Efforts of Government, Background and Challenges to Encourage Open-Innovation

Abstract

In recent years, Japanese companies are required to create innovation rapidly due to shorter product life cycle. By this reason, the importance of "Open-innovation" is getting stronger. This is a procedure to accelerate development of innovative products and services without being restricted by their own resource, by introducing technology seeds from outside. On the other hand, Japanese companies have many issues originating from their past successful experience, known as "the not-invented-here syndrome". In order to overcome such issues, companies need approaches so as to (1) make clear top management decision, (2) reform the organization to push forward the decision, and (3) cumulate such operation. To encourage those approaches, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) where the author belongs, implement assistance by government budget, tax system and by collecting the best practice for sharing.