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MITI Report on International R&D Cooperation
From: David Farber <farber () linc cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 12:18:51 -0400
From: Thomas Hagemann <hagemann () gmd co jp> Subject: MITI Report on International R&D Cooperation Date: 29 Jun 1994 08:27:57 -0700 Abstract The following is a summary of a report by the Industrial Technology Council, an advisory body to MITI, about their view on international R&D cooperation, dated June 8, 1994. For me, the most interesting sections of the report are Part 4, Chapter I, Section 2 "Promotion of International Cooperative Research", and Section 3 "Ensuring a Smooth and Unrestricted Flow of Japan's Technological Information". The former section states that the provisions for handling intellectual property rights in programs like IMS and RWC could serve as models "for future international industrial R&D cooperation projects". IMHO, the IMS provisions might become such a model; therefore, these provisions are included at the end of this report for reference. On the other hand, RWC is a domestic Japanese program with foreign participation, so that purely Japanese rules apply; this means that ownership of different kinds of intellectual property is treated differently (patents: at most 50% belongs to the inventor, the rest to the Japanese state; copyrights and other forms of know-how: 100% belongs to the Japanese state by default), conditions for the usage of patents are complicated (specific conditions like usage fees are decided case-by-case for each patent by the Ministry of Finance), transfer of patent usage rights to third parties is similarly complicated, and various aspects (ownership, usage fees) are dependent on reciprocity conditions in the participating countries' regulations case-by-case. The latter section announces the start of a technological research information service on the Internet by the Electrotechnical Laboratory in Tsukuba. This should encourage other national research labs and universities to provide Internet access to their respective know-how. Thomas Hagemann GMD Bureau Tokyo Tel: +81-3-3586-7104 German Cultural Center Fax: +81-3-3586-7187 Akasaka 7-5-56, Minato-ku Net: hagemann () gmd co jp Tokyo 107, Japan {thomas.}hagemann () gmd de GMD is the German National Research Center for Computer Science ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary of Report for Minister of International Trade and Industry by International Research and Development Cooperation Committee Industrial Technology Council - Promotion of Comprehensive and Strategic International Research and Development Cooperation Aimed at a New Technology-based Nation - June 8, 1994 Part 1: Domestic and International Conditions Concerning International Research and Development (R&D) Cooperation I. Trends in Japan 1. Economic Recession Under the present persisting economic recession, private companies in Japan have been reducing their investment in R&D and international cooperative research (which is expected to decrease by 12% in FY1994 compared to the previous year). This puts into serious question Japan's future R&D potential. 2. Shortage of R&D Personnel Japan's population of young people is expected to decrease and they show growing preference for non-scientific and non-technical careers. Japan's small and medium enterprises, in particular, are suffering from a serious shortage of R&D personnel. (A recent survey showed that 24% and 51% of companies suffer manpower shortage in the manufacturing sections and R&D sections respectively, and 36% of big companies and 53% of small and medium-sized companies responded that they are short of R&D personnel.) The utilization of overseas R&D personnel will be a major consideration. 3. Increasing Need for the Creation of New Industry There is a declining rate of new business establishments in small and medium enterprises, from 7% between 1960s and 1970s to 4% in recent years. This is seen with grave apprehension as an indication of a weakening of the entrepreneurial spirit of Japan's industrialists. In the US., however, brilliant engineers of large corporations frequently spin off venture businesses. It is strongly hoped that "technology" from both domestic and foreign sources will play crucial roles in the creation of new industrial establishments in Japan. II. New Trends in Promoting "International Cooperative Research" 1. Strengthening of the Relationship between "Technology" and "Economics" The recent trends after the Cold War are characterized by the change of governmental policies of many countries to place more priority on technological development so as to vitalize their economies. In international economic relations, we see an increase in transactions involving "technology" in addition to those involving goods and capital. Governmental technology policies of many countries have been shifting their emphasis toward economic stimulation. It will be essential for Japan to send out strong messages emphasizing that countries should not follow the tenets of "technology protectionism" which are based on the recognition that one company possessing advanced technology is likely to solely monopolize the market in the end. It also becomes increasingly more important to engage in cooperation in the harmonization of industrial standards to prevent any bent toward "technology protectionism." 2. Growing Sophistication and Complexity of Technology As industrial technological problems become increasingly more sophisticated and complex, capital resources and risks needed to overcome these problems will tend to increase. Therefore, international cooperation has been recognized as a more effective way of R&D. 3. Increase in the Problems Shared by Humankind as a Whole It is necessary to take action to address common problems shared by humankind as a whole such as the problems of our global environment, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, desertification and other natural disasters, the problem of AIDS, etc. With the end of the Cold War, there is also the important problem of ensuring the smooth conversion of defense industries to civil industries. III. Growing Interest in the Free Flow of "Industrial Technology" 1. Assuring Free Flow of "Industrial Technology" There is an imbalance in the exchange of researchers, for example in relation with the US. Japan is sending 5 times as many researchers as it is accepting from the US. There are greater calls for better access to the technology of the private sector and for fuller provisions to accept foreign researchers in public institutes. There is increasingly greater interest in gaining access to Japan's technology. (The ratio of Japanese researchers sent abroad and foreign researchers accepted from abroad by private companies in Japan was 4.13 in FY1992, 4.50 by universities and 1.07 by national research institutes.) Japan has a deficit in technology trade, which is directly related to the Japan-U.S. Framework for a New Economic Partnership. 2. Growing Interest in Intellectual Property Rights Interest in the proper protection of intellectual property rights and international harmonization in the patent field is growing very rapidly among the advanced industrialized nations. This is a very important issue in terms of the promotion of technology transfer to the developing nations. IV. Expectations Placed on Japan for Making an International Contribution through "Industrial Technology" 1. High hopes for smooth industrial technology transfer There are growing expectations among the international community for Japan to make a contribution through technology transfer as a "front runner" in the technology field. 2. Offering of knowledge and information concerning "industrial technology" There are increasingly greater calls, primarily among the developing countries, for Japan to offer knowledge and information on how to formulate industrial technology policies and plan and execute R&D projects with the cooperation of the government and private sector. There are increasingly stronger demands also from the advanced industrialized nations calling for Japan to provide knowledge and information on how to smoothly implement cooperation schemes between the public and private sectors, notably between industry, government and academia, and the role of Japanese "public testing organizations" in enhancing the technological potential of small and medium enterprises in local regions. Part 2: Direction of Future International R&D cooperation I. Promotion of International Industrial R&D Cooperation Aimed at a "New Technology-based Nation" From the standpoint that Japan will play a leading role in the development of the world economy by creating new industries through new technologies, it becomes possible to recognize that the promotion of international industrial R&D cooperation is a necessity and the role demanded of Japan as an "International Trading Nation". It is necessary for Japan, with a high level of technology forming the basis of its national survival, to strive toward a "new technology based nation", making an international contribution through ensuring the free flow of "technology" and diffusing new "technology." Japan has been insisting on the importance of "techno-globalism" in this context. It will be important also in the future to initiate internabonal industrial R&D cooperation on the basis of dialogue with all countries concerned. II. Basic Philosophy for International Industrial R&D Cooperation 1. Provision of Bases for R&D and Researcher Exchange in Japan It is necessary to create a Center of Excellence (COE), needed not only for Japan to contribute to international society in the field of industrial technology but also to upgrade the level of industrial technology in Japan. 2. Strategic Use of Joint Research It is of vital importance to promote the long-term commitments indicated in 1. above. For the further development of Japanese society, "technology" is expected to play a major role as an intellectual resource. Therefore, it will be necessary for Japan as a tangible and short- or medium-term measure to exercise a leadership role in promoting "international industrial R&D cooperation" centered on implementation of international joint research projects and promote cooperative relations between domestic and foreign companies, in order for the advanced nations to avoid resorting to "technology protectionism" based on such philosophies as the notion of "strategic trade policies." This is an important means for establishing an approach based on cooperation instead of confrontation and also practical alternative to the philosophy of "strategic trade policies." Furthermore, international cooperative research will have a spin-off effect in producing new technologies through the fusion of domestic and foreign know-how. Considering the difficulties associated with individual efforts to develop new industries, international cooperative research clearly contributes to the rebuilding of existing industries and the development of new industries based on new discoveries (seeds of technologies), and eventually to a significant dynamism of the world economy. Since we have seen cases in which international industrial standards have been applied as a means of international trade strategy, it is also important to promote international industrial R&D cooperation in the domain of standardization so as to ensure the sound development of international trade. 3. Free Flow of Technology and Offering of Technical Information Considering the vital importance of "technology" as an intellectual resource for the nation, it is absolutely vital to ensure the smooth and unrestricted flow of the results of technology and technical information. For this purpose, it is necessary for Japan to make a concentrated effort to diffuse its technical information and at the same time remove access barriers to technical information. There is also the need to seek international harmonization of various countries' intellectual property rights systems. 4. Promotion of Industrial Technology Transfer There is the need to make efforts on all fronts in connection with offering information covering Japan's high level of "industrial technology." These efforts should include strengthening policy dialogues with countries concerned. 5. Commitment Toward solving Global Problems It is also essential for Japan to show initiative in terms of coming to grips with global problems shared by the whole of humankind, including the problems of our global environment and measures to defend ourselves against natural disasters. International programs such as the"New Earth 21" program in the environmental field and natural hazard mapping should be promoted in this connection. It is also necessary to give fuller consideration to expansion of "grant" programs including the Human Frontier Science Program and the International Joint Research Grant Program administered by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Part 3: Means of International R&D Cooperation I. Role of Industry, Government and Academia in International Cooperation It will be necessary to promote cohesion between private industry, government and academia so as to carry out international industrial R&D cooperation, while giving the most serious consideration to the roles they should play . Their respective roles can be summed up as follows. (1) With national research institutes, it is easy to engage in cooperation on an organizational, ongoing, and long-term basis. (2) Universities do not solely concentrate on basic research but also engage in applied studies that may have profound effects for society. Not only playing an important role in nurturing human resources, universities will also expand their role in R&D cooperation. (3) Private companies hold a reservoir of extensive management resources (innovation, management know-how, etc.) with the capability to follow through the R&D stage close to commercial application. They also hold the key to industrialization. In view of these specific roles each of the above three sectors play, we can say that it is necessary to achieve and maintain a triad of cohesion between"government-industry-academia" to promote and further cooperation projects responding to international needs, with "government" called upon to act as the coordinator to help "academia" and "industry" bring out the best results in the fields where they excel. In this sense, it is also necessary to consider what deregulation measures might be necessary to ease the conditions which restrict the activities of government and academia. II. The Five Principles of International Cooperation The following five principles are important in the actual pursuit of cooperation under government initiative. (1) It will be essential to seek and achieve innovation by constantly bearing in mind that the cooperation should make a contribution to the consolidation of industrial competitiveness for the participating countries in the cooperation as well as to the development of the world economy. (2) The areas in which cooperation is extended should be fields in which the nations concerned can complement each other. These fields of technology should be in a precompetitive stage. (3) For promoting joint R&D projects, the private sector should be encouraged to participate in them so as to make use of their knowledge and know-how. Consideration should be given to a fully integrated approach spanning the entire process from locating the themes of cooperation to the diffusion of the results. (4) Before the partners of cooperation engage in cooperation programs, they should reach agreement on the way to treat and share the results of their joint research on an equitable basis and make the greatest possible effort in diffusing these results. (5) Cooperation should start with an open dialogue and the door should always be left open for the participation of interested third parties. Consideration should be given, in particular, to the promotion of technology transfer to the developing countries. III. Promotion of Comprehensive R&D Cooperation in the mid-term perspective It has been pointed out that the Japanese Government should increase R&D expenditures and promote upgrading of R&D potential. Considering the recent situation where Japan has been expected to play a major role in promoting international R&D cooperation, it is increasingly important for the Japanese Government to strengthen its effort drastically in the field of R&D policy. For this reason, it is necessary to promote international joint research in the field of industrial technology (The FY1994 budget proposal includes 45.4 billion yen for this purpose.), expand the provisions for inviting researchers to both the national and private research institutes (AIST invited 150 foreign researchers for over 6 months each to its research institutes in FY1994.) and to present and defuse technical information by carrying out comprehensive measures including allocation of significantly more funds and strengthening of the systems. Furthermore it is important to make a plan to execute the above mentioned measures from a midterm perspective. Part 4: Regional Development of International Industrial R&D Cooperation - Practical Policy - I. Direction for International Industrial R&D Cooperation with the Advanced Industrialized Nations 1. Further Promotion of the Exchange of Researchers (1) To ensure that the International Industrial Technology R&D Cooperation Center (Techno Growth House), which is scheduled to start operation from next fiscal year, can engage in effective and fruitful activities, we will conduct discussions by specialists concerned from both Japan and abroad, including the United States. (2) A system for inviting researchers from abroad shall be upgraded. (3) A "US-Japan Industry and Technology Management Training" program shall be strengthened and cooperation efforts shall be made in establishing the conditions required for expansion of the circle of companies coming into the scheme, including the advertising and PR activities to achieve this, and also in matching of foreign researchers with host companies and funding, for the program. 2. Promotion of International Cooperative Research (1) In conducting cooperation, attention should be concentrated on the industrial generic technologies which are capable of forming the basis for industrial development. (2) The provisions made for dealing with intellectual property rights in the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) and Real World Computing (RWC) shall be a model for future international industrial R&D cooperation projects. (3) Supporting programs shall be implemented to promote joint research in the private sector. (45.6% of joint R&D in the private sector is not actually joint R&D but just commissioned research) (4) Efforts shall be made to ensure transparency for overseas companies and provide domestic and foreign interested parties with an equal chance to participate in R&D projects based on the principle of nondiscrimination. 3. Ensuring a Smooth and Unrestricted Flow of Japan's Technological Information (1) Consideration should be given to the transmission of important technical information to the governments of other nations on a regular basis through the cooperation of the Japan Industrial Technology Association (JITA) and other organizations. (2) The Electrotechnical Laboratory of AIST is to start its technological research information service with the Gopher (INTERNET) System. Other research institutes organized under AIST will be required to make the same kind of effort. Efforts shall also be made at the universities and other research institutes to create research information networks linked up with INTERNET. (3) Parallel with the Techno Growth House, there shall also be a Technological Information Office for the benefit of overseas engineers and researchers. This Office shall function as a technology access. Consideration shall also be given to the creation of similar facilities in other technology-intensive regions of Japan. 4. Other To achieve a deeper mutual understanding with our partners abroad, provisions shall be made to intensify a direct dialogue between the "International Research and Development Cooperation Committee of the Industrial Technology Council" and those responsible for technology policies in the various foreign countries concerned. Efforts shall be made on a regular basis to diffuse policies information through the holding of "Industrial Technology Policy Forums" composed of Foreign Embassies, Chambers of Commerce, etc. and consideration shall also be given to strengthen support for activities designed to bring about a
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