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FUTURE CENTER ALLIANCE JAPAN
A PLATFORM FOR COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION
Notwithstanding the effectiveness of fast-developing methods for tackling environmental pressures, there is still much need for more innovative tools in order to address problems which remain a threat to the future of our society. Future Center Alliance (FCA) have come forward to meet those challenges head on.
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FCA is a diverse alliance of pioneers and organizations, who altogether form platforms for collaborative innovation with 12 key values. Through prototyping new services and products, they target complex social, economic, ecological, and political challenges in order to develop a profound and sustainable impact on the future.
PLURAL SECTOR TO ACCELERATE THE PLACE FOR OPEN AND SOCIETAL INNOVATION.
The Japanese branch, Future Center Alliance Japan (FCAJ) is an organization in which academia, public, and private sectors participate and collaborate as a plural sector that connects social and economic sectors. We have been working across boundaries since 2016, committed to being a ‘place (a)’ for social and open innovation to address future challenges and envision new industries.
Cumulatively, we have over 80 members, including local and national governments, universities, research institutions, and private companies.
FCAJ ‘s activities consist of three domains:
• Open Innovation Program in which our member companies and organizations launch programs to solve social issues across disciplines.
• Academy in which members learn skills to promote open innovation and develop future leaders.
• Open Thinktank which conducts research and development.
In all three domains, the ‘ba’ (place) is essential for stimulating dialogue and generating new ideas. It is crucial to create a path to co-creation and practice of the participants’ purposes - a method called ‘Purpose Engineering’.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been impossible to meet in a physical place. We are using online features to enhance our seminars, which focus on issues of social importance, such as circular society. However, whether virtual or physical, places where people from anywhere can easily connect are becoming critical. We have developed and are promoting EMIC, a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of such places.
For a complex and highly uncertain future, the requirement for open innovation that is available to society is increasing from closed innovation within the company. Open Innovation has been adopted by many companies as a way of sharing mutual resources and encouraging co-creation through consortiums between companies, industry-academia collaboration, and joint development of companies.
Furthermore, Open Innovation 2.0, which involves the transformation of social systems such as the SDGs, is a multi-stakeholder innovation that creates economic and social value through co-creation in the ecosystem of diverse sectors of industry, government, academia and the private sector.
SOME STATISTICS
The world’s ageing population is growing dramatically. Of any country in the world, Japan has the highest proportion of elderly citizens, accounting for a record 28.4% of the country’s population.
These trends are altering many aspects of Japanese social life. The ageing and declining of the working-age population sparks fears around the future of the nation’s workforce and economy, and the availability of healthcare services.
The effects of climate change are already impacting Japan. In terms of air pollution, Japan has one of the highest number of related deaths worldwide.
In one study, it was suggested that by starting with Japan, we can eradicate a number of climate problems which would otherwise proliferate drastically on a global scale. These figures have incited the Japanese government to take action through implementing new policies which reverse the effects.
BY KOZUE NAKAYAMA & NOBORU KONNO
