In a new interview piece by NewsPicks, Kenji Kushida talks about the history of Stanford University and its surrounding area, and how it has become a birthplace of innovation. Speaking as an insider, Kushida discusses some of the lesser known historical developments and connections that have positioned Stanford as a core player in the Silicon Valley ecosystem.
Access the full article here (in Japanese)
On May 7, the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center Japan Program welcomed Professor Steven K Vogel to speak about his new book, Marketcraft: How Governments Make Markets Work.
Modern-day markets do not arise spontaneously or evolve naturally. Rather they are crafted by individuals, firms, and most of all, by governments. Thus "marketcraft" represents a core function of government comparable to statecraft and requires considerable artistry to govern markets effectively. Just as real-world statecraft can be masterful or muddled, so it is with marketcraft.
In this new book, Steven Vogel builds his argument upon the recognition that all markets are crafted then systematically explores the implications for analysis and policy. In modern societies, there is no such thing as a free market. Markets are institutions, and contemporary markets are all heavily regulated. The "free market revolution" that began in the 1980s did not see a deregulation of markets, but rather a re-regulation. Vogel looks at a wide range of policy issues to support this concept, focusing in particular on the US and Japan. He examines how the US, the "freest" market economy, is actually among the most heavily regulated advanced economies, while Japan's effort to liberalize its economy counterintuitively expanded the government's role in practice.
Marketcraft demonstrates that market institutions need government to function, and in increasingly complex economies, governance itself must feature equally complex policy tools if it is to meet the task. In our era-and despite what anti-government ideologues contend-governmental officials, regardless of party affiliation, should be trained in marketcraft just as much as in statecraft.
Watch the 15 minute introduction to this new book below:
Steven K. Vogel is the Il Han New Professor of Asian Studies and a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in the political economy of the advanced industrialized nations, especially Japan. He recently completed a book, entitled Marketcraft: How Governments Make Markets Work (Oxford, 2018), which argues that markets do not arise spontaneously but rather are crafted by individuals, firms, and most of all by governments. Thus “marketcraft” represents a core function of government comparable to statecraft. The book systematically reviews the implications of this argument, critiquing prevalent schools of thought and presenting lessons for policy. Vogel is also the author of Japan Remodeled: How Government and Industry Are Reforming Japanese Capitalism (Cornell, 2006) and co-editor (with Naazneen Barma) of The Political Economy Reader: Markets as Institutions (Routledge, 2008). His first book, Freer Markets, More Rules: Regulatory Reform in Advanced Industrial Countries (Cornell, 1996), won the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. He edited his mother’s book, Suzanne Hall Vogel, The Japanese Family in Transition: From the Professional Housewife Ideal to the Dilemmas of Choice(Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), and a volume on U.S.-Japan Relations in a Changing World(Brookings, 2002). He won the Northern California Association of Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Excellence Award in 2002, and the UC Berkeley Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of Graduate Student Instructors in 2005. He has been a columnist for Newsweek-Japan and the Asahi Shimbun, and he has written extensively for the popular press. He has worked as a reporter for the Japan Times in Tokyo and as a freelance journalist in France. He has taught previously at the University of California, Irvine and Harvard University. He has a B.A. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Our strategic partner (and co-producer of the Annual Silicon Valley-New Japan Summit) Ishin, recently published an article profiling Stanford Accelerator, StartX.
The CEO of StartX, Joseph Huang was a keynote speaker at the Silicon Valley-New Japan Summit last November.
Click here for the full article (in Japanese)
On April 24, Kenji Kushida gave a talk on Silicon Valley, the Algorithmic Revolution and the "worst practices" to harness Silicon Valley by large Japanese companies, and some good examples of successful efforts such as Komatsu, Honda, Yamaha, and a few others. The seminar was orchestrated by the Canon Institute for Global Studies, and held at the Hitotsubashi Hall in Takebashi.
JETRO recently published a write-up of the event available here.
In the newly published NIRA report on Regtech, a piece by Kenji Kushida talking about the potential of Regtech, is featured in the "Expert Opinion" section.
To access the full report please go to: http://www.nira.or.jp/pdf/vision35.pdf
(Japanese only)
Work reform has been a topic of interest in Japan recently. In the first installment of a New Nikkei BP Series investigating topics relating to personnel recruitment, development, and the value of work by Musashi Sakai Driving School President, Aki Takahashi, Kenji Kushida was interviewed about varieties of how to work and productivity improvement.
Last week, Kenji Kushida was invited to speak at the Trilateral Commission in Singapore, where he presented an overview of Artificial Intelligence: the algorithmic revolution driving the next industrial revolution, and participated in a panel on agritech.
The research note on AI prepared for and distributed at the Trilateral Commission is available on our website as a working paper.
On March 7th, Kenji Kushida spoke at the Silicon Valley Japan Platform Benkyokai meeting on "Japan's New Startup Ecosystem and Large Corporate Innovation: Why Japan (still) Matters in Global Competition." The session was moderated by Steve Suda, Managing Director of the Office of Development at Stanford University.
In our newest SVNJ Working Paper, "Abenomics and Japan's Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Is the Third Arrow Pointed in the Right Direction for Global Competition in the Digital Era of Silicon Valley?" Kenji Kushida evaluates the efficacy of Abenomics’ third arrow of comprehensive economic structural reform towards leading Japan to compete in an era dominated by Silicon Valley firms.
As Japan's political economy evolves over time, a critical question is whether or not it is adjusting effectively to the dynamics of global competition. While Japan has historically shifted from its status as one of many countries aiming to catch-up to global leaders to becoming a leader in many areas of global competition, recently global leadership has shifted to the economic ecosystem of Silicon Valley. In the past couple decades, global value creation has been driven by the Silicon Valley model - not only a geographic region but a distinct ecosystem of complementary characteristics.
Since assuming power, the Abe administration has put forth a well branded and enthusiastically promoted economic reform package, "Abenomics" consisting of three arrows. The third arrow in particular, was a comprehensive reform strategy that recognized Japan's need to restructure many aspects of its economy to compete in the current digital, globalized era. Policy evaluation is one of the pillars of the Silicon Valley-New Japan Project, and this new paper seeks to evaluate whether third arrow reforms move Japan closer to a Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship and innovation.
On Monday, March 5th, the Stanford Silicon Valley-New Japan Project hosted the Danish Minister of Employment, Troels Lund Poulsen, and top Danish labor union representatives for a small closed group discussion about labor disruption in the digital era.
The Danish government is currently working on a year long project on the future of work. The question of how technology can change the labour market is prominent in the political and policy discussions. The Danish government has set up a "disruption" council to handle these issues and specify policies to meet the challenges.
The Danish government has had a strong tradition of working with labor unions and businesses to face new economic challenges. During this session, the Minister and Labor Leader each spoke about labor disruption in the Danish context, and discussed Denmark's efforts to effectively implement technologies and embrace the future in a way that is inclusive of everyone.
The acceptance of new technologies and the ways in which they are implemented varies greatly from country to country. APARC faculty and members of the audience offered similar as well as differing viewpoints from Silicon Valley and from Asian countries such as South Korea and Japan.
Several major themes to emerge from this conversation were: labor replacement vs. labor augmentation, structuring and implementing lifelong learning, and implementing new social welfare systems for a future with vastly different employment structures.
Two new columns by Kenji Kushida were published by the Canon Institute for Global Studies this month. Please click the links below to access the articles (available in Japanese only).
RegTech (レグテック)の大いなるポテンシャル："Weapons of Math Destruction" の落とし穴を避けて (RegTech's Great Potential while Avoiding the "Weapons of Math Destruction" pitfall")
AI浸透についての考え方のフレームワーク：日本にとってどこが高付加価値となるのか (A Framework for Thinking of AI Diffusion: In search of high value added for Japan)
On December 19, Kenji Kushida led a seminar at the Canon Institute for Global Studies, on AI disruption and the fine line between true disruptive innovation and illusion.
AI has been gaining attention for some time now. AI is a catalyst for a bigger algorithmic revolution, and it is clear that genuine AI incorporated into various services and companies will disrupt existing industry and work as we know it. At the same time, the buzz around AI has created an environment in which information analysis will not sell unless it is labelled as AI, leading to concerns that the current AI boom might be superficial.
How do we differentiate true disruptive innovation versus superficial, excessive expectations, and how do we implement solutions in a way that optimizes and increases value, without causing destructive consequences?
For more information on the seminar please click here.
The Stanford Silicon Valley-New Japan Project had another productive year of activity and growth. This year, we were able to facilitate substantial research, conduct new and ongoing joint research collaborations, and organize several large scale conferences, and other outreach activities.
We sincerely thank all of our supporters for helping make this a great year, and we look forward to sharing another successful year with you in 2018.
Happy Holidays and a have a wonderful new year!
On November 3, the Stanford Silicon Valley-New Japan Project hosted “Human Autonomy in the Age of Automation: Envisioning 2045” at Stanford University. The event was produced jointly with Japanese venture community, Mistletoe Inc. We invited thought leaders, technologists and social entrepreneurs to discuss the replacement of human labor by artificial intelligence and robotics, and what this shift might mean for the future of human welfare and economic opportunity. We also revealed our new joint collaboration with Mistletoe In., The Mistletoe Foundation, and its inaugural program, the Mistletoe Research Fellowship Program.
The Silicon Valley-New Japan Summit was mentioned in an article published by the Nikkei this morning!
The article, roughly translates to "The Rise of Silicon Valley's 'Third VC Boom.'" Developments in AI, IoT and Big Data technologies in Silicon Valley have resulted in a new wave of VC investments. Large Japanese corporations have recently been actively partaking in this wave, investing CVC in innovative startups and establishing branches in the heart of Silicon Valley. The article mentions our efforts to try to connect these Japanese firms with Silicon Valley startups, and help Japanese firms better harness Silicon Valley.
Click here for full article (in Japanese only)
On November 29-Dec 1, 2017, the Stanford Silicon Valley-New Japan Project co-sponsored a symposium on “Working, Earning, and Learning in the Age of Intelligent Tools” at UC Berkeley. The conference was a joint production by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, the UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI, the UC Berkeley Institute of European Studies, the UC Center for Information Technology Research in the Interests of Society, UC Davis Community and Regional Development Program, The American Jobs Project, the German Federal Ministry for Labor and Social Affairs, The German Academic Exchange Service, and the Stanford Silicon Valley-New Japan Project. This closed event brought together an interdisciplinary and international group of about 80 researchers from the fields of engineering and data science, economics, sociology, and political science, to explore the challenges we face in the age of intelligent tools and computation-intensive automation of manufacturing and services, and how we might find ways of working, earning, and learning that support the healthy development of our societies and economies and the humans who inhabit them, going forward.
See list of speakers below.
Paul Alivisatos, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, UC Berkeley
Alexandre Bayen, Professor of EECS and Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley
Annette Bernhardt, Director, Low-Wage Work Program, Center for Labor Research and Education; Senior Researcher, Institute for Researcher, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
Michael Borrus, Founding Partner, XSeed Capital; Co-Founder, BRIE
Stijn Broecke, OECD, Senior Economist, Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
Brad DeLong, Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley
Giovanni Dosi, Professor of Economics and Director of Institute of Economics, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
Chris Edley, Distinguished Professor and former Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law; Co-Founder and President, the Opportunity Institute
Stuart Feldman, Head of Schmidt Sciences, Schmidt Sciences
Ken Goldberg, William S. Floyd Jr. Distinguished Chair in Engineering, UC Berkeley; Chair and Professor, Industrial Engineering/Operations Research Department; Director of AUTOLAB and CITRIS “People and Robots” Initiative
Montserrat Gomendio, OECD Deputy Director, Directorate for Education and Skills, Head of the OECD Centre for Skills
Jennifer Granholm, Faculty Member at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy; Senior Advisor, CITRIS; Former Governor of Michigan
Bjoern Hartmann, Associate Professor in EECS, Faculty Director of the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, UC Berkeley
Stéphanie Jamet, OECD, Directorate for Education and Skills, Senior Economist
Phil Kaminsky, Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations and Executive Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, UC Berkeley
Stephane Kasriel, CEO, Upwork
Martin Kenney, Distinguished Professor of Community and Regional Development, UC Davis
Helmut Krcmar, Chair of Information Systems, Department of Computer Science, Technische Universitat Munchen
Kenji Kushida, Research Scholar, Stanford University; Research Affiliate, BRIE
Mark Kvamme, Co-founder and Partner, Drive Capital
Susan Lund, Partner, Mckinsey Global Institute
Lenny Mendonca, Senior Partner Emeritus, Mckinsey
Niels Christina Nielsen, CEO World Refugee Schools
Mark Nitzberg, Executive Director of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence
Tim O’Reilly, CEO, O’Reilly Media
Lee Rainie, Pew Research Center, Director of Internet and Technology Research
Petri Rouvinen, Research Director, Research Institute of the Finnish Economy; CEO, Etlatieto
Shankar Sastry, Dean of the College of Engineering, UC Berkeley
Patrick Scaglia, Managing Partner, Blue Bear Ventures; Co-founder, CITRIS Foundry Accelerator
Stefano Scarpetta, OECD, Director, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
Hanne Shapiro, Business owner, Hanne Shapiro Futures
Andreas Schleicher, OECD, Director, Directorate of Education and Skills
Costas Spanos, Director CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, Distinguished Professor of EECS; Chief Technical Officer of the Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore, UC Berkeley
Mariagrazia Squicciarini, OECD, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, Senior Economist
Claire Tomlin, Charles A. Desoer Chair in the College of Engineering, Professor in EECS at UC Berkeley
Laura Tyson, Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School and Faculty Director of the Institute for Business & social Impact, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business; Chair, Blum Center for Developing Economies
Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google
Mary Walshok, Dean of the University Extension and Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Programs, UC San Diego
Andrew Wyckoff, OECD, Director, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation
Saadia Zahidi, Head of Education, Gender and Work; Member of the Executive Committee: World Economic Forum
John Zysman, Professor Emeritus, BRIE Founder/Co-Director, Convener- WITS University of California, Berkeley
The Silicon Valley - New Japan Summit 2017 is over! We want to say a huge thank you to our sponsors, co-hosts, and staff for making this event possible, and of course to all of our participants who made this event the success that it was. We had a total of about 500+ attendees of the course of the two-days, with 65 Silicon Valley startups and over 100 large Japanese companies.
The summit, in its second year, was broken up into two days - the first day was entirely in Japanese, and the second day in English. This year’s summit featured keynotes from Executive Chairman of RENOVA, Sachio Semmoto, and CEO of StartX, Joseph Huang, and also highlighted some interesting Japanese large firm and Silicon Valley startup partnerships, featuring panel discussions with Softbank and Aeris, and Panasonic and Citrine Informatics. This year we heard pitches from 30 innovative startups, including firms such as Skycatch, Coinbase, Cylance etc.
A longer report is forthcoming.
In February, in an interview piece with Ishin, Kenji Kushida discussed 10 of the worst practices by Japanese companies attempting to harness Silicon Valley.
In a second interview piece with Ishin, Kushida discusses a new set of worst practices, discussing the areas in which Japanese firms and Silicon Valley firms might feel disconnect, and suggesting ways in which Japanese firms can better harness Silicon Valley.
The article (in Japanese) is available online via the link below.
[続編] シリコンバレーの日本企業は陥る、１０のワーストプラクティス
Kenji Kushida participated in the Nikkei Finsum Week 2017 in September. He held a fireside chat with SBI Holdings CEO Kitao Yoshitaka. He also moderated a panel with fintech firms that had experienced and were planning ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) and participated in a panel discussion on the future regulation and social issues in a cross-border talk.
Kenji Kushida's new book chapter, "Blockchain, a Silicon Valley Vantage on its Potential and Challenges" was published in new book, "The Future of Blockchain: How it will impact finance, industry, and society" edited by Yuri Okina, Noriyuki Yanagawa, and Naoyuki Iwashita.
The book is an investigation of the potential and challenges of adopting a disruptive technology such as blockchain. Experts on blockchain applications explain the concept of blockchain, how it is being utilized in a variety of areas, and its wide-range impact on economy, industry, business and society, based on cases in Japan and overseas.
The book is part of a NIRA project, and is now available on Amazon.
