The Innovation Research Center is transformed into the Innovation System Research Center (IRC) today.

On June 19th, 2019, IRC hosted a joint conference with the support from the Consulate-general of the Netherlands in Osaka, Faculty of International Studies, and Faculty of Economics of our university. We invited the mayor of Rotterdam, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, as the keynote speaker.  
　Mayor Aboutaleb' s speech was "Rotterdam: Diverse, Entrepreneurial City for the Next Generation Economy." At the end of the conference, the Mayor invited our students to visit Rotterdam.
　Two students, Ms. Azuma and Mr. Yasuda, among dozens of students, were selected to visit the Rotterdam between February 15th and 24th. They visited the mayor and accompanied him to the Deltares Institute, a water research laboratory. They also visited many places, including state-of-the-art clean-energy port facilities, the Embassy of Japan, and the International Court of Justice. Their remarkable experience was enhanced by the opportunity to meet passionate peoples with multi-cultural backgrounds such as a female entrepreneur producing and selling traditional Japanese foods in the EU market.

    IRC will offer a lecture about innovation for spring semester. It is an omnibus lecture by IRC member and emphasizes the theoretical aspects of innovation from economics and management perspectives.The class starts on Apr. 10th.

Course title:
    Special Topics in Economics E (School of Economics)
    Innovation and Knowledge Economy (School of Business Administration)
Date and Time: Tuesday, 1:30-3pm
Classroom: Uegahara Campus, B-302.
                  (Access: https://www.kwansei.ac.jp/pr/pr_000374.html)
                  (Campus map: https://www.kwansei.ac.jp/pr/pr_001086.html)
Textbook: Doi and Miyata eds. (2015). Introduction to Innovation Theories, Chuokeiza-sha, Inc.
Contact: Prof. Yasuda.

Prof. Kato, our member of the Innovation Research Center, launched the Research Center for Entrepreneurship, aiming to facilitate the research activities in entrepreneurship study in Japan.

  Prof. Kato co-published a book, "Research on Innovation: What Is the Real Nature of Productivity Improvement?". He authors Chapter 5, "The growth of start-ups: Toward the revitalization of Japan's economy by the creation of new comppnies", in which he argues about the issues regarding the promotion of high-tech start-ups.

  The 6th ASME Conference will be held on September 10th-13th in Tokyo. Please visit the website for detail information.

  ​Hiroyuki Odagiri, an emeritus professor of the Hitotsubashi University and an advisor of Japan Fair Trade Commission, is the thrid and last guest speaker of the guest-speaker series. He will give a lecture about the competition policy and innovation on June 26th.

Prof. Miyata published the translation of a book  "Unwinding Madness: What Went Wrong with College Sports—and How to Fix It
", which was authored by G. Gurney and D.A. Lopiano, from Tamaga University Press on June 10, 2018. The book offers a critical look at the tension between the larger role of the university and the commercialization of college sports.

  Yoshinori Hijikata, an associate professor of the School of Business Administration, is the second guest speaker of the guest-speaker series. He will give a lecture about AI  and innovation on June 19th.

  IRC and Kwansei Gakuin University's Department of Economics co-host a seminar on May 28th, 2018. Prof. Litrico will discuss about the social innovation. We will have a get-together party after the seminar.

Date and Time: May 28th, 2018, 4:50-6:20pm.
Location: Economics Department Building, 2nd-floor Meeting Room  (Kwansei Gakuin University's Uegahara Campus)
    (Building No. 32 in https://iwww.kwansei.ac.jp/pr/pr_001086.html.ac.jp/pr/pr_001086.html)
Topic: Recipes for Social Change: Collective Kitchens and the Challenge of Scaling Social Innovations
Language: English
Contact: Prof. Kato (mkata@kwansei.ac.jp)

Prior registration is necessary to join the party. Please contact Prof. Kato by May 25th.