From industry-academia collaboration to the orchestration of knowledge — its future

What was discussed

The session discussed how to expand industry-academia collaboration from combinations of individual researchers and companies to relationships in which multiple parties bring their knowledge together. The view was presented that neither corporate requests nor research seeds are sufficiently articulated, and that the more concrete they become through dialogue, the more fields of expertise are needed. In addition to the problem that even within a university research information cannot be grasped as a whole, the problem that purposes fade as they pass through layers of decision-making was discussed. The role of a university forming a team to set rules for distributing benefits among multiple organizations was also considered.

About this session

Can industry-academia collaboration move a step beyond matching researchers and companies one to one, and become an occasion for orchestrating knowledge toward creating industries? Practitioners on the front line, driving new initiatives on the university side, have gathered around this question. How can universities realise industry-academia collaboration that contributes to creating industries? We open a space for dialogue on that possibility.

Speakers

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  Katsuyuki Sato

  ZERO INSTITUTE, Tohoku University　Head of Business

  A graduate of the Faculty of Law at Tohoku University. At an independent consulting firm he worked on launching new businesses, carve-outs and post-merger management reform, then joined the REAPRA group, where he handled new investments in Japan and supported portfolio companies. Since going independent he has been involved in running several ventures while working on startup development and EIR activity at Tohoku University. As of 2026 he is concurrently Vice President of Tohoku University Co-creation Initiative and a specially appointed associate professor (visiting) at the university's Co-creation Strategy Center, and serves as Head of Business at ZERO INSTITUTE.

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  Akiko ONO

  TechManage Inc.　Representative Director

  After graduating from the Faculty of Letters at Fuji Women's University, she joined Recruit in 1992. From 2002 she worked in the company's technology management development office, handling technology transfer in fields including new materials and biotechnology for around ten years. In 2012 she took part in founding Tech Manage Corporation, where she now serves as Representative Director, supporting technology transfer, industry-academia-government collaboration and startups for the company's clients and some thirty universities across Japan. Her current focus is on strengthening open innovation support that connects academia to the needs of companies. She also serves as an industry-academia collaboration adviser at Hokkaido University.

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  Hiroyuki Ono

  Startup Creation Division, Institute for the Promotion of Business-Regional Collaboration, Hokkaido University　Director / Specially Appointed Professor / Programme Director of the Hokkaido Startup Future Creation network (HSFC) and Chair of its steering committee

  He graduated in engineering from Hokkaido University in 1987 and completed a master's there in 1990. After launching internet services at Recruit he worked on new business development at IT companies, on joint ventures with foreign firms, and in the management of several companies. He returned to Hokkaido University in June 2023, where he works on creating startups from university intellectual property and on new industries through industry-academia-government collaboration.

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  Hideki Kusano

  PwC Consulting LLC　Director

  He joined PwC Consulting LLC in 2017 and has worked on corporate innovation and industry-academia-government collaboration. Working chiefly in Kyushu, he helps universities, companies and government build structures that keep producing value together, and helps research results reach society. In joint projects with universities, including in agriculture, he takes part from the R&D stage, connecting researchers and companies around commercialisation, funding, rule-making and overseas expansion.

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  Yuya Nishimura

  Moderatoresse-sense Inc.　Representative Director

  Born in Ikeda, Osaka, in 1981. After a master's in human sciences at Osaka University he worked at a human development venture and at the Japan Productivity Center, and founded the NPO Miratuku in 2011. He supports the building of innovation infrastructure across fields and roles, business creation inside companies, R&D projects, and the search for future visions and currents. In 2021 he founded esse-sense Inc., which runs esse-sense, connecting research knowledge with society.

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  Takuji Sakamoto

  Kyushu University, Academic Research and Industrial Collaboration Management ／ Kyudai OIP Co., Ltd.　Associate Professor ／ Director

  He took a master's degree in engineering at Osaka University in March 2012 and served at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from April of that year until December 2024. He gained a Master of Sciences Po at Sciences Po Paris in June 2018, and from April 2021 to June 2023 he worked at the Cabinet Secretariat and the Cabinet Office bureau for regional revitalisation. He completed an MBA at Globis University Graduate School of Management in March 2025. He is now an associate professor in Academic Research and Industrial Collaboration Management at Kyushu University, where he works on industry-government-academia collaboration.