On 28 February 2019 the First Japan-Russia Industry, academia and government working-level conference was held at University of Tsukuba, Tokyo campus.
This conference was convened as part of Human Resource Development Platform for Japan-Russia Economic Cooperation and Personnel Exchange (HaRP Project), which is a joint undertaking of Hokkaido University and Niigata University, whose application for participation in the 2017 Inter-University Exchange Project (Support for developing inter-university ties with Russia. Type B: Platform-building program) was approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Representatives of the industry, government and academia gathered for exchanging information of good practices and projects for developing human resources that would contribute to Japan-Russia economic cooperation, aiming at strengthening the ties between their respective organizations and further development and promotion of Japan-Russia collaboration.
In addition to universities engaged in Japan-Russia academic collaboration (22 Japanese and 7 Russian universities), representatives of the MEXT, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), enterprises and other organizations (17) took part in the conference (100 participants in total).
The morning session was the debriefing session of the universities selected for participation in the Inter-University Exchange Project, it was opened by the welcome addresses by Masanori Kasahara, Executive Director and Vice President of Hokkaido University, and Kazumi Shindo, Director of the Office for International Planning, Higher Education Bureau, MEXT. Next, the universities selected for participation in the Inter-University Exchange Project (Russia) shared the results of their undertakings and discussed the future tasks and prospects for their projects, their reports being followed by a question-and-answer session. For the first time, apart from the universities selected for participation in the Inter-University Exchange Project, other universities engaged in academic collaboration with Russia, enterprises and other organizations were invited to this meeting.
The afternoon session comprised:
1) a presentation on collaboration of industry, academia and government within the HaRP Project;
2) presentations by Niigata University and Krasnoyarsk State Medical University on their respective projects in the field of medicine;
3) reports by Japanese and Russian students on their internship experience in Russia and Japan, respectively;
4) presentations by Moscow State University and Pacific National University on their expectations with respect to collaboration of industry, academia and government.
In conclusion, a panel discussion on internship placements of Japanese and Russian students was held, moderated by Tsuyoshi Setoguchi, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. The panelists (Nikken Sekkei Research Institute, the recruitment company Man to Man, and Aichi Prefectural Government) introduced their respective human resource development undertakings involving internship placements, and the commentators (Kindai University and Sojitz Corporation) shared their vision of future applications of internship as an educational tool based on their respective experience in the field of industry and academia. The experts’ discussion was followed by a lively question-and-answer session, which demonstrated the high interest of the audience in this subject.
The session was concluded by the address of Masanori Tsuruda, Director of the Europe Division, METI, who expressed his aspirations regarding the development of human resources that would contribute to the implementation of the 8-point Japan-Russia Economic Cooperation Plan.
This conference brought together representatives of universities, self-government bodies, enterprises and other organizations interested in Japan-Russia collaboration and is expected to provide further impetus for such industry, academia and government colllaboration projects.
Further information on the IAG Conference may be viewed here.