“I specialize in innovation management. Innovation is the creation of value by implementing something new. That something can refer not only to technology, but other creations as well, such as business models and systems. Similarly ‘value’ includes not only economic benefit, but also social and cultural benefit. As for ‘management,’ although it is often used to refer to business administration, I consider it to mean ‘finding a way.’ Therefore, innovation management for me means finding a way to create value,” explains School of Environment and Society professor Yuya Kajikawa. Kajikawa works in the Department of Innovation Science and graduate major in Technology and Innovation Management, areas which have attracted many professionals to study alongside other graduate students.

Kajikawa continues, “There is a framework in innovation research called transition management, which focuses on understanding the processes of innovation. In transition management, we consider three primary factors of innovation: technology (engineering, products, and services), regime (social and technological structures), and landscape (social vision).

In the initial stages of innovation, a wide range of technologies, products, and services compete; and at this stage it is unknown which will gain popularity. The social and technological regimes determine what will dominate the market. Regimes include technologies, markets, user preference, social infrastructure and industrial policies, cultural and industrial structures, and corporate strategies. Regimes are in turn influenced by the landscape, which refers to major flows of a community or generation. Such flows may include an aging society, a low-carbon society, and a society striving to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). Successful innovation requires us to not only develop technology, but also design regimes and establish a landscape through international initiatives.

This raises the question, what is necessary to achieve innovation? As research fields have progressed, they have grown increasingly segmented and specialized. We have come to believe that any other course would interfere with our global competitive edge. As a result, we have developed silos and octopus pots of R&D. Of course, specialization is necessary. Researchers who dig deeper into their fields are necessary. However, it is also essential for us to adopt interdisciplinary approaches for the sake of creating a better society, one in which we find solutions for the issues we face, such as our aging society and global warming.