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Support of Technology-related Missions
Case Study One – ICT and Psychiatry Mission from The Netherlands
The Dutch end of the mission was organized by the ICT consultants,
TwynstraWorkInnovation, and was composed of seven hospital directors
and other specialists involved in psychiatric treatment and care
provision.
The mission had two objectives. Firstly, to learn about the provision
of psychiatric treatment and care in Japan. Secondly, to see first-hand
interesting developments in ICT with potentially relevant health-care
applications. Euro Japan took care of all elements of the mission
in Japan, and developed a programme schedule to fulfill these objectives.
The mission members visited a number of hospitals with large psychiatry
departments. These included the University of Tokyo Hospital, NTT
East Japan Hospital and a leading private hospital, Kameda Clinic.
The electronic patient record systems used by these institutions
were of particular interest, and meetings were also held with technology
providers such as Fujitsu and IBM. Other companies with interesting
technologies visited included Toshiba, NTT DoCoMo, J-Phone and Secom.
An informative overview of the Japanese healthcare system and current
trends was provided in a meeting with the Ministry of Health, Labour
and Welfare. A meeting was also held with the chairman and other
senior members of the Medical Information System Development Center
(MEDIS). This organisation includes government, academic and corporate
members and develops common standards and guidelines for medical
information systems.
Case Study Two – ‘Global Regions Initiative’
Mission from UK
The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is the Government
funded agency responsible for the economic and social development
of the South East of England. This region has the largest population
in the UK, the second largest regional GDP (£130 billion estimated
for 2001) and is the largest net contributor to the UK Exchequer.
It benefits from high concentrations of knowledge-based industry
and boasts above average employment, but despite these characteristics
also has areas that continue to under-perform and require improvement
to ensure continued region-wide economic prosperity.
To address this challenge SEEDA has developed and embarked upon
a "global regions initiative" which aims to encourage
and facilitate links with other global regions with similar expectations
of growth and development. The links are expected to enable the
sharing and transfer of new technologies and trade, and to establish
knowledge networks between like-minded organisations, businesses
and universities for the benefit of each region's economy.
One of the Global Partners is the Tokyo/Kanagawa region in Japan
To coincide with the launch of the Initiative, the GRI coordinator
and leading academics from universities in the SE of England visited
Japan. The purpose of their mission was to promote the Initiative
to academics and government policy makers involved in entrepreneurship
and innovation, to learn about similar initiatives in Japan and
to establish the beginnings of a network of like-minded individuals.
The aims of the network are:
Enterprise and Innovation Best Practice
- Sharing knowledge and best practice (including entrepreneurship)
- Promotion and commercialisation of university research
- Supporting business growth/spin outs to and from partner regions
Academic/Research
- Building academic and research links in key technology areas
of mutual importance
- Promoting student recruitment and exchanges
- Teaching best practice and collaboration e.g. e-learning
Euro Japan established a visit itinerary which included meetings
with interested parties in various government agencies, including
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Research Institute
of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) and the National Institute
of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP).
Academic institutions visited included Keio University, Waseda
University, the University of Tokyo, Yokohama National University
and Tokyo Institute of Technology.
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