FUJITA Masanori | APU RESEARCH SEEDS - Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Scientifically elucidating innovation ecosystems and challenging to create new value through diversity and new combinations

For Japan to recover from the "lost 30 years" and be able to once again make an impact on, and contribute to the world, it is essential to generate new value through innovation. However, in today's extremely sophisticated and complex society, it is becoming increasingly difficult for individuals or single organizations to spur innovation solely on their own. What is required is building an innovation ecosystems in which a diverse organizations and talents mutually collaborate and co-create new value by leveraging their respective strengths.
Therefore, in this research, we are working on the analysis and mechanism design of the success factors of innovation ecosystems and conducting practical research for their social implementation—not only from the perspective of individual human talents and organizations, but also from the perspective of new value creation driven by the networking of diverse stakeholders.
Our specific research themes are as follows: (i) research on innovation ecosystems and mechanisms, including “the study of the success and failure factors of startup ecosystems by country, region, and industry” and “the elucidation of the relationship between the interdisciplinarity and collaboration of researchers in various fields and their success factors”; and (ii) research on value creation and innovation, including “the development of evaluation metrics for Japanese startups”, “the identification of mechanisms of smooth provision of medical data for medical research”, and “the design of mechanisms that enable effective, efficient, and sustainable public-interest activities involving government, citizens, and companies”.
In particular, making use of where APU is located, we are currently working on the formation of an industry-academia-government collaboration ecosystem centered on the semiconductor, space and satellite, and agriculture industries, all of which are strengths of the Kyushu region, and on the innovation driven by the social inclusion of people with disabilities in cooperation with “Japan Sun Industries (Taiyo-no-Ie)” (Beppu City) and its special subsidiary companies.
The knowledge gained through research and practice will also be applied to education in APU's international environment, with a focus on fostering the next generation of innovators. APU's multilingual and multicultural environment is truly conducive to innovation, and I aim to leverage this strength to conduct research, provide education, and apply research findings to social implementation in an integrated manner.

• (a) This research visualized the corporate value of unicorn companies and the performance of venture capital firms (VCs). Network analysis of relationships between them reveals that successful unicorn companies are concentrated in huge clusters.
• (b) This research demonstrated that startup knowledge is transferred internationally and across industries through VCs’ investments in unicorn companies.

A scientific analysis of diversity and its combinations to elucidate the success factors of innovation ecosystems

The originality of this research lies in the activity treating the innovation ecosystem as "a place for value creation driven by the networking of diverse stakeholders" and analyzing the success factors of innovation ecosystem from multiple perspectives using an array of research methods.
As for our research methods, in addition to conducting a qualitative analysis based on case studies, we are using social network analysis to visualize the relationships among stakeholders, conducting a quantitative assessment based on a statistical analysis, and utilizing economic approaches such as game theory and mechanism design. In this way, I am unraveling the complex structures and dynamics of innovative ecosystems from multiple perspectives.
For example, our research into startup ecosystems by country and region not only presents success cases, but also visualizes inter-industry and international knowledge transfer by using a network analysis of investment relationships between unicorn companies and VCs to identify the structure, characteristics, and success factors of startup ecosystems. The study on star researchers clarifies the relationship between the diversity of research activities and research achievements by analyzing the interdisciplinarity and organizational mobility of researchers, while the study on promising young researchers empirically demonstrates the importance of collaboration in knowledge creation by analyzing the relationship between researchers and collaborative research. In addition, in our research on innovation driven by the social inclusion of people with disabilities, we are not only compiling case studies on innovations created by people with disabilities, but also working on research aimed at designing mechanisms to promote innovative creation.
In this way, the key features of this research are the comprehensive approach that combines macro and micro perspectives as well as qualitative and quantitative analyses, not to mention the fact that it goes beyond analysis to consider the design of systems and mechanisms necessary for social implementation.

• (a) This research proposes four models for supporting people with disabilities and enabling them to realize their potential by reinterpreting their abilities as sources of innovation (individual support model, individual support and potential capability realization model, mutual support model, and mutual support and potential capability realization model).
• (b) Instead of focusing on people with disabilities as the target of support, I conduct various case studies on innovation driven by the social inclusion of people with disabilities and study the mechanisms that promote innovation.

Building innovation ecosystems through industry-academia-government collaboration based on research findings

In this research, all activities are conducted in a practical manner pursuing social implementation to build bridges between academia and society and academia and industry.
In collaboration with local industry, we are promoting activities such as holding workshops on topics like innovation ecosystems for success in the semiconductor industry and innovation ecosystems for success in local industries in Kyushu region to create communities where stakeholders from industry, government, and academia can come together. In the semiconductor industry I, the principal investigator, am involved in the formation of a semiconductor industry ecosystem as a member of the Oita LSI Cluster Promotion Council. Likewise, in the space and satellite industry, I am working with Oita Prefecture and the Kyushu Institute of Technology to explore the potential of the space and satellite business. As part of this, a mixed team of students from the Kyushu Institute of Technology and APU developed a business plan for a microsatellite and were selected as finalists in the University of Tokyo's Deep Tech Startup Practical Training Program. The integration of the Kyushu Institute of Technology's technology with APU's business model development is one of the guiding models for future activities.
In collaboration with research institutions, I am conducting collaborative research with universities such as the University of Tokyo and Kyushu University to deepen our mechanism design and network analysis methods and to practically apply our findings in social implementation in the form of a new business. The principal investigator also serves as a University Research Administrator (URA) at the University of Tokyo, which has put him in a position where he can conduct practical research on the social implementation of various research activities.
In education, I invite guest lecturers from different industries to speak in my classes at APU and have students conduct fieldwork at business and research fields, thereby providing them with opportunities to experience value creation first hand. By having APU's international students come into contact with local industries in Kyushu, we are creating opportunities for new perspectives and ideas to emerge. Going forward, we hope to accelerate the formation of an innovation ecosystem for regional industries by further strengthening our collaboration with various universities and technical colleges in Kyushu.
As shows above, a major feature of this research is to bridge theory and practice with a view to designing systems and mechanisms necessary for social implementation, in addition to analyses based on a comprehensive approach that combines individual and institution-wide perspectives as well as qualitative and quantitative perspectives.
The unique nature of this research derives from my educational and professional experiences. After majoring in electrical engineering at university, I joined a general trading company. Throughout my more than 30 years of professional business experience, I have worked with people in various capacities in industry, academia, and government on a variety of national and international projects, from launching an IT startup to developing metal resources. In parallel with this, I studied business administration and earned an MBA, and I acquired knowledge and methods of management of technology (MOT), artificial intelligence and network analysis at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In my position as a researcher at the University of Tokyo, I am currently conducting collaborative research utilizing mechanism design theory. Rather than "standing on the shoulders of giants” as many scholarly researchers do, my desire to create new combinations across sectors has remained consistent even after moving from industry to academia, and I have expanded my research partnerships to include all three areas of industry, academia, and government.
Using this unique approach that strongly promotes both theory building and practical activities, I aim to build a diverse network with a wide range of stakeholders, contribute to value creation through innovation, and to make an impact on the world.

I am pursuing practical research through various industry-academia-government collaborations.

• (a) A class with guest lecturers from special subsidiary companies of Beppu City-based Japan Sun Industries. I collaborate with local companies that contribute to the SDGs to offer practical classes with social impact, while also engaging in collaborative research with these companies.
• (b) A workshop on the innovation ecosystem for local industries in Kyushu region held on the topic of "Creating Value by Networking with Diverse Stakeholders.” Participants from industry, government, and academia engaged in lively discussions, and the seeds of specific collaborative projects are starting to sprout.
• (c) A mixed team of students from the Kyushu Institute of Technology and APU present their business plan for a microsatellite to the President of the University of Tokyo as finalists in the University of Tokyo Deep Tech Startup Practical Training Program. The combination of the Kyushu Institute of Technology's technological capabilities with APU's management skills will serve as one of the guiding models for future startup activities.
• (d) Students visit and experience a local company site near Oita Airport. I provide students with opportunities to interact with companies while promoting industry-academia collaboration.