Asian Scientist (Oct. 5, 2014) – We need to collectively address energy and environmental issues as a human race, said Mr. Koji Omi, founder and chairman of the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum. Omi opened the 11th Annual Meeting of the STS Forum in Kyoto, Japan, which will run from October 5-7, 2014.
Since the inaugural meeting of the STS Forum in 2004, the annual event has grown in size and continues to attract high-ranking diplomats, scientists and senior representatives of grant agencies, academia and industry.
In his opening remarks, Omi noted that “science and technology issues concern all of us and should not only be discussed by science professionals. Rather, it is important for individuals from all over the world to discuss these issues.” He urged participants to find sustainable solutions by adopting a longer-term perspective. “We should not just make plans for the next 20-30 years,” he said, “but for hundreds of years.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe graced the opening plenary session of the Forum, which has the theme of ‘Lights and Shadows’ to illustrate both the good and bad that science and technology has brought to humankind. Abe was also appointed honorary co-chairman of the STS Forum, which he jokingly said was a “permanent” position since it was an honorary title.
“Innovation holds the key to Japan’s economic growth,” said Abe in his keynote speech. He referenced the writings of science fiction writer Jules Verne from more than a century ago, where he predicted in The Mysterious Island that ‘water will one day be employed as fuel’. Abe noted how prescient Vernes was, adding that Japan was the first country to develop a commercial hydrogen fuel cell.
Aside from clean technology and renewable resources, Japan is serious about regenerative medicine, Abe said, a field popularized by Prof. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, who won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for his discovery and development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology. Abe noted that iPSCs were shown to be clinically relevant in a recent Japanese-led study.
Abe also discussed the importance of robotics, especially in providing care for an aging Japan.
Other speakers at the opening plenary session included France Cordova, director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF); Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development; Sadayuki Sakakibara, Chairman of Keidanren and Toray Industries Inc, Japan; and Pichet Durongkaveroj, Thai Minister of Science and Technology.
Plenary sessions over the three-day conference will see discussions on topics such as the roles of nanotechnology, big data and social innovation in society.
Juliana Chan was invited by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science and the New York Academy of Sciences to attend the 2014 Forum as one of its ten “Future Leaders”.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine.
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