J-BILAT Project

Seminar Report

EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D

15 June 2012

1Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D

SSuummmmaarryy  On Friday, 15 June the J-BILAT Seminar highlighted the opportunities for further EU-Japan cooperation in science, technology and innovation through the presentation of the innovation policies of the EU and Japan as well as case studies of mutual access to programmes, including the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) and beyond (Horizon 2020). The event was attended by 50 people and featured speakers from the EU and Japanese Authorities, current and possible projects, a Japanese company and a French researcher.

SSeemmiinnaarr  OOuuttlliinnee  

Date: Friday, 15 June 2012, 13:30 – 18:00 Place: Museum of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier, 1000 Brussels (Belgium) Organised by: J-BILAT project and the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation Programme:

13:30 Opening remarks: Dr. Silviu JORA, General Manager, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation 25 years of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation and future EU-Japan Cooperation

13:40 Part I – Innovation policies of Japan and the EU and mutual relationship Mr. Hideshi SEMBA, Counselor, Mission of Japan to the EU, “Innovation policy of Japan”

Dr. Peter DRÖLL, Head of Unit, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission “Innovation policy of Europe”

15:00 Coffee break

15:30 Part II – Capacity building for the promotion of innovation and EU-Japan cooperation Prof. Adrian M. IONESCU, Nanolab, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne FET Flagship: Guardian Angels”

Mr. Shinichi BABA, Telecommunications Research Laboratory, Toshiba Research Europe Ltd. “Capacity building and innovation through participation in European projects”

Prof. Marie-Aleth LACAILLE-DUBOIS, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Bourgogne “Career development and innovation through programmes offered by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)”

16:50 Break

17:00 Part III – EU’s programme for R&D and innovation and EU-Japan coordination Mr. Johannes BÖHMER, Project Manager, ZENIT GmbH “Pilot Joint Call on Research and Innovation: ERA-Net CONCERT-Japan”

Dr. Toshiyasu ICHIOKA, Project Manager, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation “FP7, Horizon 2020 and Japan”

17:50 Conclusion and closing Mr. Patrick VITTET-PHILIPPE, Policy Officer, DG Research & Innovation,

Ms Ayako KAWAMURA, Director, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation

18:00 Reception

2  Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D 

MMaajjoorr  iissssuueess  ddiissccuusssseedd The seminar covered a broad range of research-related issues but focussed on the possibilities of Japanese researchers being involved in EU calls for projects, of EU and Japanese researchers being involved in coordinated calls by both the EU and Japan and in EU researchers taking part in research activities in Japan.

Dr. Silviu JORA, General Manager, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation

Opening remarks: 25 years of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation and future EU-Japan Cooperation

Silviu JORA began his presentation by explaining that 25 years ago, when the EU-Japan Centre was created, there was an EU-Japan trade war. The Centre’s then goal (to ‘demystify’ Japan and encourage European businesses to enter/invest in Japan) still applies – for many Europeans, Japan still needs to be demystified and there is still a lot of untapped potential for EU-Japan trade relations. The EU-Japan Centre has three ‘pillars’ of activities – policy advice (seminars and the EU-Japan Business Roundtable trade discussions), business services (training courses for managers, internships for students and information support) and R&D and innovation promotion (through the GNSS.asia scheme to promote business opportunities on the future EU navigation system and through J-BILAT).

3Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D

Part I – Innovation policies of Japan and the EU and mutual relationship

Mr. Hideshi SEMBA, Counselor, Mission of Japan to the EU Innovation policy of Japan

At the start of his presentation, Hideshi SEMBA, stated that Japan’s 4th Science and Technology Basic Plan of 19/08/2011 marked a big turning-point in Japanese policy-making: A Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) was established by the Japanese PM. Its members meet monthly to agree a comprehensive science policy and evaluate important national projects. The Science and Technology Ministry (MEXT) plays an important implementation role. A supplementary budget was agreed to enhance innovation activities – in future ⅔ of the budget will be allocated to academic and governmental organisations. Previously R&D accounted for 3.6% of Japanese GDP, under the 4th Plan, (thanks to a JPY ¥1 trillion increase) R&D investment should be >4% of GDP.

The 4th Plan was the first to promote both science and technology and innovation. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11/03/2011, the Government revised the draft 4th Plan and other Science and Technology policies. The CSTP will promote a greater coordination between academia, industry and government. 32 Science and Technology Agreements have been reached with 47 countries and institutions and a further 6 partnership agreements have also been concluded.

Japan faces significant challenges, developing its HR (to reform graduate school education to enhance coursework and the academia/industry dialogue and improve the career path of researchers) will help. Compared with other countries, basic research is done at a lower level in Japan (largely by universities) than elsewhere. Moreover application levels for science and technology courses is declining and the number of Japanese students going abroad has halved in the last decade – meaning it is harder for young researchers to have an international network. The number of female researchers is increasing, but making up only 13% of all researchers means that Japan has a much lower proportion of female researchers than other developed countries. The basic concept of the revised 4th Plan is to shift to a focus-driven approach, attach a greater priority to HR issues and create more effective governmental organisations to implement science, technology and innovation policy. The goals of the reconstruction policy is to ensure sustainable growth in the future, stimulate green innovation and life innovation.

Japan wants to cooperate more closely with the EU and individual Member-States on science and technology issues. Examples of existing cooperation with the EU includes the JSPS/JST-EU programme CONCERT-Japan. The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) cooperates with various countries through its Strategic International Research Cooperative Program (SICP). The MEXT is also involved with the ITER nuclear fusion project and the Human Frontier Science Program.

Dr. Peter DRÖLL, Head of Unit, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission Innovation policy of Europe

Peter DRÖLL began his presentation noting that Japan and Europe have similar challenges and approaches. Although Europe may not have had an external natural disaster it does have a home-grown domestic disaster. Rather than there being a euro crisis (the euro is still 10% higher in value than at its inception, and the UK and Hungary face the same problems as the euro-zone countries), the issue is one of sovereign debt. Although in 2010 the EU, Japan and USA accounted for 29%, 9% and 26% of global GDP, by 2050 our shares will have halved (the rest of the world will grow faster than we will), so we should act together.

Europe’s 2020 Strategy includes 7 flagship initiatives. In comparison with other countries, South Korea is growing faster and has a better innovation performance than the EU; Japan

4  Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D 

has better innovation than the EU but is growing more slowly; and both China and India are growing extremely quickly but from a very low starting level. There is an apparent correlation between investment in R&D in 2004/9 and GDP growth rates in 2010 (this might help explain the Greek crisis).

For the first time, the Innovation Union strategy address the public and not-for-profit sectors in addition to the private sector. An ‘internal market for innovation’ is needed – access for venture capital is weaker in the EU than in either Japan or the USA. Cross-border venture capital investments in Europe are not easy. A possible solution would be a ‘venture capital passport’ to allow investments to be made/withdrawn from any Member-State. Currently patents must be validated, renewed and paid for in each Member-State. A unitary patent would overcome this and has been agreed in principle under the enhanced cooperation mechanism (to cover all countries except Spain and Italy) but has been held up by lack of agreement as to where it should be based1. Standardisation is very important. Innovation may be included in future public procurement laws as public authorities currently often lack incentives to look for systemic solutions.

Horizon 2020 is an integrated programme to replace the old Framework Programmes with a single programme with a single set of rules. It will encourage closer-to-market activities (e.g. trials and full-scale demonstrations), a stronger involvement of industry (who will also set its agenda), it will be more active on pre-commercial procurement and will work with standardisation bodies as much as possible to ensure that calls-to-markets do not set de facto standards. Resources in innovation partnerships will be pooled (currently there is some conflict between EU, national and regional strategies), projects will be developed (e.g. to extend healthy life expectancies by 2020). A review in 2013 will ensure that the programme is up to date. Innovation is not the answer, but part of how we can arrive at one.

General discussion

Points raised during the Q&A session included: - Whether European Space Policy (agreed by the EU, Member-States and Regions) could

serve as a model for an integrated innovation policy? How far Space Policy, or indeed the emerging Defence Procurement Agency, could serve as role models depends upon how far we want to go in merging thinking in one area. (DRÖLL)

- Issues are very complex – education of future generations needs to be more integrated. Complexity is indeed of concern and is often caused by confusion about who should do what. ‘Magic bullet’ solutions do not exist, despite temptations to seek them. (DRÖLL)

- Whether Japan treats the EU differently to its other partners (USA, Brazil, etc.)? No. At a policy level there is no difference between the EU and USA, although the East Asian region is a priority under the Basic Plan. (SEMBA)

Part II – Capacity building for the promotion of innovation and EU-Japan cooperation

Prof. Adrian M. IONESCU, Nanolab, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne FET Flagship: Guardian Angels

Adrian M. IONESCU began his presentation by explaining that whereas previously the EU had funded projects for 3 years but had not followed them up, the Commission was inspired by the ‘Man on the Moon’ project to create a €1billion fund for a 10-year flagship project. There are 6 short-listed candidates – the winning project will be selected in October. A short film showed how the Guardian Angel (GA) project would link nanotechnology, ICT,

1 See http://www.managingip.com/Article/3037057/EU-unitary-patent-court-up-for-grabs-Paris-looks-like-favourite.html

5Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D

distributed intelligence, economics and engineering. Data would be captured non-invasively and sent via cloud computing; energy would be found (e.g. from light, heat or movement), harvested, stored and used from the environment. Possible applications could include: monitoring heart rates, checking environmental conditions (u/v levels, allergen levels, etc.) and providing emotional assistance (addressing stresses and offering support or advice).

New silicon-free materials could be developed, zero power and autonomy will provide clear added-value to the technology and ensure that Europe has a leading role in this technology. Whilst some applications could be available in the short-term (transforming new technologies to be ‘smart’), in the longer-term there would be totally new applications. 2013-23 road-maps will be developed for each type of technology. Currently, a lot of energy is consumed by communication. Alternative energy sources to batteries and PV are needed. Siemens wants to develop smart environmental monitoring programmes linked to mobile phones and with a possible use during disaster management. Such technology can have healthcare applications e.g. the early detection and treatment of conditions can delay their onset and reduce their costs. Were GA to win the competition, 60% (€600m) would go on the platform, 30% on the demonstration project and 10% on innovation. It currently has 58 partner organisations (from industry and academia) and hopes to work with Japanese bodies.

Mr. Shinichi BABA, Telecommunications Research Laboratory, Toshiba Research Europe Limited Capacity building and innovation through participation in European projects

During his presentation, Shinichi BABA outlined Toshiba’s involvement ‘rationale’ – to build capacity (at institutional and individual levels and thereby achieve synergies that will enable new technologies/innovations to be created), innovation (enhance innovation through pre-competitive collaborations) and exploitation (a clear benefit of EU programmes is the shift from research/academia to the real world – pilots/trials constitute real tests in real conditions). Its research strategy is to use advanced R&D to push the boundaries of future ICT functionalities. Toshiba will achieve this through participation in high-profile, national and EU projects, through work on standardisation activities and adding value to bridge the R&D gap and through basing standards on know-how. Since its involvement with FP5, Toshiba has worked on developing the future internet. There are three stages – short-term (standardisation of the areas in which to work), medium-term (standardisation of architectural aspects) and long-term (standardisation of deployment activities). However, the final goal is developing a business, not standardisation. In short, the current EU projects provide a unique opportunity for capacity-building and innovation and to pilot/test developing technologies.

A point raised during the Q&A session: Whether multinational corporations (e.g. those with presence in Japan, South Africa and the EU) find conflicting local rules (e.g. on funding) hinder its activities? Such difficulties do exist, but must be overcome. Toshiba has to work with talented people – its Japanese President feels Toshiba should make greater efforts to involve more people.

Prof. Marie-Aleth LACAILLE-DUBOIS, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Bourgogne Career development and innovation through programmes offered by

the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

Marie-Aleth LACAILLE-DUBOIS began her presentation explaining why a post-doc would be an interesting option for European researchers, with an overview of Japanese policies on science and technology, Japanese research organisations and French-Japanese relationships. She then introduced the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), its foundation, mission and activities of international cooperation. She was a JSPS fellow and went to the Kyushu University in 1987. She explained in detail, how her experiences in Japan contributed to her career development in the field of pharmacognosy. She mentioned

6  Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D 

that the exchange of researchers between France and Japan through JSPS programme had been intensifying. Approximately 1000 researchers were exchanged in 2010 with a balance between French and Japanese.

Point raised during the Q&A session: More researchers have been sent from France to Japan through the JSPS’s activities, than under the EU’s Marie Curie programme.

Part III – EU’s programme for R&D and innovation and EU-Japan coordination

Mr. Johannes BÖHMER, Project Manager, ZENIT GmbH Pilot Joint Call on Research and Innovation: ERA-Net CONCERT-Japan

In his presentation, Johannes BÖHMER explained that the aim of ERA-Net was to strengthen multilateral science, technology and innovation cooperation between Member-States and third countries such as Japan. Under the scheme, joint calls with the partner countries would be financed by a common fund made up of national funding. The scheme is designed to create synergies and avoid duplication of funding schemes and to identify areas of common interest.

ERA-NET CONCERT-Japan runs from 01/2011 to 12/2013. The first pilot Joint Call will be published in September and includes 13 project partners from 8 European countries and Japan, and 8 Observers. Japanese participating organisations include MEXT, JSPS and JST. The Joint Call was developed after analysing the 40 national projects identified by a survey sent to Member-States and to Japan. The Joint Call is likely to focus on two areas: Efficient energy storage and distribution and Resilience against disease. Funding will be available for research and innovation projects based on unique and innovative ideas. Details of who the call is aimed at and the funding terms and conditions will vary from country to country (based on the priorities fixed by the project partners who contributed to the common fund).

Dr. Toshiyasu ICHIOKA, Project Manager, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation FP7, Horizon 2020 and Japan

Toshiyasu ICHIOKA began his presentation by explaining that the FPs were created in 1984, following a realisation that Japan and the US were strong in R&D, that R&D was increasing in Asian countries, and a feeling that Europe was lagging behind – each Member-State acted independently, thereby creating fragmentation. Using the subsidiarity2 principle, certain actions (e.g. building capability for ICT) would be coordinated at a Community-level. Successive FPs enlarged the scope of action. In the mid-1990s, Japan and the EU both recognised (separately) the importance of innovation. The FPs support pre-competitive RTD and demonstrations, and are now open to the world. Co-financing is obligatory. The Commission is responsible for developing and implementing the policies. The ultimate focus of the FPs is European competitiveness, not collaboration at a global level. Article 180 of the Lisbon Treaty constitutes the legal base for EU RTD actions3. Horizon 2020 will succeed FP7 and will be more comprehensive. Scientific excellence will take precedence over all other priorities (including industrial leadership and societal change).

FP7’s main participants come from 41 countries (EU27 + 14 associated countries and areas). FP7 has 5 ‘pillars’ (top-down RTD, top-down capacity building, bottom-up frontier research, bottom up researchers’ mobility and career development, and peaceful nuclear development). Although Japanese researchers can be involved with FP7 projects, the plethora of websites about FP7 are not tailored to their needs – hence the creation of the J-BILAT project. The

2 The principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed at a more local level. 3 As published on page 129 of OJ C115 of 09 May 2008.

7Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D

Project is led by the EU-Japan Centre with the support of 9 liaising organisations. Its key activity is to provide information services. Generally, Japanese organisations in Japan are not eligible for European Commission funding, thus levels of direct participation by Japanese researchers is quite low. However, the EU subsidiaries and affiliates of Japanese companies (such as Toshiba) participate as European entities.

Japanese involvement will build upon the EU-Japan S&T Cooperation Agreement4. The Press Statement from the 20th EU-Japan Summit made several references to science and technology. The EU-Japan ICT dialogue, led by MIC and DG INFSO has agreed to organise a coordinated ICT call. An MoU between the EU, Japan and the USA may lead to initiatives being taken in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems. Reciprocity, however, is not easy – although FP7 is already open to the world, Japan is now beginning to open its programmes to the rest of the world. 4 projects target Japan under the FP7’s Capacities and People sections: CONCERT-Japan, J-BILAT, EURAXESS Links Japan and EUJO-LIMMS. EU-Japan coordinated calls for projects have already taken place – on superconductivity (3 projects were agreed under FP7/JST in 2010), on PV (1 project was agreed by FP7/NEDO in 2011) and on aeronautics (1 project was agreed by FP7/METI in 2011). In 2012 there are likely to be joint calls on materials and on ICT.

The world is moving towards multilateral funding. Space is an area in which Japan is active and is an issue for which Commission funding is available for some Japanese project partners based in Japan. Involvement in EU projects is attractive to Japanese researchers because the EU offers balance, is a huge market and Japan and the EU have much in common. Innovation is the key for EU-Japan survival – RTD is an essential ingredient for high value-added business.

A point raised during the Q&A session: What is the GNSS.asia project? GNSS.asia will promote the internationalisation of the EU’s forthcoming Galileo global navigational satellite system5 (GNSS), through industrial cooperation on navigators and receivers. The Project will last 2½ years. Rival GNSS projects exist (e.g. the US GPS, Chinese COMPASS, Japan’s QZSS and Russia’s GLONASS systems). Whilst some systems will cover the whole world, others will only cover a specific part of the world. With more satellites involved, greater accuracies can be achieved and information / services can be more tailored and more useful and could make an important contribution to disaster management.

Mr. Patrick VITTET-PHILIPPE, Policy Officer, DG Research & Innovation

Ms Ayako KAWAMURA, Director, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation

Conclusion and closing

In his summary, Patrick VITTET-PHILIPPE highlighted that the different presentations gave different perspectives on what international cooperation means. The challenge will be to reconcile these different views. Toshiba’s explanation for Japanese involvement in EU projects (for capacity-building reasons) was extremely important. The Commission must ensure that more money is given to the Marie Curie project to enable more people to receive fellowships and take part in the scheme.

In her closing remarks, Ayako KAWAMURA thanked the speakers and participants for their involvement with the event and outlined the various services offered by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation.

4 Signed on 30/11/2009 and ratified on 29/03/2011, its first joint committee meeting was held on 16/06/2011. 5 See “Facilitating EU-Japan Cooperation on Satellite Navigation Applications” in EU-Japan News, March 2010, page 1

8  Seminar Report 2012:  J‐BILAT Seminar on EU/Japan Innovation Strategy and Cooperation in R&D 

SSttaattiissttiiccss 

 

The above scores were based on a scale of 1 to 5 (from poor to excellent).

The c. 50 attendees came from the EU Authorities, chambers of commerce, diplomatic missions, industry, industrial associations, academia, consultancies and research bodies.

This report is published by: 

The EU‐Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation 

Shirokane‐Takanawa Station bldg 4F 1‐27‐6 Shirokane, Minato‐ku,  Tokyo 108‐0072, Japan 

Tel:  +81 (0)3 6408 0281 Fax:  +81 (0)3 6408 0283 URL:  www.eu‐japan.eu 

October 2012