iCeMS Co-Hosts Symposium on Integrative Innovation Management Perspectives on Stem Cell Technology

27 November 2013

As part of a strategy to promote potential new markets, such as in medical technologies, Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) hosted a symposium on integrative innovation management on November 21 at Kyoto University Clock Tower Centennial Hall. The theme of the event, held with support from NPO Kyoto Smart Materials and Innovation (SMI), was "Interdisciplinary, International, and Industrial Perspectives for Stem Cell Technology."

The program featured six talks by iCeMS associate professor and SMI director Shintaro Sengoku, iCeMS founding director Norio Nakatsuji, ReproCELL CEO Chikafumi Yokoyama, HELIOS CEO Tadahisa Kagimoto, Industry-Academia Collaboration Initiative NPO CEO Ken Senoh, and igrecSSDI founder Yoshinori Yokoyama.

Sengoku first delivered an overview of Japan's position in the race to exploit the stem cell market through bibliometric analyses and proposed new areas of development. Next, Nakatsuji talked about iCeMS' international, interdisciplinary, and industry collaboration strategy and current stem cell research findings. C. Yokoyama and Kagimoto then each gave personal accounts of initial hardships they faced before succeeding in business ventures in Japan. Senoh went on to speak about industrial ecosystems and how personal computers evolved into today's cloud-based world, drawing parallels with the future of the stem cell market. Finally, Y. Yokoyama covered topics about social system design.

In total, over 150 people attended the symposium, which also included a panel discussion. An evening reception at the end of the day gave over 50 participants the opportunity to have fruitful discussions with the panel speakers.

 
Shintaro Sengaku, iCeMS and SMI (left) and Norio Nakatsuji, iCeMS (right);
 
Chikafumi Yokoyama, ReproCell (left) and Tadahisa Kagimoto, HEALIOS K.K. (right)
 
Ken Senoh, Industry-Academia Collaboration Initiative Nonprofit Organization (left) and Yoshinori Yokoyama, igrecSSDI, Inc. (right)
 

Some of the over 150 people attending the symposium.
 

Attendees continuing discussions during a coffee break.
 

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