A blurry future

October 5, 2023. People may recall that this day was the start of a great project.

On that day, representatives from the University of Tokyo and Mitsubishi Electric stood on stage to announce the establishment of the "Corporate sponsored program for a sustainable future society with a circular economy system." The "Corporate sponsored program" is an organization established at the university to conduct collaborative research on common issues which are highly public, using funds received from the private sector as well as other sources.

Speakers left to right:
Kunihiko Kaga (Representative Executive Officers, CTO, Mitsubishi Electric), Toru Oka (Senior Executive Officer, Vice President of Corporate Research and Development Group, Mitsubishi Electric), Yasuhiro Kato (Dean and Professor, School Of Engineering, The University of Tokyo), Akiko Kumada (Vice Dean and Professor, School Of Engineering, The University of Tokyo)

Why was this project created? The reason is the uncertain society we live in, as exemplified by "VUCA" - an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Rapid advances in digital technology, geopolitical risks, climate change, and the emergence of new economic models such as the sharing/circular economy have made it difficult to predict the future.

That is why we should heed the words of Professor Kato: "I believe that the fusion of academic knowledge from various fields, and knowledge from the field itself, is essential for designing solutions to the complex social issues facing today's society. The fusion of these two fields of knowledge must surely contain clues to the realization of the ideal future society.

First target-Circular Economy

Kunihiko Kaga (Representative Executive Officers, CTO, Mitsubishi Electric)

The FDC began by considering what our ideal society would be. After all, how could Mitsubishi Electric - as a company - work toward a future that had no discernible shape? At the press conference, Mr. Kaga shared his thoughts and expectations for the FDC.

‘Through this initiative, we would like to picture the future society we would like to have. And by stating the goal first, we can have meaningful discussions. We would like to use the committee as a place to create values and ideas that do not exist in the current business world. And from these discussions, we hope to create new pillars for business. (omission) We will examine both what we should do now, and what we should work on in the future in order to solve social issues. Through joint research to solve technological issues, we will realize the ideal future society.'

Our partner in this joint research is the University of Tokyo. Known as Japan's highest academic institution, it is also a research organization with rich knowledge in all academic fields - not only in medicine and engineering, but also in the humanities and public policy studies.

Yasuhiro Kato (Dean and Professor, School Of Engineering, The University of Tokyo)

According to Professor Kato, the University of Tokyo aims to be a university which everyone yearns to attend, and one which is working to solve various global issues that we face, employing communication and collaboration with society and businesses to help achieve that goal.

This time the ‘Corporate sponsored program for a sustainable future society with a circular economy system’ has been established as a first step towards realizing an ideal future society, as discussed and envisioned at the FDC. It was decided that the course would address issues related to social activities with conventional mass production and mass consumption economics (which cause environmental problems such as climate change and the destruction of the planet's biodiversity), and also promote research for a circular economy that achieves economic growth while reducing the environmental impact via maximum recycling of limited resources.

The effort of Mitsubishi Electric for the future

Toru Oka (Senior Executive Officer, General Manager of Development Division, Mitsubishi Electric)

Mitsubishi Electric has made the realization of sustainability a core element of its management, and is promoting solutions to social issues through its business in five main areas: "carbon neutrality," "circular economy," "safety and security," "inclusion," and "well-being."

For example, one of Mitsubishi Electric's specific initiatives related to the circular economy is the recycling of plastic from home appliances. The company uses its proprietary sorting technology to recycle plastics collected from used home appliances, and transform them into high-purity plastic materials. In recycling, this sorting technology is so vitally important - it is "on-site wisdom" that Mitsubishi Electric has acquired as a result of its commitment to sustainability.

However, achieving a circular economy is not easy.

For example, companies may be forced to change their business models, or they may need to convert functions into software and extend the life of their products. In addition, it will require the cooperation of many stakeholders (all the providers and people involved, from resource development to consumption), and the promotion of environmental awareness among consumers (product users). In addition, cooperation across national, university, and company boundaries will be essential. In this regard, expectations are naturally high for the University of Tokyo, which has a strong ability to successfully communicate with the national government.

The key is benefitting stakeholders.

Akiko Kumada (Vice Dean and Professor, School Of Engineering, The University of Tokyo)

If Mitsubishi Electric as a business has "on-site wisdom", the University of Tokyo has "academic wisdom." The Corporate sponsored program for a sustainable future society with a circular economy system was created by the fusion of these two realms of knowledge.

The organization, led by Professor Kumada of the University of Tokyo, will explore what the bottlenecks are in the circular economy. The goal is to identify the obstacles and hindrances, and explore the technology, mechanisms, policies, etc. needed to overcome them.

The key of the issue is how to secure the benefit of stakeholders.

In today's society, a circular economy is believed to secure benefits. However, it is annotated to include "the outcome of the whole society." On the other hand - from the perspective of individual stakeholders in the ecosystem - if there is no financial benefit, there will be no reason to participate in the ecosystem; and as a result, the circular economy itself will not work. In other words, a circular economy that simply forces certain stakeholders to endure will not work for long.

Therefore, in the Corporate sponsored program, the entire ecosystem is modeled. By modeling the relationship between stakeholders and the flow of resources and costs - and by simulating those relationships - factors which interfere with benefits can be discovered. Ideally, by finding ways to address them, we will be able to design an ecosystem in which all stakeholders can obtain sufficient benefits which are worth the burdens they have borne.

In the process, the role of each stakeholder, the optimal business model for every kind of business, and the laws and regulations which govern them will become clear, and we will be able to better consider how to address these issues. In this way, we can more concretely model an entire ecosystem.

The future of the FDC

Of course, no one can say for sure how a circular economy will turn out. Therefore, our mission is to further explore and study this matter, bringing together and integrating Mitsubishi Electric's "on-site wisdom" and the University of Tokyo's "academic wisdom," while paying close attention to the user's point of view. In addition to tangible results, a number of spin-off effects are expected.

Through the FDC, for example, it is hoped that by broadly exposing employees to cutting-edge knowledge and having discussions about the same, a chemical change will occur in people’s mindsets and they will be able to break free from excessive "self-made-ism." Mitsubishi Electric has established an internal community as a place for employees to freely communicate and discuss issues beyond the boundaries of their positions and jobs, and which calls for participation in the FDC.

In the Corporate sponsored program, Mr. Oka (Senior Executive Officer, Vice President of Corporate Research and Development Group, Mitsubishi Electric) said, "Although the core members of the project at Mitsubishi Electric are mainly from the R&D department, we want people who are interested in the circular economy - especially young people - to participate in the course as well."

‘Beyond the boundaries’ means that participation is not limited. The Corporate sponsored program is not limited to the University of Tokyo or Mitsubishi Electric, but provides an open forum in which many companies and organizations can participate. This is because the circular economy is a global issue which cannot be solved by merely one company.

The Corporate sponsored program was begun with a three-year vision. However, whether it will continue after three years or not will depend on the situation at the end of that period.

With the beginning of the Corporate sponsored program, the FDC has taken a big step towards realizing an ideal future. Let us look forward to seeing what kind of society and world we can create in the future.