Deep Dive Series 2021:
Innovation "Wars" - Can Japan stay abreast?
8:30-10:00 a.m., Thursday, August 5, 2021
(The presentation and Q & A will be in English.)

Are the Japanese innovative? This is an often-posed question and one that has taken on new relevance with the intense focus on growing competition between the US and China as high-tech powers, and the impact this is likely to have elsewhere. Can Japan's innovation "culture" adapt to meet the new challenges it will face in this new competitive environment? Will Japan "side" with one or the other of the two principal rivals, or a can it emerge as a more independent innovative force in its own right?

In the latest of its Deep Dive series (in which we ask panels of experts to explain and comment on subjects of current interest) the FCCJ will examine the issue of innovation in Japan both from a broad policy and cultural perspective and from an "on the ground" practitioner's viewpoint. We will also look at the "market' environment for innovation in Japan:
Our expert panelists on this occasion will be:

  • Richard Dasher has been Director of the US-Asia Technology Management Center at Stanford University since 1994. He served concurrently as the Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Systems in Stanford's School of Engineering from 1998 - 2015. His research and teaching focus on the flow of people, knowledge, and capital in innovation systems, on the impact of new technologies on industry value chains, and on open innovation management. Dr. Dasher serves on the advisory boards for national universities and research institutions in Japan and Thailand.
  • Richard (Rick) Dyck has spent his career in the semiconductor industry, mostly in Japan. He is owner and President of TGK-Japan, a company specialising in semiconductor testing. Rick was formerly Vice President of Teradyne, a Boston based manufacturer of semiconductor capital equipment, where he was responsible for Asia operations. He is a director and investor in Japan Industrial Partners;　a Japan-based private equity firm specialising in carve-outs of businesses from major Japanese corporations. He serves on the board of Hitachi Chemical and the Semiconductor Portal which is jointly owned by Dyck and Japan's main semiconductor equipment, materials and device manufacturers.
  • Jesper Koll: Jesper worked from 1985 as a research fellow at the University of Tokyo and the University of Kyoto before building his career in finance. He served as a Managing Director and Chief Economist for major US investment banks, JP Morgan Japan Securities and Merrill Lynch Japan Securities. He is an Expert Director to Japan-based Monex Group, an Investment Committee member of the Japan Catalyst Fund, and serves on the Board of Directors of OISTthe Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology.

Please indicate when signing up whether you will attend on-line or in-person.

In-person attendance
Members: 450 yen (including tax), coffee or tea included
Non-members: 1,650 yen (including tax), coffee or tea included

On-line attendance
Members: free of charge
Non-members: 550 yen (including tax)

Details on how to join online will be sent to individual emails by August 3.
All participants can reserve at the reception desk or by email ( front@fccj.or.jp ).
Members should Log in to confirm attendance.
Payment by Non-Members must be made in advance by 3 PM, August 3.
No refund is available unless the event is cancelled by FCCJ.
Member reservations cancelled less than 24 hours before the event will be charged in full.
We kindly ask for your cooperation with Covid-19 prevention measures at the
reception and to wear a mask on club premises.

Thank you.

Professional Events Task Force