MyVision
No.2

2014. 3

Towards Dialogue
between Technologyand Society
As research continues to drive the development of advanced technologies in fields as diverse as thelife sciences, information and communication, and the environment, the nature of the relationshipbetween technology and society is increasingly being questioned. The interviewees in this issue ofMy Vision stress the necessity for the development of mechanisms to link technology to competitiveness in industry, and for efforts to ensure that society adapts to technology. They also indicate theimportance of eliminating the isolation produced by specialization, of the recognition by scientists
and engineers of their social responsibilities, and of the opening of research to the general public.

C O NT E NT S
Expert Opinions

How should Technology and SocietyInteract?
An era of business creativity
that will oﬀer technologies
to society

Living in a trans-scientiﬁc age

President, The Industry-Academia Collaboration
Initiative (Nonproﬁt Organization)

The social responsibilityof science and technology

Kenichiro Senoh

We must adapt society
to new technologies
Takeshi Natsuno

Guest Professor, Graduate School of Mediaand Governance, Keio University SFC

Yoshinori Yokoyama

Program Professor, Executive Management Program,
The University of Tokyo

Yuko Fujigaki

Professor, Department of General Systems Studies,
The University of Tokyo

Open research
to the general publicShohei Yonemoto

Professor, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies

Expert Opinions

How should Technology and SocietyInteract?
Science and technology are advancing in tandem, generating signiﬁcant changes to society.
How should we think about these changes, and how should we respond? What responsibilities should academia,
industry and government fulﬁll, and what are their strategies? In this issue of MyVision, we ask scholars andexperts with a deep knowledge of technology for their opinion regarding the relationship between technology
and society in the realms of management, policy, sociology and thought.

Interviewer: Yuya Nishiyama, NIRA Senior Researcher
Period of interviews: November-December 2013

An era of business creativity that will
oﬀer technologies to society
Kenichiro Senoh

President, The Industry-Academia Collaboration Initiative(Nonprofit Organization)

It is essential for technology to reach and benefit the broader
society via industry. Industry plays the vitally important roles ofactivating the economy and providing employment. However,while today’ s Japan might possess technological capability, thisdoes not result in industrial competitiveness.
One reason for this is that the business model by which
technologies are utilized has remained stagnant for many years.
Japan is still trapped by an extremely antiquated model, by meansof which technologies are fitted in products (i.e., actualized asgoods), and these products are sold for direct remuneration. By
contrast, winning companies in the U.S. and Europe attempt tocommercialize technologies using a range of different methods.
The management of intellectual property – and this is what
supports the business model in use – is another area in whichmost Japanese companies use an old-fashioned model, applying
for patents in order to obtain the rights to technologies. They must
understand that patents make technologies public, and function as
textbooks for competitors. Surely it would be better forcompanies to possess tricks that represent confidential aspects of
their technological expertise? In the final analysis, companies
must give close attention to strategies of opening and closure –which areas of technology to open in order to accelerate theformation of markets, and which to close in order to ensureprofits.
Another reason that Japan’ s technological capability does not
result in competitiveness for the nation’s industries is the fact thatbusiness managers are not able to imagine the form of thetechnologies and industries that will offer new value to the societyof the future. In the past, the founder of Sony, Masaru Ibuka, andthe founder of Honda, Soichiro Honda, offered grand visions thatgenerated excitement. Apple ’ s Steve Jobs did not create theiPhone using only his own company ’ s technologies. He avidly
sought out the necessary technologies to create new value forsociety from outside the company. The question here is one ofbusiness ambition originating in the power of the imagination. ■We must adapt society to new technologies
Takeshi Natsuno
Guest Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance,
Keio University SFC

Technology is a tool to maximize human abilities and expand
the possibilities of evolution. Human abilities are innatelylimited, but the advent of information technology has
considerably expanded the potential for imagination andcreativity.
The era in which we live is marked by the fastest pace oftechnological evolution in human history. Using searchtechnologies, it is as if we have access to an external brain, andwe become able to access the necessary information when it isneeded. As a result, we can use the time that would previously
have been spent in memorization on more creative pursuits. In
the coming decades, we will develop technologies able to send
electrical signals directly to the brain, and our ability to process
information will once again increase dramatically.
The evolution of social technologies has also brought radical
changes: We are now able to share specialized papers, andspecialists working in a range of different areas are able toexchange opinions. The time required to share knowledge has
been dramatically reduced, and as a result, new sources ofknowledge are being born spontaneously.
This makes social adaptation, the way in which society adapts
to new technologies, an issue of tremendous importance. In theU.S., the use of the Internet in election campaigns has ushered ina new era; this represents an example of skillful adaptation. InJapan, by contrast, a law allowing the use of the Internet in thisway was only passed in 2013. In contemporary Japan, the legal
system, business customs, and management systems are alloutdated, and this is placing a brake on innovation, impedingsocial adaptation. If this situation continues, the adaptation ofsociety to technology will not progress, and we will be overtaken
by other countries. Unless we are able to realize this adaptationeven a little more rapidly, we will be leaving a difficult legacy tofuture generations. ■My Vision No.2

Living in a trans-scientiﬁc age

Yoshinori Yokoyama

Program Professor, Executive Management Program,
The University of Tokyo

Past technologies were developed on the basis of experience,through a repeated process of trial and error. For example, theWright brothers, the inventors of powered flight, did not possess
expert knowledge in the area of fluid dynamics. It was theexperience of a great many mistakes that provided the basis fortheir development. This shows us that the technology of thesetimes was something that could be understood through direct
sensation.
However, many technologies developed in the 20th century,
such as nuclear power, the life sciences, and information andcommunications technologies, bear no relation with experience.
These technologies are born from the accretion of scientificknowledge and the accumulated publication of technical papers,
and their details are understood only by specialists. The
proliferation of technologies of this type means that ordinary
people are unable to understand technology through direct
sensation based on experience, creating the conditions for thespread of ignorance and misunderstanding of technology.
In the case of advanced technologies such as genetic
engineering, we can also observe conflicts of opinion.
Cross-pollination has long been practiced in order to improve
agricultural products, but many people believe that geneticallyengineered crops created on the basis of theories in the life
sciences are dangerous. In this case, it is essential not only forspecialists, but also for large numbers of other concerned
individuals, to consider the issues together. The U.S. nuclear
physicist Alvin M. Weinberg calls areas such as this“trans-science.” These are areas in which science is able to ask
questions, but science alone is unable to provide the answers.
However, Japan is vertically organized, and this includes theadministrative and academic worlds. Government committees are
made up of scholars representing a narrow area, and discussions
do not involve a broad range of participants. There is also a lackof people able to understand science and technology frominter-disciplinary perspectives, even if in a general way. As thesituation stands, we will not be able to find the answers to ourcontemporary technological problems. We urgently need toreconstruct social mechanisms, considering, for example, ourrelationship with technology and how we should approacheducation and training. ■The social responsibility of science andtechnology
Yuko Fujigaki
Professor, Department of General Systems Studies,
The University of Tokyo

It is widely believed that technological innovation should besocially responsible. This means that scientists should respond toquestions from the public concerning the effects that newtechnologies will have on society. For example, development
related to shale gas is proceeding in the U.S., but in addition tocelebration of the fact that sources of energy have increased,
there is also unease over negative effects such as subsidence, andthis is generating intense discussion.
In considering the social responsibility of technology in Japan,
it is impossible to avoid the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Station. There are two views of this event
overseas: That it necessitates reconsideration of the safety ofnuclear power, or that it is a problem of Japan’ s management oftechnology. The former sees the issue as one that is sharedthroughout the world, while the latter views it as a disaster thatwas “made in Japan.” The Japanese themselves may tend to takethe view that the issue is one that is unique to Japan, but theinvestigation of the Fukushima accident from these twoperspectives, without trivializing the issues, would represent
Japan fulfilling its social responsibilities.
As specialists, scientists tend to display a greater insistence on
their responsibility to ensure the rigor of science than on theirsocial responsibility. However, over-scrupulousness regarding
the accuracy of the scientific basis of conclusions can postpone
the application of practical measures. In the case of Minamata
disease, scientists were hesitant to make a judgment before
obtaining precise data, and this resulted in the further spread ofthe effects of the pollution. There are numerous cases in which,despite the fact that there is uncertainty with regard to theevidence or the scientific basis for our conclusions, we must havethe resolve to implement measures as a society. Recommending
precautionary measures to administrations even while scientificuncertainty remains is a social responsibility that we urgently
require scientists and engineers to fulfill in their roles asspecialists. ■Open research to the general publicShohei Yonemoto

Professor, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies

The concept that science and technology are shared, universal
assets of humanity is one that was propounded by the Westernnations during the Cold War. In post-Cold War Europe and theU.S., this has been transformed into a view of science andtechnology that prioritizes national interests. Following the endof the Cold War, U.S. researchers in the history of science
applied themselves vigorously to research on the subject oftechnological policy during the Cold War period. They
concluded that while the highest priority at the time was thedevelopment of nuclear weapons, the simultaneous developmentof military technologies such as GPS and the Internet provided
the foundations for the later development of the informationindustry in the U.S.
By contrast, Japan’s academic sector does not possess thepsychological flexibility to objectively investigate the relationshipbetween science and technology and the military.
Seeing the issues as too difficult, they avoid research related topolitics, policy or diplomacy, and their belief that the study offundamental principles is more elegant has legitimized a situationin which they do not touch on social issues. Because of this,Japan’s academic world is one without any political presence.
Changing the social meaning of research itself can,unexpectedly, offer a shortcut to changing this inward-looking
stance. The specialization of research and its concentration inuniversities were characteristic of the 20th century. In the 21stcentury, research will be manifest in products that offer
enjoyment and a sense of fulfillment, and it will be open to thegeneral public. In just the same way as, for example, booking apackage tour, individuals with the necessary wherewithal willpurchase research plans, and universities and research institutes
will provide them with the knowhow required to conduct
research and rent them equipment in order to open up new
possibilities. If we can expand this network of research, attitudes
towards research will change, and the general public will come to
be able to evaluate science and technology and policy. By thismeans, Japanese society as a whole will simultaneously produce
and consume knowledge, creating a new civilization. ■This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese.
NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.

About this Issue

Towards Dialogue between Technology and Society
The next several issues of MyVision will focus on
subjects that are important in considering Japan’scourse over the coming five to twenty years, and willoffer opinions from experts working at the forefrontof their fields. In this issue, we take up the theme oftechnology, and our interviewees discuss its relationship to society.
The progress of technology is changing Japanesesociety at an unprecedented pace. There can be noargument against the fact that technology hasenriched our lives and increased our efficiency in allareas. At the same time, there are those who areconcerned that technology is encroaching on our lives
too much, to the point that it will come to dominate
them. The Public Opinion Poll on Science andTechnology and Society conducted by the Cabinet
Office in 2010 contained the question “Does theadvancement of science and technology present morepositive or negative aspects?” 54% of the respondents
answered that there were more positive aspects, 35%

answered that positive and negative aspects werealmost equally balanced, and 7% responded thatnegative aspects predominated. Given the effects of
the Great East Japan Earthquake which occurred in
the following year, there is a strong possibility thatthe ratio of respondents who would stress the negative
aspects will have increased.
How should we consider the relationship between
society and technology as it continues to evolve?
How should we approach technology? What is theessential nature of technology? These are questions
that Japan must reconsider as it seeks to be a world
leader in science and technology.
“Technology” as used here refers to techniques andtools which apply scientific knowledge and which weuse in our daily lives. In this paper, the word is often
paired with “science,” referring to disciplines which
explicate the laws of the natural world.

Reiko Kanda, NIRA Senior DirectorNational Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA)
4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-6034, Japan(URL: http://www.nira.or.jp/english/)(Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nira.japan)
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