Its main objective is to promote cooperation on regional innovation between European regions and Japanese prefectures, in the fields of green transition (decarbonisation, circular economy, clean energy, climate change and sustainable mobility), industrial transformation (digitalisation and social innovation) and demographic transition and competitiveness (public services and infrastructures in regions facing depopulation and ageing).
On the European side, the following regions are participating in the programme: Val d’Oise (France), Emilia Romagna (Italy), Basque Country (Spain), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (France) and Catalonia (Spain). On the Japanese side, five prefectures are participating: Aichi, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Oita and Osaka. The European delegation was divided into two groups depending on their fields of interest. The first group visited Aichi and Hiroshima, while the second group visited Osaka and Oita. Both groups met in Kyoto for the final meeting at the Keihanna Science Park.
The European delegates who visited Aichi (group A) were welcomed by Aichi Prefecture Governor Hideaki Ohmura. They spent two days learning best practices and exchanging experiences with their Japanese counterparts. First, the representative from the prefecture offered an overview of priority areas for the promotion of innovation in Aichi, one of Japan’s largest industrial centres, mainly focusing on two fields: green hydrogen and industrial innovation.
It was followed by an introduction about how the Aichi Hydrogen Society Initiatives are promoting a better understanding of hydrogen, the use of fuel cell vehicles, the opening of hydrogen refuelling stations and the social implementation of this energy. The prefecture also organised a visit to Chubu International Airport, where they pointed out some initiatives for the promotion of hydrogen, such as hydrogen refuelling stations for fuel cell vehicles.
The group met representatives of the Pre Station AI project. This is an innovative transformation initiative based on collaboration between the Aichi prefectural government and the company SoftBank to create Japan’s largest start-up ecosystem. The agenda in Aichi ended at the Knowledge Hub Aichi, a research and development centre that provides access to experimental devices such as a synchrotron for innovation, and that supports both universities and Japanese firms, especially Japanese SMEs.
In Hiroshima, the Vice-Governor Yoko Tamai welcomed the members of the delegation. The meeting was followed by a presentation of the six main projects of the regional strategy for the green transition.
Afterwards, the delegation visited the Monozukuri Digital Education and Research Centre and the Hiroshima Techno Plaza. Finally, the delegation went to the Hiroshima Central Science Park and Hiroshima University.
In Osaka, the delegation (group B) visited the Northern Osaka Health and Biomedical Innovation Town (Kento), one of the six main biomedical clusters in Japan. Here, the group met representatives from the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center (NCVC).
In addition, the group visited the Kansai International Airport. The airport aims to become a “hydrogen airport”.
In Oita, the Earth Disaster Intelligent System and Operational Network (EDISON) system was demonstrated, and the delegation had the opportunity to interact with avatars (telepresence robots). This is a project coordinated by the prefectural government, Oita University, and private company Zynos. Its main use is in the educational sector, although in future the system may have an application in the medical sector, for patient visits.
Finally, the delegation visited a plant that generates hydrogen from geothermal energy, the only one of its kind in Japan.
At the end of the week, the European visiting delegates gathered in Kyoto, where Kyoto Prefecture Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki had a meeting with DG Regio and EU regions’ delegates. The rest of the agenda took place mainly in the Keihanna Science City, a national project with a total area of 15 000 hectares in which 12 cultural and research districts gather advanced research institutes, universities, and private companies. The Advanced Telecommunication Research Institute International and the Open Innovation Centre, both located in the Keihanna Science City, were visited.
Among the areas of collaboration that could be identified after this first study trip, the following should be highlighted: first, although Japan has been a very centralised country regarding its innovation policy, it was possible to detect a growing role for prefectures and local governments in the design of strategies that consider the strengths of each area. The European experience in this field, which is embodied in smart specialisation strategies, can be very useful for Japanese prefectures in designing plans that are appropriate to the characteristics of each place.
On the other hand, most of the research centres, universities, and other agents of the innovation ecosystem in Japan are still not globalised. Therefore, their interest in establishing agreements with foreign counterparts is currently much more pronounced. This could be an adequate moment to establish cooperation agreements with European counterparts for the development of joint research projects, exchange of researchers, students, etc.
There is also great interest in promoting alliances and agreements between start-ups from the participating prefectures and regions, and strengthening “cross-landing” agreements that allow European start-ups access to the Japanese market and vice versa.
In addition, the Japanese government's Society 5.0 policy puts citizens at the centre of innovation, so that technology plays a key role in solving major societal challenges. European regions can learn from the Japanese model in terms of incorporating civil society into the quadruple helix.
One of the main areas for collaboration between European regions and Japanese prefectures is hydrogen. Japan sees hydrogen as a major solution to decarbonise its economy while sustaining its industrial competitiveness. Similarly, all the European regions participating in the programme are looking to respond to their decarbonisation needs through the implementation of hydrogen technology.
Another area of common interest is life sciences, where numerous collaboration agreements already exist between European and Japanese clusters. Meeting the needs of an increasingly ageing population will be challenging and innovation and collaboration between the life sciences industry, academia, and the government will be crucial in this respect.
Another point of connection between European regions and Japanese prefectures may be the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, where most European countries will have a stand. The theme of the Expo is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”.
With these prospects for collaboration, the Japanese prefectures will visit the European regions in the first half of 2023 (date to be determined) to define the areas of action and promote pilot projects in some of the areas mentioned above.
