| Panel Discussion |
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[Slide 1]
[Slide 2]
[Slide 3]
[Slide 4]
[Slide 5]
[Slide 6]
[Slide 7]
[Slide 8]
[Slide 9]
[Slide 10]
[Slide 11]
[Slide 12]
[Slide 13]
[Slide 14]
[Slide 15]
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Nishimura:
My name is Nishimura. I will be chairing this afternoon's panel discussion. In this session, we will not only be hearing from the panelist, but will also be asking for questions and comments from floor in order to create an interesting discussion.
First I will introduce the panelists - this year's 2002 Takeda Award Recipients. Each recipient made remarks on his achievements in the morning session, so members of the audience may have already listened to their speeches in one of the three application field sessions. However this panel is the first chance for an audience to see all the recipients together. I will introduce each panelist with their name and application field. In Japanese, there is quite a convenient honorary term called "-san." I will use this "-san" in this panel. Let me introduce from to my left along the panel, Akasaki-san, Amano-san and Nakamura-san, Information and Electronics application field; Brown-san and Fodor-san, Life Science application field; and Elachi-san, Fugono-san and Okamoto-san, World Environment application field.
Secondly, I will give a slide presentation to introduce the concept of the Takeda Award - what achievements The Takeda Foundation appreciates and what works it wants to promote. After that each recipients will make a 5-minute comment on his achievements and their relationship to the Takeda Award. After that there will be a free discussion between the panelists, including questions and comments from floor.
Now, I will start my presentation:
When Takeda-san wanted to establish a new award, I was invited to join the planning from the very beginning. Takeda-san used two key words in the beginning stage as in slide 3. One is "Seikatsusha" in Japanese. The Foundation uses "people" as a formal English translation. Also Takeda-san gives another key word "Chi" in Japanese. The Foundation uses "Kougaku-chi" as formal Japanese and "engineering intellect and knowledge" as a formal English translation. I will use the word "Chi," as the simpler expression, in today's presentation. The English translation is "Knowledge." Takeda-san gave us these two keywords from the very beginning of the planning of the foundation.
He also said in the very earliest stage of planning that he wanted to establish a new Award, which would be given to achievements that realize value for people and which would encourage the work leading to such achievements as in slide 4. As results of the discussions during the planning stage, it was decided that the new Award would not be given to achievements that are only given high evaluation by specialists in a specific discipline, and which have not yet realized value for people. The Takeda Award selection and many activity of the foundation are carried out based on this concept. The Foundation is not saying that achievements evaluated highly by experts within their own discipline have less value. However, there are many other awards, globally, that recognize just such achievements. In his own words, Takeda-san calls himself a "Hesomagari," an awkward cuss. He said he wanted to do something different - awkward - and take the ordinary people's perspective in rewarding achievements that realize, or will certainly realize, value for people.
He also thinks that the "Market" is very important - he uses his favorite Japanese word "Ichiba" for "Market." After services and goods are introduced into the market, people can select those services and goods based on an assessment of their value as in slide 5. "I prefer this. I don't prefer that." When selecting achievements the Foundation stands alongside the users of services and goods, and not the producers. This is a very important concept of The Takeda Award. The recipients of the Takeda Award are selected "by the people," as well as "for the people." It is through this selection mechanism that "the people" participate in the production of knowledge and the creation of value.
I will explain with the help of a slide 6. Books on economics say that profit is obtained only when two different price structures are brought together. The classical model for producing profit is to buy something at a place where its price is lower, and then to sell it at a place where its price is higher. Profit for producer is the result of the selection by people in the market. Connecting two different price structures as shown in slide 7 can create a profit. In the slide the difference in water levels of two water tanks makes the water flow. In a similar way connecting two different price structures - e.g. by buying at a low price and selling at a high price - can create a profit. This metaphor will be used from now on in this presentation.
If there is no difference in water levels, no water flows; so the difference in water levels is very important. In the case of long distance trade, this means buying something at a place where the price is lower and selling it at a place where its price is higher. Let us now go on to consider the case of introducing a new product. In the case of blue light emitting diode, originally there was no blue light emitting diode, then it was invented and sold in the market. This can be interpreted as a difference between a future value and a current value. Prior to its development, there was no blue emitting diode and therefore it can be said that the inventors saw the future (potential) value of the product ahead of everyone else, and introduced it into a market consisting only of current (established) products and values. The introduction of a new product with a superior (and hitherto 'future') value, into the market with an existing price structure generates profit due to the difference between the perceived value of the new product and that of any existing products.
However, this difference in value between competing products will disappear in a market that has no barriers to entry and no regulation as slide 8. I will again use the example of the blue light emitting diode. There was no competition when Nichia introduced it, but soon Toyota Gosei entered the market and now Rohm and other many competitors are joining the market. Price competition has started and soon no profit will be available from that market. What should we do when, as a result of competition, no profit is expected? In the context of our water tanks, we should add more water and reestablish a water level difference - then water can flow again as slide 11. This introduction of new water can be seen as representing the creation of new "knowledge" by research activities. New "knowledge" can create this 'potential difference' in value. This is the role of "knowledge."
If we have a difference in water level (value) between our tanks but no connection between them, then there can be no water flow even though there is a water level difference as slide 13. Measures to connect two tanks are needed in addition to adding water, or creating new "knowledge." And connecting the two tanks cannot be realized only by creating new "knowledge." In order to realize value for people, then, two activities are needed: creating new "knowledge" - the difference of water level - and connecting the two tanks as slide 14. We call the latter activity "Entrepreneurship." In the formal Takeda Foundation expression it is called "Techno-entrepreneurship" but I will simply call it "Entrepreneurship" for clarity.
In order to create value for people, a water level difference and the connection of the two tanks - in other words "Knowledge" and "Entrepreneurship" - are needed as in slide 15. The Takeda Award wants to select achievements with both those qualities that realize, or will realize, value for people. Both these two are essential for the Takeda Award. As Takeda-san said, there are many awards to promote "knowledge"- he, however, wants to promote achievements which are the product of both "knowledge" and "entrepreneurship," placing importance on both. When he calls himself "Hesomagari," an awkward cuss, he is referring to his desire to take this particular standpoint. I think this is fundamental concept of Takeda Award.
In the case of Nobel Prize, I think the Nobel Prize is interested in areas that have a big influence today. In the case of Nobel prize: say, for example, that you have a field where currently 1000 researchers are working. 5 years ago there were 200, 10 years ago there were 100, 20 years ago there were 3c. you trace back in such a way and great priority is put on identifying the first person, I think. Regarding the Takeda Award, priority is put on the person who made biggest contribution to creating value for people. Selection committee members and program officers of the foundation work hard to investigate and to identify who made biggest contribution to making value for people, not who started the academic field that led to the value. It seems to be very important to go back and to find the origin in the case of Nobel prize. It is not about there being a right or wrong way, the Takeda Award has just decided to do things from its chosen standpoint. As I mentioned previously, both "Knowledge" and "Entrepreneurship" are needed, and if one is missing the final value for people cannot be delivered. The question of which of these various prizes choose to focus on is a different issue I think.
I would now like to ask the panelists to each give a 5 minutes talk relating your achievements to the Takeda Award concept.
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