【New Year Greetings 2023】

Happy New Year to you all!
We wish you a Happy New Year!
We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your special patronage during the past year.

■ Zodiac Signs for 2023

The Chinese zodiac sign for the year 2023 is "癸卯 (Mizunoto)," which means "the hard work you have done so far will blossom and begin to bear fruit," and is said to have an auspicious meaning.

■ Social Conditions

In 2022, the Corona pandemic entered its third year and reached the peak of the eighth wave. Although it is decreasing slightly, it is still likely to continue.

It has been almost a year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Many civilian deaths have occurred, several soldiers from both sides have died, and human rights and the SDGs have been disregarded.
We can only hope for a peaceful world to come as soon as possible.

In the United States, the shadow of Trump has flickered, and in Myanmar and Afghanistan, the hopes for democratization have disappeared. China and North Korea also require attention.
The reality that democratic countries account for less than one-third of the world strongly emphasizes the division in the world.

In Japan, there have been ongoing issues surrounding the incident of former Prime Minister Abe being shot, as well as the problems related to politics and the Unification Church, which led to successive resignations in the Kishida Cabinet.
In addition, the rise in US interest rates, accelerated depreciation of the yen, and soaring crude oil prices due to the Russia problem have dealt a significant blow to households and business activities.

In sports, in the FIFA World Cup, Japan achieved a remarkable feat by defeating Germany and Spain, but they did not make it to the quarterfinals for the first time.

Regarding digital trends, there is a shift towards carbon neutrality and EV (electric vehicle), and Level 4 autonomous driving is being tested in limited areas, with Level 5 targeted for research and development by 2025.

DX (Digital Transformation), Metaverse, and Web3 are the most important issues.
Web3 refers to the world of decentralized web utilizing blockchain technology. It focuses on democratizing access to information and data usage, and the four key points are decentralization, transparency, ownership, and incentives.
Use cases such as NFTs, DeFi, and DAOs have also emerged.

■OST in 2023

Last year, 28 people joined the company, bringing the total number of employees to 164.
In April, we will welcome 13 new graduates, bringing our total number of employees to over 170.
Sales for the 20th fiscal year exceeded the target, but as of the first quarter for the 21st fiscal year is still uncertain.

Regarding project status, troubled projects have settled down, resulting in a significant improvement. Additionally, there has been an increase in project information, so we aim to efficiently develop good projects and recover from setbacks.

Furthermore, there has been a surge in employees experiencing health issues since last year. We will review the teleworking methods and implement measures to monitor work progress and employee well-being. This includes implementing engagement surveys and other operational improvements.

The year 2023 is said to be the year of 癸卯(Mizunoto), which means "the hard work you have done so far will blossom and begin to bear fruit," and is said to have an auspicious meaning.

As for OST, we aim to make it a year where we truly launch our new business ventures in full swing.
Additionally, there is considerable excitement surrounding the progress of our overseas expansion plans.
As for the programming school, we would like to increase the number of students by incorporating trial enrollment.

We will also continue to recruit ideas for SDGs and work on what we can do as a company.

The slogan for this term is,
　"Change The World!"

How can we change the world sustainably?
We will always keep this in mind when working on our work.

We will all continue to work hard in 2023, keeping our vectors together and taking care of our health!

We are looking forward to your continuous support.

*Pictures below are the end of the year party.