Data and Values

Japanese perspectives onScience, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy
June 10, 2021
Koichi Sumikura
Professor,
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)
sumikura@grips.ac.jp

White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation FY 2021.
https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpaa202101/detail/1421221_00020.html

The 6th Basic Plan for Science,
Technology and Innovation• 1995: Basic Act on Science and Technology• 1996-2001: The 1st Basic Plan for Science and Technology• 2016-2021: The 5st Basic Plan for Science andTechnology: “Society 5.0” proposed• 2021: Basic Act on Science, Technology and Innovation• 2021-2026: The 6st Basic Plan for Science, Technologyand Innovation

Collection and Analysis of Personal
Genomic Data -> Personalized Medicine• Bio Bank Japan
https://biobankjp.org/en/index.html• Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo)
https://www.megabank.tohoku.ac.jp/english/• Issues- Incidental findings- Informed consent- Personal information- Anonymization

Data Sharing• Contribution- Promotion of R&D- Creation of knowledge- Overcoming data defects• What impedes it?
- Scientific Competition- Trade secret- Mindset of researchers- Incomplete dataset

AMED Data Sharing Policy• AMED: Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development• Classification od data
- Limited-Shared, for scientists contributing to collection andimprovement of the data.
- Limited-Open, for scientists who applied for using the data and areapproved.
- Unlimited-Open, for everybody.
• Timing of sharing: 2 years after raw data generation or publication ofresearch results, whichever sooner.
• Registration, sharing or opening of data depends on Data Management
Plan (DMP).
https://www.amed.go.jp/content/000060867.pdf

Toward Data-driven innovation:
Exclusive usage or public domain?
Funding
Evaluation
Regulation

S&T Policy

Funding
Tax Exemption
Procurement
Regulation

Research(Academia)

Academic Impact
Exclusivity or
Public domain

Absorption byCorporations
Follow-on Investment
on Corporate R&D
Innovation(Corporation)
Patentingor Secrecy

Social and/or
Economic Impact

Data from Cooperative Research
between EU and Japan: issues on GDPR
• Japanese national laws for protection od personal information were divided into three,- the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (targeted at private companies andprivate universities),- the Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs(targeted at national administrative organs, including national research institutes),- the Act on the Protection of Personal Information Held by Incorporated Administrative
Agencies, etc. (targeted at national university corporations and national research anddevelopment corporations).
• The adequacy decision regarding Japan under the GDPR was limited to the scope of theAct on the Protection of Personal Information. Therefore, national universitycorporations and national research and development corporations were excluded fromthis scope.
• Furthermore, while private universities were subject to the Act on the Protection of
Personal Information, they were exempted of the obligations of personal-informationhandling business operators specified in Chapter 4 of the Act, pursuant to Article 76 ofthe Act, when personal data were handled for the purpose of use for academic
researches. Therefore, they were also excluded from the scope of adequacy decision
under the GDPR.

Amendment of the Act on the Protectionof Personal Information,promulgated in May 19, 2021.
• The three laws have been integrated into the Act on the Protectionof Personal Information as one law, and the supervision andexecution of personal information protection has been centralized
to the Personal Information Protection Commission.
• Therefore, after enforcement of the amended law, the Commission
is responsible for protecting personal information at national
university corporations and national research and development
corporations.
• Refinement of exemption of academic research will make academic
research included within the scope of adequacy decision for Japan
under Article 45 of the GDPR, thereby facilitating the cross-bordertransfer of personal data.