Problems Presented by the Japanese Practice of Forming Agreements for Industry-University Collaborative Research Aimed at Innovation

Abstract

The activity of the Collaboration of Universities and Industries (CUI) in Japan has been increasing since the enactment of the Basic Act on Science and Technology in 1995 and the 1st Science and Technology Basic Plan in 1996. However, the CUI was evaluated negatively in the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan in 2016, because it has not produced sufficient innovation in Japan. The report suggests that this was the result of insufficient utilization of research results from the collaborative research between universities and industries in Japan. It seems that the traditional Japanese practice in forming agreements for collaborative research contributes to this problem. The purpose of the present study, then, was to investigate the possibility of negative influence from this traditional practice, through a survey of articles in industry-university-government publications over the last 20 years, which addressed problems in the treatment of collaborative research results between universities and industries.