＜Report＞The 4th GSDM International Symposium
“Innovation, Space Technology, and Policy Making” 8th Feb, 2017 13:30~17:30 (Ito Hall, Ito International Research Center, Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo)
Cross-Cutting Session: Space Innovation and Its Governance
＜Presentation materials＞
－ Introduction
Hideaki Shiroyama, GSDM Program Coordinator, Professor, Graduate School
of Public Policy, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo
◉Presentation material
－ Keynote speech 1
Yuko Harayama, Council for Science, Technology and Innovation
◉Presentation material
－ Keynote speech 2
Hans-Jörg Bullinger, Senator, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft ◉Presentation material
Cross-Cutting Session Summary
The Cross-cutting Session on “Space Innovation and Its Governance” comprised an overview of main points and two keynote speeches.
Professor Hideaki Shiroyama, Coordinator of the Global Leader Program for Social Design and Management (GSDM), outlined the key points of the session topic, “Space Innovation and its Governance.” He began by discussing technical development to overcome issues facing society and the role of governance in managing associated safety, security, and ethical risks and balancing the interests of diverse actors. He also mentioned changes in governance of the aerospace sector in Japan since the 1950s. In particular, he noted that the 2008 Basic Act on Space prompted a shift in focus from technical R&D to the utilization of R&D outcomes, and explained how security and stimulation of the space industry became priorities. While pointing out that the space industry in Japan currently lags behind other countries, he affirmed that whereas France prioritizes security and Germany emphasizes industrial applications, Japan follows policies that strike a balance between these two approaches.
Professor Shiroyama stressed that from a governance perspective, important future challenges for science and technology would include encouraging partnerships among diverse stakeholders to ensure governance of various aspects such as security, economic growth, environmental issues, and diplomatic relations, as well as creating mechanisms for a situation where private sector actors are entering the industry in quick succession.
Dr. Harayama delved further into the aerospace sector from the perspectives of science, technology, innovation, and policy. Noting the ever-changing nature of space industry, she highlighted the importance of collective, concerted and interactive approaches among diverse actors including researchers, engineers, and enterprises to drive innovation in space technology, which is constantly moving forward. In particular, she observed that in the current situation, where economies are increasingly driven by intangibles relying on big data, and new private-sector players are entering the space industry, it is crucial to be conscious of the link between science and technology and innovation when considering space industry prospects, rather than focusing on specific fields. She also remarked that further technical innovation and international collaboration will be required in the future.
Dr. Hans-Jörg Bullinger spoke about the characteristics and challenges of innovation of the modern day. He started by noting that innovation takes place within a cycle whereby the basis for innovation is research driven by funding, and that ultimately its benefits are returned to society. He pointed out that governments need to consider optimal methods for allocating funds in order to spark innovation, and that when they report on the research they have funded, they are obliged to answer to the public in explaining how they have arranged mechanisms to benefit society through innovation. In today’s world, where everyone can access all knowledge and information, and diversification of funding sources is making science more democratic, Dr. Bullinger noted the need to consider what sort of policies should be adopted assuming the possibility that even ordinary people (outside of established research institutions) with the motivation of gaining knowledge will be able to contribute to research and development. He also talked about the need to create ambidextrous organizational architectures having both public and private aspects and pursuing stability and change at the same time, build interdisciplinary organizational structures for quickly reinterpreting technologies and enabling innovation, eliminate barriers between disciplines to this end, identify technological opportunities and potential needs without being bound by fixed ideas, and designate “invention managers” to create techniques and environments for generating inventions. He concluded that although innovation will not happen overnight if such issues are addressed, there is a need to create trust-based organizations and foster organizational culture and a spirit of co-creation.
Session 1: Technological Innovation and Business Trends in the Aerospace
Industry
◉MC (GSDM students) : Mina Kishino
＜Presentation materials＞
【Moderator】
－Mamoru Mitsuishi, GSDM Deputy Program Coordinator, Dean of the School of
Engineering, the University of Tokyo
【Panelists】
－Shuzo Takada, Cabinet Office, National Space Policy Secretariat
◉Presentation material
－Yasuaki Iwabuchi, System Technology Unit, Research and Development Directorate,
JAXA ◉Presentation material
－Yuya Nakamura, President and CEO, Axel Space Corporation
－Chris Blackerby, NASA attache at the US Embassy in Tokyo ◉Presentation material
－Mukund Rao, National Institute of Advanced Studies(NIAS) ◉Presentation material
－GSDM students ◉Presentation material
Budhaditya Pyne, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems,
Graduate School of Engineering D2
Giulio Coral, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of
Engineering M2
Yoshinari Kobayashi, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of
Engineering D2
＜Report＞
Introduction
Following the Cross-cutting session which concentrated on “Space Innovation and its Governance”, Session 1 was entitled “Technological Innovation, NewSpace and Business Trends in the Space Sector” with special attention devoted to India, Japan and the United States. Moderator Professor Mamoru Mitsuishi delivered an introductory speech on “Global Trends in Technology and Business Innovation” with a focus on the Space Sector.
Panel Presentations Session Report
The Student Panelists formally kicked off Session 1 with their brief presentation on “Trends in Innovation in Aerospace: Future Prospects and Challenges.
Mr. Budhaditya Pyne” gave an informative talk on “The Impact of Miniaturization of Satellites”. He highlighted the future necessity of an international regulatory framework for Space debris clearance. He also talked about the necessity of efficient international collaboration among diverse stakeholders ranging from governments, space agencies, universities and private companies; relaxation of existing strict regulations for sharing satellite data and the potential use of synthetic aperture radar imaging systems for improving disaster risk management capabilities.
Mr. Giulio Coral presented on “Trends in Propulsion Engineering and Cost Reduction Strategies”. He highlighted the importance of rocket reusability and Delta-V needs in propulsion systems for deep space explorations.
Mr. Yoshinari Kobayashi spoke about “NewSpace: A Clear Shift in the Aerospace Industry”. He highlighted how contracts like Google X-Prize and NASA COTS are shifting technology push to demand pull fostering R&D in the space sector causing spillovers and benefitting the global economy. He also pointed out that with decrease in development cost, R&D in space tech is becoming accessible to developing countries and the potential of crowd-funding in this regard.
The Student Presentation was followed by presentations from the eminent guest panelists.
Dr. Shuzo Takada started by delivering a presentation on “The Role of Japanese Government on Innovation in the Space Industry”. Since the Japanese market is mostly based on the demand pull from the Government sector, he highlighted the importance to explore space utilization demands, especially in the backdrop of a paradigm shift in the space sector with the entry of NewSpace industries where focus has shifted from expensive big satellite missions to cheap small satellite constellations with new prospects of real-time Earth Observation and OneWeb Global Communication Network. He also talked about the QZSS 4-satellite constellation mission, which is an initiative taken by the Japanese Government to monitor Japan from space for a longer period of time using 1 GEO Satellite and 3 QZO satellites. It is scheduled to be launched in 2018.
Mr. Yuya Nakamura, who is also an alumnus of the University of Tokyo, gave an insightful talk on “Startup Culture in the Japanese Space Industry”. He provided a detailed background behind the establishment of Axelspace as a startup in 2008. He highlighted how NewSpace has revolutionized the space sector today where we can develop small satellite project missions in 1/5th of the time at 1/100th of the cost compared to conventional big satellites. He stated the importance of fundraising for a space startup. Axelspace has done Series A fundraising of $1.9 Billion (as of November2015) from several established Japanese firms. He subsequently introduced the Axelglobe mission, a 50-satellite constellation project of Axelspace which will have applications like Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Forestry Management, Area Marketing and monitoring economic trends like Oil Shortage. It’s 3 first generation satellites will be launched in 2017 and the constellation is scheduled to be completed by 2022. He also talked about the importance of future Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs) in the Japanese space sector demonstrating the Innovation Technology Demonstration Satellite Project, scheduled to be launched in 2018, which is being developed by Axelspace with JAXA as its first government client.
Dr. Mukund Rao’s presentation was entitled “Future Technological and Business Innovations for Indian Space” and highlighted the increased national demand for space and access to the Global Space Market. India has seen remarkable progress in the Space sector in the last decade highlighted by its successful Mars Orbiter Mission (also called the Mangalayan) in 2013. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been getting increasing contracts from countries worldwide due to its highly reliable and economic launch systems (cheaper than anywhere else). He stated the “Indian Space Culture” which has been there since the 1970s to be a major cause behind India’s success. In the upcoming age of NewSpace, he illustrated the necessity of an Indian National Space Ecosystem consisting of a triad of Private Industries, National Space Agency and Academia along with a long-term National Space Policy promoting a massive thrust in R&D for future space technology and its applications. He also mentioned the ongoing NIAS-University of Tokyo joint studies discussing future Japan-India Space Collaborations.
Mr. Chris Blackerby delivered a talk on “Challenges and Future Opportunities in International Cooperation on Remote Sensing”. In support for the SDGs, NASA has been conducting international cooperation with 122 countries and 2 international organizations with 698 international agreements. He highlighted the importance of Bilateral Cooperation in satellite development, launch, ground station usage and data-sharing; Multilateral Cooperation Mechanisms like the International Charter for Disaster Response, Sentinel Asia, Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS); diplomatic efforts to highlight the importance of international cooperation and public outreach. He also talked about several challenges in the form of national security concerns, lack of a global framework for data distribution rules and lack of public awareness which impede further increase in international cooperation in the space sector.
The final presentation of Session 1 was given by Mr. Yasuaki Iwabuchi on “Cost Reduction Strategies for Future Space Missions”. He provided a brief summary of the characteristics in the procedure of development of spacecrafts and its equipment which makes it very costly. He highlighted the risk-averse nature of the Japanese government and Japanese companies which lead to a lack of venture capital necessary for new players to break into the scene in the Space industry. He stated that in the era of NewSpace Japan needs to learn from NASA and ESA and conduct its own Small Business Innovation Research to reform existing policy frameworks to bring in more players to make the space industry more competitive since competition is known to bring down the development cost.
Open-Discussion and Debate Session Report
The presentation session was succeeded by an open discussion and debate between the guest panelists and students with Professor Mitsuishi as the Moderator. The topic of discussion was “What policy and regulatory changes can we expect in Japan, United States and India in the Era of NewSpace?”
Dr. Takada and Mr. Iwabuchi stated that although Japanese policies take time to change, recent trends have shown that there is awareness in the governmental level and changes are slowly but surely being enforced. Mr. Nakamura added that the success of Japanese space startups like Axelspace are bound to encourage others and slowly come out from the risk-averse mindset. Private Public Partnerships like the JAXA-Axelspace collaboration are signs that the Japanese government is encouraging historical change in the space industry.
Mr. Blackerby stated that with an increasing growth of small satellites, NASA is willing to “give up” control over Low Earth Orbits (LEO) and focus only on Geo Stationary Orbits (GEO) which require Billion Dollar Big Satellite Projects. Mr. Coral raised the question whether giving up control can weaken national security, to which Mr. Blackerby’s response was giving up control doesn’t mean de-regulation which is the common misinterpretation in the media; on the contrary it implies revision of rules and regulations made in the 1990s and modifying them according to the needs of today without negatively impacting national security. Dr. Takada added that in terms of technological regulations (e.g. restrictions in radar image resolution acquisition and space equipment) Japanese Government is less regulatory compared to the US, which has very severe ITAR regulations in place.
On the topic of cost reduction strategies in the era of NewSpace, Dr. Rao stated that India has succeeded brilliantly and given its already cost-effective by miles compared to other countries, further reduction may not be on the cards. Dr. Takada and Mr. Blackerby agreed that although costs have reduced significantly over time, the saying “To be a millionaire in the Space Industry you must begin a Billionaire” is still not obsolete. Mr. Nakamura was more hopeful with cost reduction of space missions in Japan if the government encourages a competitive space industry with new players breaking into the scene. However, Mr. Pyne pointed out that further cost reduction in Space missions in all countries, including India is possible by fostering partnerships between universities and space agencies/industries. He felt that undergraduate and graduate students are a great under-utilized resource, which can be efficiently and economically utilized for fostering R&D in the space sector. He stated that since graduate students are very eager to excel in ground-breaking research for the sake of improving their CVs for future career prospects, they would be more than willing to contribute to R&D in aerospace for free and this can significantly reduce costs. Dr. Rao agreed with his suggestion but added that in order to do so in India, the education system in universities, which is overly focused on acquiring theoretical knowledge and less on practical research needs to revamped, especially in the Engineering and Natural Sciences. This concluded Session 1.
Conclusion
Overall, the Symposium was a great success. It was the perfect platform for students in the fields of Aerospace Engineering and Systems Innovation to interact and network with professionals in the Industry and government sector and become further aware of ongoing issues outside their technical research. The eminent guest panelists also had the opportunity to hear the student perspectives and concerns over existing business and policies.
Session 2: Interaction between Innovation and Policy
◉MC (GSDM students) : Risa Shibata
＜Presentation materials＞
【Moderator】
－Hideaki Shiroyama
【Panelists】
－Shinichi Nakasuka, Professor, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo
－Yuko Harayama
－Hans-Jörg Bullinger ◉Presentation material
－Bhavya Lal, Research staff, Institute for Defense Analyses ◉Presentation material
－Tetsuya Hamabe, Chief Strategy Officer Executive Director, Planning and Cordination
Group, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan ◉Presentation material
－GSDM students ◉Presentation material
Marc-Andre Chavy‐Macdonald, Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School
of Engineering D2
Karthikeyan Goutham, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School
of Engineering D2
Quentin Verspieren, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School
of Engineering M2
Session 2 summaryt
Session 2 discussed the interaction between innovation and policy, including the role of universities, the problem of industry development, and the ideal form of industry-academia-government cooperation.
To open the session, GSDM students Mr. Goutham Karthikeyan and Mr. Quentin Verspieren set out the issues. They first described the conventional “closed innovation model” that follows a linear path from basic research to development, commercialization, and sale, and involves only a limited number of sectors, and contrasted this with the shift towards an “open innovation model” comprising multiple paths involving licenses and patents from other fields. They then questioned Dr. Bullinger and Dr. Lal about best practices in innovation policy around the world and the reasons behind such success stories.
Speaking from a European perspective, Dr. Bullinger commented on the need for participation in government innovation policy by not only scientists, but also industry, business, and the public. He also noted the necessity of a strategy for considering government innovation policy and outlined the German experience of establishing a high-tech strategy built on five pillars and efficiently consolidating resources. The five pillars are prioritizing future challenges relative to prosperity and quality of life, consolidating resources and promoting transfer, strengthening the dynamism of innovation in industry, creating favorable conditions for innovation, and strengthening dialogue and participation.
Dr. Lal then offered her insights into US innovation policy. She outlined the transition in the United States from a “closed innovation model” that focused solely on basic research to maintain distance between science and military use, towards an “open innovation model” that devoted energy to all elements capable of generating innovation as military use of space technology rapidly gained momentum in the Cold War. She spoke about unique features of the US innovation system, including the system for very flexible contracting between NASA and companies or universities, and the significant role played in innovation systems by large companies referred to as “primes.”
The two panelists’ presentations were followed by discussion of several points relating to innovation in the US and Europe. The moderator asked Dr. Bullinger whether Germany and France had anything similar to the cowboy culture of the US, which does not fear risk-taking. Dr. Bullinger responded that Europe does not have such a culture, and remarked that the US cowboy culture is useful in making people aware that R&D investment entails risk.
The moderator then sought Dr. Lal’s views on unique aspects of US innovation systems in the space sector compared with other sectors. Dr. Lal commented that space sector innovation involves a lot of money, and that space stimulates the imagination of many people, so the positive feedback loop for innovation driven by this process has pushed the sector forward, which is a unique point compared to other sectors.
Moving on to the second half of the session, GSDM students Mr. Marc-Andre Chavy-Mcdonald and Mr. Quentin Verspieren posed further questions. First, they talked about consumers, industry, and policymakers in current Japanese innovation systems, and about the interaction between technical innovation and policy. They then asked Dr. Harayama, Mr. Hamabe, and Professor Nakasuka what is required for innovation in Japan, especially in the space sector.
Dr. Harayama stated that the key to innovation is involving entrepreneurs and citizens as well as scientists and engineers. She also commented on the paradigm shift currently under way, whereby the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology aims to work in partnership with other ministries and agencies to transfer the initiative for sparking innovation from government to R&D, and spoke about the need to build an ecosystem for generating innovation in Japan.
Mr. Hamabe then outlined efforts to promote open innovation being made by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INJC), where he is Chief Strategy Officer. INJC is a public-private investment fund aimed at breaking down barriers in Japan’s pyramid-shaped industrial structure and linking together human resources and ideas. It invests in various businesses including many venture companies based on long-term impacts on society. Mr. Hamabe pointed out that challenges for investment in innovation include dealing with cases where return on investment cannot be achieved and improving efficiency of innovation.
Finally, Professor Nakasuka noted the need for infrastructure conducive to sparking innovation, observing that one issue with current space development in Japan is that the government accounts for 90% of the market, which makes it difficult to embark on challenging, high-risk projects, and space utilization has not yet been fully explored. He gave miniaturized satellites as an example of a technology that could break out of this pattern, citing their potential to trigger new space innovation in Japan.
The moderator then asked the three panelists for their views from a stakeholder perspective.
Dr. Harayama stated that space has a higher profile than other sectors, and bearing in mind the focus in recent years on cross-sector utilization of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and big data, assimilating these technologies into the space sector has the potential to generate new innovations. Since we are still at the stage of searching for ideas, he noted the need to incorporate schemes for proactively gathering fresh ideas.
Mr. Hamabe remarked that since high-risk investment is constrained under the current Japanese system, it is difficult to create US-style ecosystems and platforms for innovation. Such mechanisms also need to be established in Japan, and to this end he noted the importance of being alert to sensing future needs and turning these into business opportunities.
Professor Nakasuka listed three roles that universities should play in the innovation system: launching venture projects as centers for technology accumulation, proposing strategies to government as centers for research and analysis strategy accumulation, and creating flexible forums for joint research and gathering international personnel to start new projects as centers for overseas networking.
Dr. Lal praised Japan’s efforts in space debris removal as a unique initiative, but remarked that it would also be useful to think about adapting various technologies to space development, including not only remote sensing but communication and Internet-based broadband as well. Dr. Bullinger concluded the comments by emphasizing the vital role of universities in not only research, but also educating people capable of setting up technology spin-off companies.