Japan Research Industries and Industrial Technology Association

Japan Research Industries Association, JRIA, was established in 1991 under an approval issued by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (currently, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry). In June, 2011, JRIA has merged with Japan Industrial Technology Associations and became new JRIA, Japan Research Industries and Industrial Technology Association.

In the circumstances where globalization proceeds rapidly, survey and analysis of the present status of research and development are conducted, and the issues are discussed in detail at JRIA by industries, academia and associations, who are involved in R&D or technical support for R&D in every field of industry.

These activities are performed primarily at cross-industry committees, which are set as the core of JRIA, aiming at proposing policies on the development of research industries.

Mototsugu Ito, Chairman
(Executive Corporate Advisor, IHI Corporation)

In order to maintain and reinforce the foundations of medium- and long-term economic development in Japan, there is a strong necessity to promote various reforms aimed at the construction of a powerful national system of industrial innovation, based on the present status of the research and development being conducted by the government, the private sector, universities, and others. The national innovation system consists of the government policies on industrial technologies, the education and research conducted by academia and public agencies, and the research and development and technical support by private sector and so on. It is what determines the competitiveness of industrial technology for a country.

Japan Research Industries and Industrial Technology Association, JRIA, was established as an organization to promote “Research Industries”, a concept defined with unifying the research and technology development activities and the research and technology support activities of the private sector, which account for large portion of the national innovation system in Japan.

The mission of JRIA is to provide a platform at the private sector side to assist the planning, implementation and verification of the government policies on industrial technologies, where discussion and summarization of the needs from industries, assistance for efficient implementation and verification of the effect are conducted concerning the government policies. Another mission of JRIA is to investigate, with cross-industry manner, what the research and technology development activities and research and technology support activities should be, and make proposals about it.

In accordance with its mission, JRIA is engaged in the following activities.

• Surveys and Research through cross-industry committees
• Proposals of Policies and Measures through the committees
• Surveys and Research under contract with government and governmental agencies
• Interchange of Information and Opinions with Other Organizations
• Symposia, Seminars and Exchange Meetings
• Supply of Statistics & Databases
• Publication of Journals etc.

Committees and Recent Subjects for Discussion

Committee for Research & Development Management

• R&D management strategy and schemes taken at the strong enterprises
• R&D management tools
• How to create innovations in R&D
• How to develop new technologies into business, overcoming the Valley of Death

Committee for Human Resources Matters in R&D

• Training of human resources in the technical professions
• How to motivate R&D engineers through the systems for such as evaluation and promotion

Committee for Industry-Academia Collaboration

• Current situation and problems from the view point of Universities
• Current situation and problems from the view point of Industries

Committee for Inspection and Analysis Business

• Current situation and problems of inspection/analysis business

Committee for Environment Technology

• Trends of Environment Technology

Committee for Global Interchange

• R&D management and human resources development for global R&D
• Global interchange with European & American organizations

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Recent Subjects of Survey and Research Activities conducted at JRIA under consignment of METI, NEDO and other governmental agencies

• Statistical investigation on R&D activities of Japanese enterprises
• Current trends of R&D activities of Japanese enterprises
• Human resources management in training, evaluation and motivation
• Investigation of the history of the industrial technology development
• Current status and strength of R&D activities at Japanese enterprises
• Efficient ways of R&D activities of Japanese enterprises
• R&D strategies of Japanese enterprises
• Current situation and problems for the education of industrial technology
• Current Trends of Industry-Academia Collaboration in Europe, USA and Asia
• Utilization of human resources in the industrial technology education
• Technology transfer and competitiveness of industrial technology in advanced technological fields in Europe and the USA
• Global R&D activities of Japanese enterprises
• Current status and assignment of spin-off ventures
• Research and development, and intellectual property