Feb 20 (Wed) - Supporting organizations and entities of the program and invited guests gathered together at Ambassador Ben-Ari’s residence to hear from six members who returned from Israel after the 20-day entrepreneurial training from December 22.
Ambassador Mrs. Yaffa Ben-Ari and Prof. Masahiko Gemma, Vice President of Waseda University, opened the gathering with their remarks followed by the program overview and future vision shared by organizers of the program, Prof. Toru Asahi of Waseda University and Mr. Yasushi Yamamoto, CEO of Corundum Innovation Co. Ltd. Then, six members gave testimonies of their fresh experiences in Israel in a pitch style. Prof. Atsushi Sunami, Vice President of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, moderated an academia-government-industry panel discussion with representatives from the N.V.x2 members, Masason Foundation (sponsor), University-Industry Cooperation and Regional Support Division in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and Waseda Business School as well as Arieh Rosen, Culture & Science Affairs Attaché. A lively discussion was exchanged how the future of the program will develop between Japan and Israel.
Hon. Yasuhide Nakayama, Member of the House of Representatives, who himself is also an Waseda alumnus and with a deep connection to Israel, gave a toast in the networking wishing for further advancement in bilateral relations and in the N.V. x2 program. Finally, Prof. Shozo Takata, the Chairman of the WASEDA-EDGE Program, closed the gathering with his remarks. With Israeli cuisine and positive energy, the night of excitement continued on.
Economic activities and exchanges between Israel and Japan have been accelerated in industry in recent years. Turning to academia, we hope to see in the future more academic exchanges at the university level through entrepreneurship with the academia-government-industry collaboration program of this kind serving as a springboard.
“No Venture No Victory” is the WASEDA EDGE-Corundum Innovation Collaboration Israel Mushashugyo Program.
This academia-industry collaboration program was initiated by WASEDA-EDGE Program with a cooperation by Corundum Innovation Co., Ltd. and supported by MEXT’s Mushashugyo Overseas Program for Fostering Global Entrepreneurs. The program dispatches young entrepreneurs to Israel, who are Waseda students and/or alumni involved in technology-based startups, for an intense entrepreneurial training. In 2018, seven members from fields in cyber security, AI, IoT, etc, were sent to Israel from December 22 for 20 days.
PHOTO CREDIT: Waseda University
