1.Workshop Overview

In this international workshop, the nature, types, capabilities, and development process behind the connection-making personnel needed in contemporary science and technology innovation policy will be identified based on the concepts of problem-oriented governance and boundary spanning. Practitioners in government will then introduce specific examples of personnel who make connections, the necessary abilities, and the process behind their development. Following these presentations, recommendations will be made regarding the personnel policies, institutional mechanisms, and strategic intelligence platforms for systematically producing personnel who make connections. Finally, comments will be made by foreign experts with an international perspective on the implications of new governance and management approaches in general for the innovation of science and technology policy.

 

2.Background

Modern science and technology policies do not only target R&D for individual technologies, but also require close linkages with social transformation in various sectors, as can be seen from the emphasis on the concept of innovation. In Japan, too, Mission-oriented Innovation Policy (MOIP) programs such as the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) and the Moonshot Research and Development Program require a connection between horizontal science and technology policies and vertical policies in each field. In addition, connecting horizontal policies such as science and technology policy and security policy, competition policy, and regional policy is becoming increasingly important, and connecting multiple individual science and technology domains such as space and cybersecurity is also being recognized as a new frontier for public policy. Furthermore, as a more fundamental issue, the connections between the government sector and the private sector, which is responsible for emerging science and technologies, are reshaping the connections between vertical and horizontal policies, between different horizontal policies, and between individual science and technology fields.

 

As described above, in order to ensure connections between horizontal policies and vertical policies, between different horizontal policies, between individual science and technology fields, and between the government sector and the private sector for the purpose of solving social issues, formal institutional mechanisms alone are not sufficient. It is important to secure personnel to connect and develop their skills to manage these connections. Specifically, there is a need for personnel who can connect science and technology policies with sector-specific policies (such as energy policy, medical policy, etc.), personnel who can conceive strategies that link the security implications of science and technology with civilian applications, and personnel who are capable of assessing ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI), designing regulatory mechanisms for emerging science and technology, and feeding this back into the technological development process.

 

Title: “International Workshop: Personnel Who Establish Connections, and Developing Their Capacity in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy”
Date & Time: Friday, March 14, 2025, 16:00 - 18:20 (Japan Standard Time)
Language: English, with simultaneous interpretation into Japanese
Free Zoom webinar, pre-registration required.

 

Speakers

Takeshi Nagasawa, Director for Integrated Strategy, Cabinet Office
Koji Ina, Manager, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Dr Piret Tõnurist, OECD Mission Action Lab
Alberto Alemanno, Professor, Business Law and Taxation, HEC Paris
Hideaki Shiroyama, Research Director, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research
Atsuo Kishimoto, Research Director, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research
Kazuto Suzuki, Research Director, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research
Makiko Matsuo, Senior Fellow, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research
Akio Kurokawa, Senior Fellow, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research
Shuko Nakazawa, Senior Fellow, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research