Page 62 - Forbes - Asia (September 2018)

3 JAPAN SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

FOSTERING THE LEADERS OF INDUSTRY 4.0

Japan wants to be at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and key to its aspirations are the nation’s

universities, which are training a new generation of engineers that will drive the industry of tomorrow.

With the emergence of technolo- ate key technologies in the eld of
gies such as robotics, arti cial intel- ICT,” says AU president, Ryuichi
ligence and the Internet of Things, Oka.
the world is witnessing the dawn of “Since its establishment, the uni-
a new era hailed as the Fourth In- versity has continuously focused
dustrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0). on AI, robotics, big data analysis
Simultaneously, Japan is undergo- and other related elds. Therefore,
ing a period of economic revitaliza- our university is at the forefront of
tion that is underpinned by technol- many promising elds of research
ogy and innovation. and other developments that will
Consumer electronics and au- undeniably shape our future.”
tomobile industries played a major
role in turning Japan into a global Q “Japan is at the forefront
economic powerhouse in the 1970s of Industry 4.0. We are making
and 80s, before the onset of what breakthrough advances in
is known as the “lost decade.” But smart technologies, such
The Land of the Rising Sun is ready automation, robotics … introduc- to computer science engineering as AI and IoT. Consequently,
to rise again, leveraging on its tech- ing these kinds of ideas and tech- in Japan. UA’s Research Center for
nology pedigree to put itself at the nologies into society requires social Advanced Information Science and local universities have to be
forefront of the Fourth Industrial stability and acceptance. With our Technology (CAIST) specializes in focused on teaching up-to-date
Revolution. aging population and our shrinking ve emphasized elds of research, and practical skills in order to
Indeed, the nation’s universities labor force, the innovative tech- or “clusters”: robots, space science, create a capable workforce.”
will be crucial to this pursuit. Many nologies of Society 5.0 come as a biomedical engineering, cloud, and
are carrying out groundbreaking perfect match.” high-performance computing. YOSHIMASA HAYASHI,
research in robotics AI and adopt- “By combining all of these ad- At the Aizu Research Cluster for Minister of Education
ing new skills-intensive programs vantages, Japan will become the Robots (ARC-Robot), UA says it will
to foster the future leaders of In- solution number one country. And apply its information communica- One of the key perks that UA can
dustry 4.0. this time, we will be the ones with tion technologies to robotics in or- offer its students is the opportunity
“Japan is at the forefront of a head start. Therefore, I want to der to take robots to the next stage, to travel to another hive of innova-
Industry 4.0. We are making invite international students and as well as creating a new eld of tion across the Paci c Ocean: Sili-
breakthrough advances in smart faculty to come here and to learn study in computer science and engi- con Valley. Each year, the university
technologies, such as AI and IoT. from the front runners of Industry neering from the experience it gains sends talented students to the U.S.
Consequently, local universities 4.0. Come study in Japan, and to- in robotics development. to gain experience working with
have to be focused on teaching up- gether, let’s build the society of the “Twenty- ve years ago, UA was engineers and to show their own
to-date and practical skills in order future,” he says. established. The mission of the products to potential investors in
to create a capable workforce,” university is to con rm that ICT is the technology hub. Oka says stu-
says Japanese education minister, University of Aizu a critical eld in order to advance dents are energized by the unique
Yoshimasa Hayashi. Established in 1993, The Univer- knowledge for humanity, and it has atmosphere of Silicon Valley, where
“More seriously, Japan is at the sity of Aizu (UA) in Fukashima therefore become our motto. Our they also can learn how to commer-
forefront of Society 5.0. AI, IoT, was the rst university dedicated university’s goal is to endlessly cre- cialize their products.