Kyoto University, Osaka University, and Kobe University Joint Symposium: “A Future Pioneered by Industry-University Co-Creation: Tackling Population Decline” held

On Friday, September 27, 2024, the Kyoto University, Osaka University, and Kobe University Joint Symposium (sponsored by Nikkei Inc. and the Japan Center for Economic Research) was held in Osaka City as part of the annual "Kansai Economist Meetings."

This year, the symposium was held under the theme of “A Future Pioneered by Industry-University Co-Creation: Tackling Population Decline.” Facilitated by YAGITANI Masami (Executive Officer and Chief of the Osaka Editing Unit, Nikkei Inc.), the presidents of the 3 universities talked with OGAWA Yoshimi (President and CEO, Daicel Corporation) and UEDA Rieko (President, Mothernet Co., Ltd.) about industry-university collaboration in addressing population decline.

First, Mr. Ogawa, a School of Engineering Science alum, gave a keynote speech entitled “How to Tackle the Problem of Low Birth Rates and Aging Population in University-Industry Cooperation.” He spoke that companies could enrich society by returning their profits to stakeholders such as shareholders and employees, proposing for improving research environment by raising salaries for university faculty members and strengthening cooperation among the industry, universities, and technical colleges.

After university presidents MINATO Nagahiro (Kyoto University), NISHIO Shojiro (Osaka University), and FUJISAWA Masato (Kobe University) spoke about the role of the university in a society facing a declining population and specific initiatives, UEDA Rieko, who found Mothernet to support working mothers from her experiences struggling to balance work, family, and all the other things, introduced child-rearing support services at her company, speaking about the importance of university-industry cooperation in promoting activities to empower women.

In the following panel discussion, participants talked about initiatives for creating innovation that supports human resource development, diversity, work-life balance, promotion of women’s empowerment, and a healthy aging population. Then they renewed their determination to realize a brighter future by promoting these initiatives through industry-university co-creation.

President Nishio said that fostering empowerment for women can be a pathway to innovation, expressing his strong determination to further improve a research environment for researchers to work and raise a family at the same time in order to develop capable female researchers. He touched on the importance for the university of meeting the industry’s educational needs in this era of the centenarian through reskilling and upskilling. He also introduced the university’s endeavor, the REACH Project*, in which Shimadzu Corporation and the university aim to develop high-level experts through their co-creation.

*REACH Project: A project in which employees at Shimadzu Corporation enter a doctoral course at Osaka University through the generous support of Shimadzu to focus on their research and obtain their doctoral degrees in 2~3 years.

President Nishio spoke about the importance of human resource development

More than 300 participants joined the symposium