• NISHIKAWA Shintaro (business consulting, IT strategy, new business development, venture investment)
  Director of GLOCALINK Inc. / Director of D-LAB, Japan Tobacco Inc.

How many business persons understand the meanings of ELSI/RRI (Ethical, Legal and Social Implications/Issues, and Responsible Research and Innovation)? When the RInCA program was launched, I myself did not understand what ELSI/RRI meant and many questions came up. Since the launch of the RInCA program, we have been working to promote ELSI/RRI, but as of 2023, the concept of ELSI/RRI is understood only by R&D departments in some companies and some consulting companies. It is hard to say that the word ELSI/RRI has become prevalent among business enterprises as a whole.

Under such circumstances, researchers remain unclear about how the companies understand ELSI/RRI, and how they communicate if they do not understand it. Some researchers are more cautious in the interaction between industry and academia, considering that the company considers ELSI/RRI as rules and regulations that place restrictions on business.

RInCA is an innovation-oriented R&D program that aims to realize a society where science and technology sustainably create new values while harmonizing with humans and society. It is focused on promoting the co-creation by diverse members, including companies, in research and development settings. However, when we observe communication between companies and researchers under ELSI/RRI, there may be cases where communication between both parties does not necessarily contribute to creating value because we sometimes find the communication rather unilateral.

So how can we move ahead with co-creation?

Although very simple, it is important that the members involved in the project have common goals in multidisciplinary co-creation. In promoting the project in ELSI/RRI, "solving social problem through rule-formation" and "acquiring global competitive advantage" may be common goals.

Rule formation has already been discussed in lots of literature and articles. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry views solving social issues as an opportunity for new business, and defines the potential to form new markets by utilizing rule making as "Market Formation Potential*." It is stated that the formation of the market requires capabilities to envision an agenda, to solve social challenges, and to develop rules. For example, in Europe, substantive international regulations and guidelines are developed in the areas including environmental protection, food safety, and privacy protection, leading to the first-mover advantage, which is sometimes referred to as the “Brussels effect.” In an European NGO, where I work, they take a similar approach for the purpose of creating global rule-making.

As the assumptions and conditions differ between Europe and Japan, it will be necessary to carefully discuss whether the same efforts as those in Europe are effective in Japan, and what rules (regulation/standards, international standards, private certification/guidelines) are effective in the formation of rules, depending on the science and technology involved, business field, and type of business.

However, it is possible for us to develop co-creation on a deeper level than before by allowing project members from multiple disciplines, such as academia and companies, to discuss highly abstract issues such as what kind of value we are aiming to realize through ELSI/RRI challenges and how we are enhancing international competitiveness in the medium and long term, as well as specific issues of ELSI challenges posed by emerging science and technology.

In addition to the above, we believe that educational and awareness-raising activities are essential in order to promote the deliberation of ELSI/RRI in multiple fields. Universities, research institutions, and companies should work together to improve knowledge and raise awareness about ELSI/RRI among researchers, particularly business persons. We really hope that each of these activities will create a society in which more people can co-create.

* Market Formation Potential Index

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