3. Aims of the Japan Chemical Innovation Institute (JCII)

To advance the Japanese Chemical S&T to achieve the required technological innovations and to accelerate the pace of development, it will be absolutely essential that R&D be conducted not only by individual efforts but also in collaborative efforts among industry, academia and the national institutions. Involvement by a broad spectrum of groups and making strategic use of their potential power will be crucial. The U.S. and European chemical industry has been committed to such partnership among industry, academia and government and made a call for action. JCII has also made a concrete commitment to partnership among this triad with the greatest urgency.

First, it is essential for industry, academia and the national laboratories to collaborate by sharing information to match the needs of the industry with the potentialities ("seeds") of academia and national institutes more efficiently and effectively and on a broader front. The members of the chemical industry can cooperate with each other and work with customer industries or academia in meeting their needs and seeds with a sense of a shared mission and in a constructive and productive manner. In this context, it is especially essential for the chemical industry to work with the customer industries in advancing the technological breakthroughs in new products and processes to strengthen international competitiveness, while making a contribution to improved environmental and energy performance.

The technological achievements attained in the successive phases and efforts through fundamental and applied research and commercialization should not merely remain the intellectual property of the chemical industry but must flow back into basic research and education for chemists at academia in a cyclic "spiraling-up" mechanism. For this purpose additional efforts of the chemical industry are expected for systematizing and integrating their technology and know-how into an academic research system.

In order to promote knowledge- and information-sharing, collaboration and cooperation and, more importantly, to have this knowledge produce some visible results, it is essential that all elements of the chemical sector should transcend differences of interest and specialty and share technological challenges and strategies. What is needed is sharing of the common vision and technological challenges for the future. In order to aim for the important targets raised by technical and economic requirements, the chemical industry can work with academia and the national institutions strategically to establish joint projects supported fully or in part by national fund. It is also important to enlist a full commitment of the participants' leaders, including the member of top management of the companies involved in such project, to secure the greatest possible support from the basic areas such as personnel, financial and necessary information. To benefit the participants the goal of such the projects should be set on the basis of common interest, focused on and in line with the shared future strategies.

The chemical S&T and chemical industry sector need to promote the dissemination of a wide understanding by society as to the importance of the industry's role and responsibility to secure society's and industry's sustainable development. Through these efforts the chemical sector can attain a broad social support. It can also help nurture Japan's young generation, who hold the key to our future and provide sufficient motivation to younger people to choose a career in chemistry.

To achieve these objectives, JCII undertakes to promote (1) the establishment of technological strategies and planning, (2) industry and academia collaboration, and (3) project promotion by harnessing the intellectual wisdom and resolve of Japan's chemical sector as a whole.

With reference to these three promotion areas, the following outline presents the basic considerations and orientation that has transpired from the debates.

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