Cabinet approval for Integrated Innovation Strategy 2022 : Involves ecosystem of knowledge-based problem solving driven by startups

On June 3, the Cabinet of Japan approved the Integrated Innovation Strategy 2022. On the previous day, the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI) officially decided on both the Strategy 2022 and the goal of the creation of a startup ecosystem that ranks among the best in the world and a policy package for education and human resource development toward the realization of Society 5.0. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated, "Progress in science, technology, and innovation is indispensable for transforming social issues into engines of growth and realizing new capitalism." He went on to add that a policy package for the Vision of Quantum Future Society, the formation of a startup ecosystem, and education and human resource development are the core of this strategy. He then instructed the ministers concerned to "implement bold policies that are not limited to extending past efforts, and to work together to advance them swiftly and surely." Strategy 2022 will be reflected in next year's budget. It is the implementation plan for the second year of the Sixth Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan. It aims to strengthen knowledge bases (research capabilities), including university funds, comprehensive promotion packages, inquiry and STEAM education, and recurrent education, while developing human resources. It also aims to strategically promote advanced science and technology, including new strategies related to AI and quantum technologies, important economic security programs, and the next SIP. The innovation ecosystem, which links these results to practical implementations in society, is formed from three central pillars. These three pillars are bundled and interlinked to promote policies effectively and efficiently. Takayuki Kobayashi, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, noted, "we are now in an era where startups are the driving force of innovation."

CSTI Member Takahiro Ueyama said, "University reforms have improved the research environment for young researchers and created a foundation for the continuous generation of innovation seeds from universities by improving research capabilities. From now on, revitalizing R&D like this must lead to an ecosystem that will autonomously trigger innovation and lead to economic and social transformations. In other words, the question is how to link science and technology policy with industrial policy. This is where startup policy comes in. A startup campus is also being considered as a testing ground to provide this policy with a physical form and demonstrate it both domestically and internationally. The final cornerstone to building an innovation ecosystem that will make up for the 30 years we have lost is to proceed with the concrete realization of the campus as a Dejima of the Reiwa Period." (Dejima was the only place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period.)

Hiroaki Suga, CSTI Member and Professor at the School of Science, the University of Tokyo, said, "Japan has very few unicorn companies with an aggregate market value of over 100 billion yen. Even fewer can expand globally. It's been pointed out that Japan's various regulations and unique customs are obstacles to this. Issues include the low amount of domestic VC investment, the lack of utilization of the angel tax system, and restrictions on the percentage of stock options issued at the time of listing.

Strategy 2022 aims to polish up the policy process to create new value through fusing different fields and creating complementary collaboration between various measures to address complex social issues that cannot be solved by each field alone. The Development Program for Technologies Critical to Economic Security and the next SIP need to function as means of strengthening the perspectives of economic security and social implementation and connecting overarching AI, quantum, and other sector-specific strategies. By improving the linkage between strategies, R&D and other initiatives directly linked to results can be promoted more strategically. A follow-up mechanism for sectoral strategies needs to be established to improve the organic linkage between significant policies and sectoral strategies and to initiate timely policies, thereby ensuring results and that vital national tasks are accomplished."

CSTI Member and Director for Mizuho Financial Group Yasuhiro Sato said, "I understand that having the basic stance this time clearly state that science, technology, and innovation policies need to be developed in an integrated manner is an important step. While progress is being made in individual field-specific strategies for quantum technologies, AI, semiconductors, and other areas, the reciprocal connections among these areas are growing stronger. Based on these improvements, it is a crucial element of Japan's innovation strategy to improve the unity of science, technology, and innovation policy through collaboration among various fields, not only in research and development of individual technologies but also with a view to social implementation. This is an essential direction for the future of CSTI."