Tag: Innovation
IoT and Your Health
Having attended medical school, I understand that the Internet of Things (IoT) offers health-management solutions beyond the medical devices used to address problems faced by an aging society. My wife and I have a daughter who turned four last year. When she was born, I got the notion that it would be useful to attach various sensors to her crib to assist in her upbringing. At that time, IoT-related devices were not as obtainable as they are now, so I scrounged around Tokyo’s Akihabara district for sensors that I linked to a personal computer to devise a makeshift IoT crib. …
Will Automated Driving Become Universal?
The automobile world is yet another sector in which the Internet of Things (IOT) is progressing rapidly. However, awareness of this has been slow to penetrate in Japan. While attending a conference on the theme of Tokyo in the year 2030, I felt a strong sense of uneasiness when a participant raised the question: “Where should hydrogen refueling stations be located?” The automobile continues to metamorphose into a computer on wheels and, without a doubt, in the future through the IOT, it will undergo the greatest change of all. Just as motorization transformed the world’s cities in the past, incorporation …
The ultimate security, created through biology!?
Achieve innovation through “leaps of thought.” In early October, I was invited to attend the 12th Science and Technology for Society (STS) Forum held in Kyoto, where I made a presentation at its plenary session. Over 1,000 participants attended this annual event, which invites Nobel laureates from various countries, along with leaders from politics, business, and the media. The theme of the session at which I spoke was “Society Changed by Information and Communications Technology (ICT).” One of the topics I touched on was the factors shared by some of the world’s rapid-growth enterprises. Take Uber, for example. Despite becoming …
Portuguese Folk Tale “Stone Soup” Useful for Japanese Workplaces
I have said, any number of times, that I believe it will not be so difficult for Japanese corporations to display creativity and regain a leading position in the world. When asked what needs to be done to this end, I suggest the three following points: 1. Build teams based on deep communication 2. Empower subordinates with authority and responsibility 3. Provide sufficient incentives for staff, based on fairness and transparency Of the above, I have previously touched on items 2 and 3. Here, I’d like to discuss building teams based on deep communication. This may be the most difficult, …
In an Era of Change, Innovation can also change the rules of society
Have you ever given thought to why rules exist? Some may be of the opinion that rules are there for those who don’t think. Of course, without some constraints, society would collapse in disorder. But, nevertheless, people who put their minds to work in the pursuit of innovation in some cases manage to change the rules completely. In the background are the passions and visions of those moved by a desire to create business models that will change the world. Thus changing the rules may also result in the creation of new values. Take the example of America’s Uber Technologies …