LIFE & CULTURE

BRINGING JAPANESE TECHNOLOGIESTO THE WORLD THROUGHCROSS BORDER
OPEN INNOVATION
An entrepreneur from Uzbekistan who found her lifework inJapan—to fully draw out the potential of advanced
technologies lying unutilized—is doing her utmost to serve asa bridge between companies in Japan and the rest of the world.
“Japan is home to many
dormant technologies that havethe potential to change people’s
lives and the way the world
works,” says Fariza Abidova, anentrepreneur from Uzbekistan.
Regardless of how outstanding
a technology is, ideas from asingle company or industry areoften insufficient to apply thattechnology to the creation of an
innovative product or businessmodel. “Open innovation” is aparadigm aiming to overcomethat predicament and is garneringmuch attention in recent years.
It goes beyond the boundaries
of companies, industries, andeven countries to gather and

FARIZA ABIDOVA
Born in Uzbekistan, Abidova came toJapan in 2005 to study interculturalcommunication at Kobe University.
After graduating, she founded a global
human resource development company,and in 2016, she co-founded Trusted
Corporation, which aims to createinnovations by connecting companies
around the world.

UZBEKISTAN

develop expertise in the pursuitof problem-solving innovation.
Many companies around the world
now practice open innovation inorder to address challenges not
resolvable by one company alone.
After graduating from Kobe
University, Abidova began tohold corporate training sessions
for global human resources inJapan. It was during this timethat she visited a client’s R&D
facility where she was shocked tosee that, due to the difficulties inJAPANfinding and building relationships
with business partners from othercountries and cultures, manycutting-edge technologies werelying unused. “It made me want
to become a bridge between
Japanese companies and those of
the rest of the world. I can’t offer
any technology-related assistance,
but I can provide support toovercome cultural differences andfacilitate communication.”
At Trusted Corporation—acompany she co-founded in

Left: Abidova when she was studying at Kobe University as a student on the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology scholarship (fourth from the left).
Right: Holding training sessions for global human resource development, with a focus on teachingpractical communication skills based on specific scenarios.

2016—Abidova is advancing
projects related to vehicles andlogistics for smart cities, with afocus on activities that connect
companies in Japan and Europe.
Not only does she actively work
to find the most befitting business
partners—from among 5,000
European companies selected byher firm over a four-year period
as promising potential partners—
but she also preemptively analyzes
problems that Japanese companies
are likely to encounter in thecourse of carrying out a project.
Abidova provides the support
needed in fine detail, fromclarifying visions and challenges
to building good communications
and relationships with the partnercompanies. Her backgroundand work history make her theoptimum candidate for that task;
having built up her career anddiverse personal networks througha fluency in seven languages, she

has the skills required to flexibly
adapt to the different cultures andstyles of communication found inother countries.
Her effortless agility to crossover national and cultural barriers
was cultivated in the social
climate of her home country,
Uzbekistan, where more than 130
ethnic groups live. Growing up
surrounded by different cultures
and ways of thinking, she had
naturally learned to understandand respect cultures different
from her own. According to
Abidova, during the course ofconducting global business, a lackof understanding of the otherparty’s culture and background
has often prevented the proper
communication of one’s real
intentions, leading to unexpected
problems and distrust. She has
always wanted to help bridge suchgaps.
Uzbekistan flourished as a

The nationalities and fields of expertise of her colleagues at Trusted Corporation are diverse (top).
Nearly half of the entire staff works outside of Japan, such as in Italy and Germany.
Abidova says that it is her role to further draw out the strengths of talented people in various fields,
be they clients or colleagues.

crossroads for trade between theEast and West on the Silk Road.
It is renowned for the beauty of
its World Heritage Sites such as
the city of Samarkand, but also
still faces many challenges, withsome areas lacking a proper gas
and water supply and other social

Many legacies of various cultures and religions
can be found in Uzbekistan. Samarkand,
Abidova’s birthplace, is called “The Blue Capital”
because of the vivid blue Islamic architecturethat abounds there, including the Registan
Mosque and madrasas (top), and theShakhi-Zinda compound (bottom), a complex
of large tombs and temples. The city wasregistered as a World Heritage Site in 2001.

infrastructure. If life in the world
can be made more comfortable
and convenient through open
innovation, Abidova believes
that the living environment in
Uzbekistan will also improve. Thatis how she hopes to contribute toher country through her life’s work.
“There are many problems that canbe solved through the power oftechnology. Every day is an exciting
one when I think that the workthat I do could help change theworld.” It may not be long before
Japan’s dormant technologies aremaking their mark around theworld in various fields.