On Thursday June 20, SVNJ participated in the New Economy Summit Tokyo 2019 (NEST Tokyo 2019). The speaker list featured an impressive lineup of Japanese entrepreneurs and business leaders. The closing reception brought together a particularly illustrious group of attendees, including Minister in charge of IT policy, Takuya Hirai, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Masahiko Shibayama, Minister of Justice, Takashi Yamashita, Cabinet Office Special Mission Minister, Satsuki Katayama, and Yasutoshi Nishimura, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Kenji Kushida appeared alongside Founder & CEO of Sourcenext Corporation, Noriyuki Matsuda, in a special lunch session entitled, “Silicon Valley at Present: What Tokyo can learn from its business innovation.” The two discussed why Silicon Valley has continuously produced disruptive waves of innovation as a Mecca for tech entrepreneurs, and what Tokyo can learn from Silicon Valley’s history and ecosystem as it evolves into Japan’s epicenter for innovation.
Pictures below.
About The New Economy Summit (NEST)
The New Economy Summit (NEST), is a global conference organized by the Japan Association of New Economy (JANE). After 150 years from the Meiji Restoration and 75 years since the post-WWII reforms, Japan is now undergoing another period of transformation. JANE positions this as the third “kaikoku,” or opening of the country to the outside world. NEST was established to show how Japan is transforming itself by learning from the advanced practices of the world, bringing together talent from around the world to discuss innovation. This year, NEST will be held in two individual events as “NEST TOKYO” (on June 20) and “NEST KANSAI” (on Nov. 5).