Science and Technology
The 23rd Japan-Germany Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science and Technology
February 7, 2019
- The 23rd Japan-Germany Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science and Technology was held on February 6th, 2019 in Tokyo.
- The Joint Committee was co-chaired by H. E. Mr. Takeshi Nakane, Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and by H. E. Ambassador Dr. Hans Carl von Werthern, Ambassador of Germany to Japan. After the opening, the co-chairmanship on the German side was left to Dr. Lothar Mennicken, Director of Division Cooperation with Asia and Oceania, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The Japanese delegation at the meeting was composed of the Cabinet Office (CAO), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (MEXT), Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), National Institute of information and communications Technology (NICT), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), RIKEN, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and the Japan Association of National Universities (JANU). The German delegation was composed of the BMBF, German Rectors´ Conference (HRK) , German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), German Research Foundation (DFG), the Fraunhofer Society (FhG), Leibniz Association (WGL) and German Aerospace Center (DLR) .
- During this joint committee, opinions were exchanged on the recent development of science, technology and innovation policies of the two countries. The discussions at the Japan-Germany summit meeting on February 4th, that both countries will further advance collaboration between Japan's "Society 5.0" and Germany's "Industry 4.0" to create a prosperous future society making use of advanced technologies was present. In addition, opinions were exchanged on the present state and future direction of science and technology cooperation in specific research fields such as photonics, battery technology, cluster cooperation, autonomous driving technologies, Artificial Intelligence among others. Furthermore, both sides exchanged views on collaborations and activities between major agencies and research organizations.