be more noticeable than quantitative effects. Therefore, by creating a report that shows the changes in the investment targets' living conditions before and after the investment, it is expected that an even greater social impact will be created by attracting investors who place importance on social impact even if the economic return is weak.

[0053] Here, the report creation unit 15 may create a report in which the change in the performance amount of the quantitative impact calculated by the performance impact calculation unit 13B for each of the multiple timings is visualized. For example, it is possible to create a report including the performance amount of the previous quantitative impact and the performance amount of the current quantitative impact, or a report including the difference between the previous and current quantitative impacts. Alternatively, the performance impact calculation unit 13B may accumulate the performance amounts of the quantitative impact calculated for each of the multiple timings for each of the multiple timings, and the report creation unit 15 may create a report in which the accumulated values ​​of the performance amounts of the quantitative impact for each of the multiple timings are visualized.

[0054] A report may be created in which the cumulative value of the planned amount of quantitative impact is visualized in addition to the actual amount of quantitative impact. In this case, the planned impact calculation unit 12A accumulates the planned amount of quantitative impact at multiple points in time during the reporting period. The report creation unit 15 creates a report in which the cumulative value of the actual amount of quantitative impact at multiple timings is visualized, and the cumulative value of the planned amount of quantitative impact at multiple points in time is visualized.

[0055] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information visualizing the planned and actual amounts of quantitative impact as cumulative values. Fig. 4 shows a line graph drawn based on the example shown in Fig. 3, with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis representing the cumulative value of the increase in income. Fig. 4(a) shows a line graph included in a report created at the third timing during the fund management period. Fig. 4(b) shows a line graph included in a report created at the end of the fund management period.

[0056] In Fig. 4(a), the line graph of the actual amount AP C shows the actual amount of quantitative impact for three periods as a cumulative value. Planned amount line graphs EX1 and EX2 show the planned amount during the management period and the planned amount after the management period have elapsed as cumulative values. As explained in Figure 3, the planned amount of quantitative impact is calculated on the assumption that the investment target's income IC2 after starting the business will remain constant, but when expressed as a cumulative value, it becomes a straight line that slopes upward to the right. The slope of line EX1 during the fund management period is due to income after loan repayment IC1, and the slope of line EX2 after the fund management period has elapsed is due to actual income IC2. As loan repayments cease as the fund management period elapses, the slope of line EX2 thereafter becomes greater than the slope of line EX1.

[0057] In Fig. 4(b), the line graph of the actual amount AP C 4(b) shows the cumulative value of the actual amount of quantitative impact calculated at multiple times during the fund management period. The line graphs EX1 and EX2 of the planned amounts are the same as those in FIG. 4(a). In FIG. 4(b), a straight line EX2' is added after the fund management period has elapsed. This straight line EX2' shows the cumulative value of the planned amount of quantitative impact recalculated based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 at the end of the fund management period. In the example of FIG. 4(b), the slope of the straight line EX2' is greater than the slope of the straight line EX2. This makes it possible to see at a glance that the actual performance has improved from the initial plan.

[0058] In addition, when there are multiple individuals who are investment targets in a business, the investor may select any one of them to invest in, and a report may be created in which the social impact of the selected investment target and the social impact of the entire fund are visualized. For example, a web page for selecting an investment target is displayed on the investor terminal 10, and when the investor selects a business he or she wishes to invest in, a list of multiple investment candidates belonging to the association related to that business is displayed. The investor selects the desired investment target from this list of candidates. The report creation unit 15 creates a report in which the social impact of the selected investment target and the social impact of the entire fund are visualized. By allowing the investor to select the investment target himself or herself, it is possible to improve the investor's motivation to invest. Since it is important for the investor to be able to see the face of the investment target in which he or she has invested, the selection itself may be made by the system, not by the investor.

[0059] 5 is a diagram showing an example of a report created by the report creation unit 15. This report visualizes the social impact of three investment targets selected by an investor and the social impact of the entire fund.

[0060] This report includes the cumulative quantitative impact of the entire fund51. The example in Figure 5 shows the cumulative planned quantitative impact at the end of the fund management period and the cumulative actual quantitative impact to date. This allows investors to get an overall picture of the planned and actual quantitative impact, and recognize that they are participating in a fund with great social significance (large scale).

[0061] The report also includes the change from the previous time in the actual amount of quantitative impact for each of the three investment targets 52, and a line graph 53 that visualizes the planned and actual amounts of quantitative impact during the reporting period as cumulative values. This allows investors to easily recognize at a glance the changes in the social impact of each investment target, and realize that they are contributing to the social impact of the investment targets.

[0062] The report also includes the total amount of the quantitative impact for the three people during the fund's operation period54. In the example of Figure 5, the investor's investment amount and the total amount of the expected increase in the income of the investees are shown. This allows the investor to recognize that the total amount of the quantitative impact will be more than the investment amount.

[0063] The report also includes the qualitative impact evaluation result 55 and an interview article or questionnaire response information 56 showing the living conditions of the investment target. In the example of FIG. 5, the qualitative impact evaluation result 55 shows categories in which the investment target's life has qualitatively improved compared to before the investment target started the business. Specifically, icons showing multiple categories are shown, and the icons of improved categories are grayed out to mean "done". This allows the investor to realize the qualitative changes in the living conditions of the investment target. By receiving multiple reports, the investor can remember the items reported last time, and the gamification element of filling in the category squares can also maintain motivation for continuous investment.

[0064] The report also includes a photo 57 of the investee and a message 58 sent by the investee so that the investor can feel closer to the investee. The report also includes information 59 regarding the economic return on the investment. In the example of Fig. 5, the investment start date, end date, planned month and planned amount of economic return payment, and total amount paid so far are shown.

[0065] The background color or design of the report may be changed according to the magnitude of the achieved social impact. For example, the background color or design of the report may be gray or cloudy when the achieved social impact is small, and blue or blue sky when the achieved social impact is large, allowing the user to intuitively grasp the magnitude of the achieved social impact.

[0066] The report presentation unit 16 presents the report created by the report creation unit 15 to the investor. For example, the report presentation unit 16 presents the report to the investor terminal 10 in the form of a web page. Specifically, the report presentation unit 16 generates data for the web page of the report and saves the data in a storage location that can be accessed by the investor terminal 10 specifying a predetermined URL (Uniform Resource Locator). This allows the investor to view the web page of the report at any time by specifying the URL from the web browser of the investor terminal 10.

[0067] The report presentation unit 16 may generate the report as a document file in a predetermined format, attach this to an e-mail, and send it to the investor terminal 10. Alternatively, instead of attaching the document file, an e-mail with the above-mentioned URL written in the body of the e-mail may be sent to the investor terminal 10. As another example, the report presentation unit 16 may print out the report. In this case, the printout report is sent to the investor's address or a specified location.

[0068] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the impact management server 100 according to the first embodiment configured as described above. First, the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 judges whether or not one month has passed since the previous information collection (initially, the start of investment management) (step S1). If one month has not yet passed, the judgment of step S1 is repeated. If one month has passed, the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 acquires information contributing to the quantification and qualification of social impact from the information collection server 30 (step S2). In addition, the investment-related information acquisition unit 12 acquires investment-related information from the investment management server 40 (step S3).

[0069] Next, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 judges whether the present time is a predetermined period (e.g., the first quarter) after the start of the investment operation (step S4). If the present time is a predetermined period, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates the planned amount of quantitative impact in the reporting period by the planned impact calculation unit 13A, and calculates the actual amount of the current quantitative impact by the actual impact calculation unit 13B. In addition, the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 evaluates the improvement status of the current investment target's life (step S5).

[0070] If it is determined in step S4 above that the present time does not correspond to the timing after the predetermined period, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 determines whether the present time is the timing at the end of the fund management period (step S6). If the present time corresponds to the timing at the end of the management period, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 recalculates the planned amount of quantitative impact for the period after the end of the management period by the planned impact calculation unit 13A, and calculates the current actual amount of quantitative impact by the actual impact calculation unit 13B. In addition, the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 evaluates the improvement status of the current investment target's life (step S7).

[0071] If it is determined in step S6 above that the present does not correspond to the end of the fund management period, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 determines whether the present is the time after the end of the monitoring period (step S8). If the present is not the time after the end of the monitoring period, the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 calculates the actual amount of the current quantitative impact using the actual impact calculation unit 13B, and evaluates the improvement in the current living conditions of the investment target using the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 (step S9).

[0072] After the quantitative impact is calculated and the qualitative impact is evaluated in any one of step S5, step S7, or step S9, the report creation unit 15 creates a report including the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 and the qualitative impact evaluated by the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 (step S10). Then, the report presentation unit 16 presents the report created by the report creation unit 15 to the investor (step S11). Note that, if the report is presented by a web page, in step S11, a process of saving the report data in a storage location indicated by the URL of the web page is performed. Then, the process returns to step S1.

[0073] If it is determined in step S8 above that the current timing corresponds to the timing after the end of the monitoring period, the process of the flowchart shown in Fig. 6 ends. Note that even after the process of the flowchart shown in Fig. 6 ends, the investor can access the web page and view the report at any time.

[0074] As described above in detail, in the first embodiment, impact-related information that contributes to quantifying and qualifying the social impact generated by the business conducted by the investment target that has received investment from the investor is acquired at multiple timings, either regularly or irregularly, from the start of the investment management, and the quantitative impact and the qualitative impact are calculated and evaluated at multiple timings based on the acquired impact-related information. According to the first embodiment configured in this way, the social impact generated by the business conducted by the investment target that has received investment from the investor can be calculated and evaluated in a manner that monitors it at multiple timings, either regularly or irregularly, so that the social impact can be calculated and evaluated with appropriate content. In addition, as in Patent Document 1, there is no need to ensure the appropriateness of the social impact evaluation by having two or more users with different user attributes evaluate it, and even a single investment manager can ensure the appropriateness by monitoring it at multiple timings.

[0075] In the above embodiment, the impact management server 100 is described as having an impact-related information acquisition unit 11, an investment-related information acquisition unit 12, a quantitative impact calculation unit 13, and a qualitative impact evaluation unit 14, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a dedicated application program may be installed in the business associate terminal 20, and this application program may have the above-mentioned functional configurations 11 to 14. In this case, the business associate terminal 20 corresponds to the information processing device in the claims. The impact management server 100 acquires information on the quantitative impact and the qualitative impact from the business associate terminal 20, and creates a report that visualizes the social impact.

[0076] In the above embodiment, an example of creating a report including both quantitative impact and qualitative impact has been described, but a report including only quantitative impact may be created. In the above embodiment, an example of creating a report including both planned and actual amounts of quantitative impact has been described, but a report including only actual amounts may be created. However, creating a report including both planned and actual amounts is preferable in that it allows the difference between the planned amount and the actual amount to be recognized.

[0077] In the above embodiment, an example of calculating the amount of increase in income as the quantitative impact has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The amount of increase in income can be said to be a quantitative impact directly attributable to the amount of investment, but in addition to this, a secondary impact derived from the directly attributable quantitative impact may be calculated. For example, the number of children who can receive education as a result of an increase in income may be calculated as a secondary quantitative impact. In addition, the number of people who escape from poverty when compared with the amount of income of relative poverty or absolute poverty may be calculated as a secondary quantitative impact.

[0078] The secondary social impact is a fundamental element in correcting the wealth gap in the medium to long term, and by quantitatively visualizing this, it becomes possible to evaluate the true social impact. This also helps to prevent doubts about impact washing and SDGs washing, making it possible to attract investments from investors with a strong social contribution mindset.

[0079] Also, the performance impact calculation unit 13B may calculate the impact amount based on the investment amount of the individual investor as the performance amount of the quantitative impact. For example, the performance impact calculation unit 13B calculates the impact amount per investment unit by dividing the total amount of the performance amount of the quantitative impact for the entire fund by the total investment amount of the investment fund. Furthermore, the performance impact calculation unit 13B calculates the impact amount of the individual investor by integrating the investment amount of the individual investor with the impact amount per investment unit. In this way, the investor can clearly understand the degree of his / her contribution, and can feel like he / she is making an individual loan even though it is a fund. This can increase the satisfaction of the investor, which is expected to lead to continuous investment behavior.

[0080] In addition, in the above embodiment, the loan repayment period is the same as the fund management period, but in the case of a pattern in which investment targets who will participate in the business are recruited or replaced as needed after the fund is established and management begins, the fund management period and the loan repayment period do not have to match. In this case, the same effect can be created by interpreting the start timing of fund management in the above embodiment as the start timing of loan execution.

[0081] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which a list of investment candidates is presented to the investor, and the investor can select an investment target from the list. However, after the investor selects an investment target, a means may be provided for allowing the investor and the investment target to directly transact financially, for example, using blockchain technology. In addition, a management system for default avoidance may be further provided. For example, human capital may be concentrated on default avoidance.

[0082] Second embodiment A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a social impact presentation system according to the second embodiment. In Fig. 7, components having the same functions as those shown in Fig. 1 are given the same reference numerals. As shown in Fig. 7, the second embodiment includes an investor terminal 10' and an investment target terminal 20A' instead of the investor terminal 10 and the investment target terminal 20A shown in Fig. 1. Also, an impact management server 200 is provided instead of the impact management server 100 shown in Fig. 1.

[0083] In the second embodiment, the investor terminal 10' has a function of an investor attribute providing unit that provides and registers investor attribute information (hereinafter referred to as investor attributes) to the impact management server 200, and a function of a report display unit that obtains and displays a report from the impact management server 200 that visualizes the social impact created by the business conducted by the investment target that has received investment from the investor, the report including the content specified according to the investor attributes. The investment target terminal 20A' has a function of providing and registering attribute information of the investment target (hereinafter referred to as investment target attributes) to the impact management server 200. Note that this attribute information may be temporarily registered in the information collecting server 30, and then provided from the information collecting server 30 to the impact management server 200 for registration.

[0084] In the second embodiment, the impact management server 200 executes a process of matching investors and investment targets based on investor attributes acquired from the investor terminal 10' and investment target attributes acquired from the investment target terminal 20A'. The investor can select a desired investment target from the matched investment candidates and invest in them. The impact management server 200 creates a report including details of the social impact generated by the business conducted by the investment target selected by the investor.

[0085] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the impact management server 200 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 8, the components having the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 2 have the same functions, and therefore, the overlapping description will be omitted here. As shown in FIG. 8, the impact management server 200 according to the second embodiment includes a report creation unit 15' instead of the report creation unit 15 shown in FIG. 1. The impact management server 200 according to the second embodiment further includes, as functional configurations, an investor attribute acquisition unit 21, an investment target attribute acquisition unit 22, a matching unit 24, an information management unit 23, and an investment execution probability acquisition unit 25. The impact management server 200 according to the second embodiment further includes, as a storage medium, an attribute information storage unit 26.

[0086] The above-mentioned functional blocks 21 to 25 can be configured by any of hardware, DSP, and software. For example, when configured by software, the above-mentioned functional blocks 21 to 25 are actually configured with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. of a computer, and are realized by the operation of a program stored in a storage medium such as the RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory.

[0087] In the second embodiment, the same impact management server 100 as in the first embodiment may be used, and the configuration of the functional blocks 21 to 25 may be provided in the investment management server 40. Alternatively, a matching server may be provided separately from the investment management server 40 and the impact management server 100, and the configuration of the functional blocks 21 to 25 may be provided in the matching server.

[0088] The investor attribute acquisition unit 21 acquires investor attributes, which are attribute information of investors, from the investor terminal 10'. For example, the investor attribute acquisition unit 21 displays a web page for inputting investor attributes on the investor terminal 10', and acquires the investor attributes input by the investor through the web page from the investor terminal 10'. The investor attributes acquired by the investor attribute acquisition unit 21 are, for example, demographic attributes of the investor (age, sex, occupation, family structure, etc.). The investor attributes may also include information indicating the investor's interests and concerns. Specifically, the investor's preferences (whether or not he has a family, areas of interest, industries of interest, etc.) and impact themes of interest (poverty, environment, healthcare, gender, employment, etc.) may be acquired.

[0089] The investment target attribute acquisition unit 22 acquires investment target attributes, which are attribute information of the investment target, from the investment target terminal 20A'. For example, the investment target attribute acquisition unit 22 displays a web page for inputting investment target attributes on the investment target terminal 20A', and acquires the investment target attributes input by the investment target through the web page from the investment target terminal 20A'. The investment target attributes acquired by the investment target attribute acquisition unit 22 are, for example, demographic attributes of the investment target. In addition, the investment target attributes may include business attribute information related to the business conducted by the investment target. The business attribute information includes, for example, the region in which the investment target conducts its business, the industry to which the business belongs, and the impact theme related to the business.

[0090] The information management unit 23 records and manages investor attributes for each investor in the database of the attribute information storage unit 26, and also records and manages investment target attributes for each investment target in the database of the attribute information storage unit 26.

[0091] The matching unit 24 extracts investment targets whose investment target attributes match predetermined matching conditions with respect to the investor attributes based on the investor attributes and investment target attributes stored in the database of the attribute information storage unit 26, and presents the extracted investment targets as investment candidates to the investor terminal 10'. Investors can select a desired investment target from the investment candidates presented by the matching unit 24 and invest in it.

[0092] For example, the matching unit 24 extracts, as investment candidates, investment targets that meet the matching condition that the demographic attributes of the investment targets are identical or similar to the demographic attributes of the investor. By extracting investment candidates using such matching conditions, the investor can feel a sense of affinity to the investment target selected from the investment candidates, and can feel a sense of satisfaction and contribution from the investment activity.

[0093] In addition, the matching unit 24 extracts, as investment candidates, investment targets that meet the matching condition that the matters or demographic attributes included in the business attribute information of the investment target are identical or similar to the investor's interests and concerns. By extracting investment candidates using such matching conditions, appropriate matching can be performed for investors who have a specific purpose, and the motivation of the investor for investing can be improved. In addition, by selecting an investment target that is engaged in a business related to the impact theme desired by the investor, it becomes possible to realize a contribution to the social issue in which the investor is most interested.

[0094] When the investor selects an investment target, the selected investment target is notified to the information management unit 23 via the matching unit 24. The information management unit 23 assigns an investment execution flag to the investment target selected by the investor in the database stored in the attribute information storage unit 26.

[0095] The report creation unit 15' creates a report including details of the social impact generated by the business carried out by the investment target selected by the investor from among the investment candidates, based on the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 and the qualitative impact evaluated by the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14, using the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 and the investment-related information acquired by the investment-related information acquisition unit 12. For example, the report created when the investor selects three investment targets will be similar to that shown in Fig. 5. The investment target selected by the investor can be recognized by referring to the investment execution flag stored in the attribute information storage unit 26.

[0096] The investment execution probability acquisition unit 25 inputs each combination of the investor attributes and multiple investment target attributes stored in the attribute information storage unit 26 into a machine-learned model, and acquires the investment execution probability corresponding to the multiple investment target attributes from the model. Here, the model of the investment execution probability acquisition unit 25 is generated by a machine learning process using the investor attributes, the investment target attributes, and the investment execution flag as learning data. The investment execution probability is a value indicating which combination of investment target attributes is more likely to result in an investment being executed (the more likely the investment target is to be selected from among investment candidates) for a certain investor attribute.

[0097] After a large number of investment execution flags have been recorded in the database of the attribute information storage unit 26, it is possible to perform machine learning processing using the investor attributes, investment target attributes, and investment execution flags as learning data to generate a model configured to output an investment execution probability when a combination of investor attributes and investment target attributes is input.

[0098] The matching unit 24 may extract, as investment candidates, investment targets having investment target attributes corresponding to investment execution probabilities that meet a predetermined matching condition from among the multiple investment execution probabilities acquired for each combination of investor attributes and investment target attributes by the investment execution probability acquisition unit 25. For example, it is possible to extract a predetermined number of investment targets as investment candidates from among those with the highest investment execution probabilities. By performing such matching, it is possible to present to the investor investment targets who are likely to be the targets of investment.

[0099] Also, for example, a predetermined number of investment candidates may be extracted from the highest and lowest investment execution probabilities. Alternatively, a predetermined number may be extracted from the highest investment execution probability and the remaining number may be extracted randomly. In this way, it is possible to prevent the problem of investors becoming bored by listing only investment candidates with the same tendency.

[0100] The matching unit 24 may perform matching based only on the investment execution probability without performing matching based on demographic attributes and interests and concerns. The matching unit 24 may perform both matching based on demographic attributes and interests and concerns and matching based on the investment execution probability. When performing both types of matching, investment candidates extracted under the OR condition of both types of matching may be presented to the investor, or investment candidates extracted under the AND condition of both types of matching may be presented to the investor.

[0101] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the matching unit 24 included in the impact management server 200 according to the second embodiment configured as described above. The processing of the flowchart shown in Fig. 9 starts, for example, when an investor instructs the impact management server 200 to execute matching from the investor terminal 10'. At this time, the investor attributes of the investor are already stored in the attribute information storage unit 26, and the investment target attributes of multiple investment targets are also already stored in the attribute information storage unit 26.

[0102] First, the matching unit 24 acquires the investor attributes of the investor who has instructed the execution of matching from the attribute information storage unit 26 (step S21).The matching unit 24 then performs matching based on the acquired investor attributes and the investment target attributes of the multiple investment targets stored in the attribute information storage unit 26, thereby extracting one or more investment targets whose investment target attributes match predetermined matching conditions with respect to the investor attributes (step S22), and presents the extracted investment targets to the investor terminal 10' as investment candidates (step S23).

[0103] Then, the matching unit 24 judges whether or not any of the investment candidates has been selected by the investor (step S24). If no selection has been made, the matching unit 24 judges whether or not an instruction to end the process has been received from the investor (step S25). If an instruction to end the process has not been received, the process returns to step S24 and waits for a selection to be made by the investor. If an instruction to end the process has been received from the investor, the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 is terminated.

[0104] In step S24, when the investor selects one of the investment candidates, the matching unit 24 notifies the information management unit 23 of the selected investment target. In response to this, the information management unit 23 assigns an investment execution flag to the investment target selected by the investor in the database stored in the attribute information storage unit 26 (step S26). This ends the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9.

[0105] It has been explained here that the process in FIG. 9 starts when an investor instructs execution of matching, but the process in FIG. 9 may also be executed following the process in which an investor registers investor attributes in the impact management server 200.

[0106] The operation of the report creation unit 15' when creating a report in the second embodiment is similar to the example of operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6. When creating a report in step S10, the report creation unit 15' checks the investment target selected by the investor who is the subject of the report by referring to the investment execution flag stored in the attribute information storage unit 26, and creates a report including details of the social impact generated by the business carried out by the selected investment target.

[0107] As described above in detail, in the second embodiment, a report including contents specified according to investor attributes is created, and the created report is presented to the investor. Specifically, investment targets whose investment target attributes match predetermined matching conditions with respect to investor attributes are extracted, the extracted investment targets are presented to the investor as investment candidates, and a report including details of the social impact generated by the business conducted by the investment target selected by the investor from among the investment candidates is created.

[0108] According to the second embodiment configured as described above, a report with contents according to investor attributes is created, so that a report with appropriate contents that visualizes the social impact for investors can be created. Also, since the most suitable investment target is selected according to the investor attributes, it is possible to increase the probability of investment, and as a result, it is possible to maximize the impact on society.

[0109] (Third embodiment) A third embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a social impact presentation system according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 10, components having the same functions as those shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. As shown in FIG. 10, the third embodiment includes an investor terminal 10" instead of the investor terminal 10 shown in FIG. 1. Also, an impact management server 300 is provided instead of the impact management server 100 shown in FIG. 1.

[0110] In the third embodiment, the investor terminal 10" has the function of an investor attribute providing unit that provides and registers investor attributes to the impact management server 300, and the function of a report display unit that obtains and displays from the impact management server 300 a report that visualizes the social impact created by the business conducted by the investment target that has received investment from the investor, the report including content specified according to the investor attributes. In the third embodiment, the impact management server 300 uses a report format specified according to the investor attributes obtained from the investor terminal 10 to create a report including content specified in the report format.

[0111] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the impact management server 300 according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 11, components with the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 2 have the same functions, and therefore repeated explanations will be omitted here. As shown in FIG. 11, the impact management server 300 according to the third embodiment includes a report creation unit 15" instead of the report creation unit 15 shown in FIG. 1. The impact management server 300 according to the third embodiment further includes, as its functional configuration, an investor attribute acquisition unit 31, an information management unit 32, and a format acquisition unit 33. The impact management server 300 according to the third embodiment further includes, as storage media, a format storage unit 34 and an attribute information storage unit 35.

[0112] The functional blocks 31 to 33 can be configured by any of hardware, DSP, and software. For example, when configured by software, the functional blocks 31 to 33 are actually configured with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. of a computer, and are realized by the operation of a program stored in a storage medium such as the RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory.

[0113] The format storage unit 34 stores a plurality of report formats, in which at least one of input information items and layout is predefined, together with their respective identification information (hereinafter referred to as format IDs). For example, the format storage unit 34 stores an objective pattern report format including many input information items related to quantitative impact as shown in FIG. 12(a), and an emotional pattern report format including many input information items related to qualitative impact as shown in FIG. 12(b). The objective pattern report format is a report format including input information items or layouts that are assumed to be important to institutional investors. The emotional pattern report format is a report format including input information items or layouts that are assumed to be important to individual investors.

[0114] The investor attribute acquisition unit 31 acquires investor attributes, which are attribute information of investors, from the investor terminal 10". For example, the investor attribute acquisition unit 31 displays a web page for inputting investor attributes on the investor terminal 10", and acquires the investor attributes input by the investor through the web page from the investor terminal 10". The investor attributes acquired by the investor attribute acquisition unit 31 include, for example, information identifying whether the investor is an individual investor or an institutional investor.

[0115] The information management unit 32 records and manages investor attributes for each investor in the database of the attribute information storage unit 35. In addition, when an additional investment action is taken by an investor, the information management unit 32 assigns an additional investment execution flag in the database of the attribute information storage unit 35 to the investor who has made the additional investment.

[0116] The format acquisition unit 33 acquires, from the format storage unit 34, a report format specified based on the investor attributes acquired by the investor attribute acquisition unit 31 (the investor attributes stored in the database of the attribute information storage unit 35). For example, when creating a report for a certain investor, the format acquisition unit 33 extracts the investor attributes of that investor from the attribute information storage unit 35, and acquires, from the format storage unit 34, a report format specified based on the extracted investor attributes.

[0117] For example, when the investor attributes extracted from the attribute information storage unit 35 indicate that the investor is an institutional investor, the format acquisition unit 33 acquires a report format of an objective pattern from the format storage unit 34. On the other hand, when the investor attributes extracted from the attribute information storage unit 35 indicate that the investor is an individual investor, the format acquisition unit 33 acquires a report format of an emotional pattern from the format storage unit 34.

[0118] The report creation unit 15'' creates a report including contents defined in the report format acquired by the format acquisition unit 33, using the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 and the investment-related information acquired by the investment-related information acquisition unit 12, as well as the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 using these pieces of information and the qualitative impact evaluated by the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14.

[0119] While individual investors may place importance on the degree of contribution to social issues, institutional investors may place importance on more quantitative information and economic returns. By switching the report format according to investor attributes as described above, reports containing the most appropriate information for the investor can be created and provided to the investor. This can help improve the motivation of individual investors and improve the operational efficiency of institutional investors (such as the efficiency of reporting to further investors).

[0120] In addition, the investor attributes and report formats according to the investor attributes explained above The above is an example and is not limited thereto. For example, when the investor attributes are information indicating that the investor is an individual investor, they may further include information indicating the interests and concerns of the individual investor. Specifically, they may include information indicating the investor's preferences (whether or not he / she has a family, areas of interest, industries of interest, etc.) and impact themes of interest (poverty, environment, healthcare, gender, employment, etc.).

[0121] The format acquisition unit 33 acquires a report format including input information items or layouts related to the interests and concerns of the individual investor from the format storage unit 34 based on the investor attributes. For example, if the investor attributes indicate that the investor is an individual investor and the investor's preferences indicate that he or she has a family, a report format including a large number of photos of the family looking happy or working hard is acquired. Alternatively, if the investor attributes indicate that the investor is an individual investor and the investor is interested in environmental themes, a report format including input information items in line with the impact theme, such as whether the equipment used by the investee contributes to reducing environmental impact, is acquired.

[0122] Furthermore, when the investor attributes are information indicating that the investor is an individual investor, they may further include information indicating the personality of the individual investor. The information indicating the personality may be acquired by a general means such as a questionnaire survey or a personality trait diagnosis such as the well-known Big Five. The information indicating the personality may also include information indicating whether the individual investor is wealthy or not. In this case, the format acquisition unit 33 acquires a report format including input information items or a layout predefined according to the personality from the format storage unit 34 based on the investor attributes.

[0123] As described above, by segmenting the investor attributes of individual investors and switching report formats according to the segmented investor attributes, it is possible to create and provide reports tailored to the interests and personalities of individual investors. This makes it possible to increase investor satisfaction and increase the incentive for individual investors to invest.

[0124] Furthermore, when the investor attributes are information indicating that the investor is an institutional investor, the investor attributes may further include information identifying whether the institutional investor is a financial institution, an investment specialist, or a business company. In this case, the format acquisition unit 33 acquires a report format that is pre-associated with either a financial institution, an investment specialist, or a business company from the format storage unit 34 based on the investor attributes.

[0125] Furthermore, when the investor attributes are information indicating that the investor is a financial institution, they may further include information identifying whether the financial institution's customer base is impact investors or not. In this case, when acquiring a report format related to a financial institution, the format acquisition unit 33 acquires from the format storage unit 34 a report format that is associated in advance depending on whether the financial institution's customer base is impact investors or not.

[0126] As described above, by subdividing the investor attributes of institutional investors and switching the report format in accordance with the subdivided investor attributes, it becomes possible for institutional investors to efficiently provide reports to their subsequent customer base (investors), thereby also increasing the satisfaction of that customer base.

[0127] The format acquisition unit 33 may use a model generated by machine learning processing using the additional investment execution flag to acquire a report format corresponding to investor attributes from the format storage unit 34. That is, the format acquisition unit 33 may be configured to input investor attributes into a machine-learned model and acquire a format ID from the model.

[0128] Here, the model of the format acquisition unit 33 is generated by machine learning processing using the format ID of the report format used to create the report by the report creation unit 15'', investor attributes, and an additional investment execution flag as learning data. In this case, the model has learned which report format is more likely to result in additional investment when used for certain investor attributes.

[0129] After a large number of additional investment execution flags have been recorded in the database of the attribute information storage unit 35, machine learning processing can be performed using the format ID, investor attributes, and additional investment execution flags as learning data to generate a model configured to output a format ID of a report format that is likely to result in additional investment when investor attributes are input.

[0130] Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the impact management server 300 according to the third embodiment configured as above. In Fig. 13, the same step numbers as those shown in Fig. 6 are assigned to the same processes, so duplicated explanations will be omitted here. Note that when the process of Fig. 13 is disclosed, the investor attributes of the investor are already stored in the attribute information storage unit 35.

[0131] In FIG. 13, after the quantitative impact is calculated and the qualitative impact is evaluated in any one of step S5, step S7 or step S9, the format acquisition unit 33 acquires the investor attributes of the investors to be reported from the attribute information memory unit 35 (step S31), and acquires a report format specified based on the acquired investor attributes from the format memory unit 34 (step S32).

[0132] Next, the report creation unit 15'' creates a report including contents defined in the report format acquired by the format acquisition unit 33, using the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit 11 and the investment-related information acquired by the investment-related information acquisition unit 12, as well as the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit 13 using these pieces of information and the qualitative impact evaluated by the qualitative impact evaluation unit 14 (step S10).

[0133] As explained in detail above, in the third embodiment as well, a report including contents specified according to investor attributes is created and the created report is presented to the investor. Specifically, in the third embodiment, the report is created using a report format specified according to investor attributes.

[0134] According to the third embodiment configured as described above, a report is created according to a report format having input information items and layouts according to investor attributes, so that a report with appropriate content that visualizes the social impact can be created for investors. This can increase investor satisfaction and the probability of leading to additional investment, thereby maximizing the impact on society.

[0135] Although the first, second and third embodiments have been described above, any two or three of these embodiments may be combined and applied.

[0136] In addition, the first to third embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by them. In other words, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the gist or main characteristics of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0137] 11 Impact-related Information Acquisition Department 12 Investment-related Information Acquisition Department 13 Quantitative Impact Calculation Department 13A Expected Impact Calculation Section 13B Performance Impact Calculation Section 14. Qualitative Impact Assessment Section 15,15',15” Report Creation Department 16 Report presentation section 21 Investor Attribute Acquisition Department 22 Investment Target Attribute Acquisition Department 23 Information Management Department 24 Matching Section 25 Investment Execution Probability Acquisition Section 26 Attribute information storage section 31 Investor Attribute Acquisition Department 32 Information Management Department 33 Format Acquisition Section 34 Format memory section 35 Attribute information storage section 10,10',10” investor terminal 20 Business-related terminals 20A, 20A' Investor terminal 20B Operation manager terminal 20C Association administrator terminal 30 Information collection server 40 Investment Management Server 100,200,300 Impact Management Server

Claims

1. an impact-related information acquisition unit that acquires impact-related information that contributes to quantifying the social impact generated by a project conducted by a recipient of funding provided by a funder; a quantitative impact calculation unit that calculates a quantitative impact, which is a quantitative social impact, based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit, The impact-related information acquisition unit acquires the impact-related information at multiple timings, either regularly or irregularly, from the start of fund management, The quantitative impact calculation unit calculates the quantitative impact for each of the plurality of timings. A social impact presentation system comprising:

2. a report creation unit that creates a report including the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit; and a report presentation unit that presents the report created by the report creation unit to the funder.

2. The social impact presentation system according to claim 1 .

3. The quantitative impact calculation unit is an expected impact calculation unit that calculates the expected amount of quantitative impact that may be generated by the implementation of the project during a predetermined reporting period from the start of the management of the fund; and an actual impact calculation unit that calculates, for each of the multiple timings, the amount of quantitative impact that has actually been produced as a result of the funding recipient implementing the project after the start of the management of the funds; The report creation unit creates a report in which the planned amount of the quantitative impact and the actual amount of the quantitative impact are visualized.

3. The social impact presentation system according to claim 2.

4. The reporting period includes the investment period of the fund and the monitoring period after the investment period ends, The plurality of timings at which the performance impact calculation unit calculates the performance amount of the quantitative impact include timing during the operation period and timing during the monitoring period.

4. The social impact presentation system according to claim 3.

5. The planned impact calculation unit is Calculating a planned amount of the quantitative impact during the reporting period based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit at a timing a predetermined period after the start of the operation period, and Based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit at the end of the operation period or at a timing thereafter, a planned amount of the quantitative impact during the period after the end of the operation period is recalculated.

5. The social impact presentation system according to claim 4.

6. The recipient of the funding is an individual who conducts business using funding from the funder. The quantitative impact includes the increase in actual income generated by the project conducted by the recipient of the funding using the equipment purchased with the loan, compared to the original income before the project started. The quantitative impact calculation unit calculates the amount of increase in income obtained by subtracting the original income from the income after loan repayment during the operation period as the quantitative impact, and calculates the amount of increase in income obtained by subtracting the original income from the actual income during the period after the end of the operation period as the quantitative impact.

5. The social impact presentation system according to claim 4.

7. The funding is a fund for the business, and the funding recipient is one or more individuals who raise funds from the fund to carry out the business; The impact-related information acquisition unit acquires the impact-related information relating to each of the one or more individuals, The quantitative impact calculation unit calculates the planned and actual amounts of the quantitative impact per person based on the impact-related information on the one or more individuals acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit, calculates the planned and actual amounts of the quantitative impact of the entire fund, and calculates the planned amount of the quantitative impact of the entire fund according to a function including a loss rate determined in consideration of the possibility that some of the funding recipients may leave the business during the reporting period.

4. The social impact presentation system according to claim 3.

8. The funding is a fund for the business, and the funding recipient is one or more individuals who raise funds from the fund to carry out the business; The impact-related information acquisition unit acquires the impact-related information relating to each of the one or more individuals, The quantitative impact calculation unit calculates a quantitative impact per person and a quantitative impact of the entire fund based on the impact-related information regarding the one or more individuals acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit.

2. The social impact presentation system according to claim 1 .

9. The expected impact calculation unit calculates a total amount of the expected amount of the quantitative impact during the reporting period, The actual impact calculation unit calculates a total amount of the actual amount of the quantitative impact from the start of the operation to the present timing.

8. The social impact presentation system according to claim 3, wherein the social impact presentation system comprises: a first section for presenting a social impact;

10. The social impact presentation system of any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that the report creation unit creates a report that visualizes changes in the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit for each of the multiple timings.

11. the actual impact calculation unit accumulates the actual amount of the quantitative impact calculated for each of the plurality of timings, for each of the plurality of timings; The report creation unit creates a report in which a cumulative value of the actual amount of the quantitative impact is visualized for each of the multiple timings.

8. The social impact presentation system according to claim 3, wherein the social impact presentation system comprises: a first section for presenting a social impact;

12. The planned impact calculation unit accumulates the planned amount of the quantitative impact at each of the multiple points in time during the reporting period, The report creation unit creates a report in which a cumulative value of the actual amount of the quantitative impact is visualized for each of the plurality of timings, and a cumulative value of the planned amount of the quantitative impact is visualized for each of the plurality of time points. The social impact presentation system according to claim 11 .

13. The impact-related information acquisition unit further acquires information that contributes to visualization of qualitative impact, which is a qualitative social impact created by the business conducted by the funding recipient, at the multiple timings; The report creation unit creates a report including the quantitative impact and the qualitative impact.

3. The social impact presentation system according to claim 2.

14. The social impact presentation system according to claim 13, characterized in that the report creation unit creates a report that visualizes the qualitative improvement in the lives of the recipients of funding compared to before the recipients of funding started the business.

15. The above qualitative impacts are classified into several categories: The report creation unit creates a report in which categories in which the lives of the fund recipients have qualitatively improved compared to before the fund recipients started the business are visualized. The social impact presentation system according to claim 14 .

16. The social impact presentation system according to claim 2, characterized in that the report creation unit creates a report that includes an economic return on investment in addition to the quantitative impact calculated by the quantitative impact calculation unit.

17. an impact-related information acquisition unit that acquires impact-related information that contributes to quantifying the social impact generated by a project conducted by a recipient of funding provided by a funder; a quantitative impact calculation unit that calculates a quantitative impact, which is a quantitative social impact, based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit, The impact-related information acquisition unit acquires the impact-related information at multiple timings, either regularly or irregularly, from the start of fund management, The quantitative impact calculation unit calculates the quantitative impact for each of the plurality of timings.

23. An information processing apparatus comprising:

18. An impact-related information acquisition unit of the computer acquires impact-related information that contributes to quantifying the social impact generated by a project conducted by a recipient of funding provided by a funder; a step in which a quantitative impact calculation unit of the computer calculates a quantitative impact, which is a quantitative social impact, based on the impact-related information acquired by the impact-related information acquisition unit; The impact-related information acquisition unit acquires the impact-related information at multiple timings, either regularly or irregularly, from the start of fund management, The quantitative impact calculation unit calculates the quantitative impact for each of the plurality of timings.

23. An information processing method comprising:

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