Integrated solutions to complex problems: Transforming japanese science and technology

Japan caught up with the West by initially importing scientific knowledge, adapting it to local circumstances, learning from trial and error, and then innovating better technologies. With the rise of knowledge-based economies and intensifying global competition, Japan is now struggling to maintain industrial competitiveness, particularly in strategic sectors such as electronics, which are drained of home-based manufacturing technologies because of the transfer overseas of production facilities and research and development activities. As the country’s aging population and declining birthrate could result in a loss of social and economic vitality, institutional reforms are of critical importance in overcoming impediments to innovation. While Japan can be at the forefront of global efforts to cope with pressing societal challenges such as sustainability, Japanese academia is prompted to assimilate more junior people, women, and foreign researchers and Japanese industry to explore business opportunities in emerging markets in the promising fields of energy, environment, and health. The new paradigm will demand effective integration of necessary knowledge, going beyond the conventional model of university-industry collaboration, and public engagement of a diverse array of stakeholders in the coevolution of technology and institutions will be the key.