Re-interpretation of technology × Innovation created by delusion-driven "fibona ～Side Story" on-line
2020.07.31"fibona" brings about innovation by integrating Shiseido with "external acquaintances."。
In June, the company invited Mitsuyo Demura, a business producer/CEO of Intellectual Property Magazine Co., Ltd., to a guest under the heading "fibona ～Side Story," and held an online event on the theme of "R&D Next Generation: Generating the seeds of innovation through technology, re-interpretation, and delusions-driven."
This section reports discussions with more than 100 Shiseido researchers and other participants about Demura's talks about the "Intellectual Property Map" and the issues and ideas faced by companies with a variety of intellectual property.
Japan's Background to the Creation of an Intellectual Property Map
The main body of the Intellectual Property Map is Konel Inc., a creative group represented by Mr. Demura. Over 30 types of cross-border creators, including creative directors, engineers, dress makers, and copywriters, continue to create "future-thinking prototypes" using cutting-edge technologies such as IoT and AI.
For example, one of them is "Transparent TABLE". A API that visualizes the content of meetings in real time and a multi-touch monitor owned by a major consumer electronics manufacturer have been combined to create a "future meeting table that can speak with hand-free."
In fact, the company was consulted by a major consumer electronics manufacturer about the use of intellectual property, which is a multi-monitor capable of recognizing contact up to four people at the same time, and this was realized through collaboration among three companies, including researchers. Mr. Demura, who felt the possibilities for this project, noticed that such highly applied intellectual property was dormant among companies throughout Japan.
"Despite the fact that research and development is so excellent in Japan that it produces many Nobel Prize winners, research is not so connected to the business. Behind this, I felt that there were few points of contact between researchers and human resources and creators again in businesses that update lives, services, and products."
According to a survey conducted by the Science, Technology and Science Policy Institute (NISTEP/ Nistep) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan's R&D expenditures as of 2017 amounted to approximately 19.1 trillion yen, ranking third in the world following the United States and China. On the other hand, according to a report by the Mizuho Research Institute, the current situation is that "R&D efficiency," which is an indicator for which research is recovered as business revenue, is continuing to stagnate.
Therefore, the "Intellectual Property Map" was launched to provide the intellectual property of various companies and research institutes, translated into easy-to-understand content for non-researchers such as business human resources and creators.
Consumer's perspective on the importance of the Intellectual Property Map
In this way, Mr. Demura called to his own companies, creators, and researchers, and turned it into an "intellectual property hunter" that gathers information about the intellectual property that attracts attention and the intellectual property that he is researching in his own company. Sometimes I went to university laboratories, sometimes to corporate research institutes, and sometimes to tech startups to experience advanced technologies.
The diverse information obtained in this way is reinterpreted by Mr. Demura and his staff, without being constrained by bias, from the perspective unique to creators. From the pleasant products, services, and worldview in the future, we sublimed the contents utilizing the intellectual property used in it, and consolidated it into the site called "Intellectual Property Map".
As of July 2020, the number of intellectual property listed in the "Intellectual Property Diagram" was over 100 as of that year. Each section introduces examples of the use of intellectual property and high-resolution illustrations that provide a first-glance view of the "delusion project" that draws up a picture of the future using intellectual property.
Mr. Demura says that through the activities of intellectual property maps, there have been more and more calls from various companies. However, he also stated that "there is a huge gap between intellectual property owners and companies that want to provide consumers with new products and services."
"Intellectual property owners seek unforeseen usage and ideas, and operating companies have service ideas and funds that enrich consumers, but there is no way to materialize them. Both parties will be different despite wanting to create new products and services with "0→1."
Intellectual property owners, operating companies, secrets of collaboration
Successively, Mr. Demura pointed out three points as factors behind the companies between intellectual property owners and enterprises.
1. Priority: Too much to maximize your company's profits, you give up collaboration with other companies' technologies and external individuals.
2. Company-to-Company: When collaborating with other companies, there is no agreement between project leadership, cost and profit allocation, etc.
3. Profitability: Required to generate ROI and earnings in a short period of time
"In order to create 0→1 by effectively utilizing the intellectual property of a company, it is important to have people with outstanding skills from outside the company and open collaboration with other companies' products and technologies, and to adopt a stance of rapid development," Mr. Demura says.
In practice, how can a company's R&D department make effective use of its own intellectual property? "There are three points," he said.
1. Selection of themes: entering from "human desire" and "social issues"
2. Draw a "delusion" that makes it easy to gather collaborators
3. Accelerate commercialization through PoC
"Regarding the theme 1, Mr. Demura says that there are many cases in which the selection process works well if the theme is ""whether or not I can utilize what I like for output.""" For example, Tokyo Denki University's 96ch surround stereophonic sound device called "Acoustic Taru" is a collaboration between the musician Harumi Hosono and MUTEK.JP with the inspiration of Mr. Demura, who likes music and entertainment. Hosono's 50th anniversary event "Hosono Tourism" realized a hands-on exhibition.
In addition, when it is linked to various "social issues" such as global warming, pandemics, and population decline, it is difficult to bias toward the pursuit of profits of a single company, and projects are likely to be launched. Demura said, "If you proceed with the project based on the desire of individuals to "like" and "create a more social like this," it will be easier to maintain motivation and the project will proceed smoothly."
The important thing is to say, "Is there anyone who wants to use this intellectual property?" and not to show the technology or patent content as it is. On a delusional base, the company plans to "realize this future" using intellectual property, and presents broad concepts and online video products. This makes it easier for many creators and producers to stay in the eyes, attracting collaborators.
To break the "wall" of a new project
In addition, the "decision barrier" faced in promoting business with major corporations dealing with numerous intellectual property. With commercialization, it will be difficult to rapidly commercialize the plan if all the supervisors' decisions are sought in all areas of ideas, marketing, and sales planning.The key here is to make effective use of PoC(Proof of Concept/ new concepts and ideas from the previous phase of demonstration experiments.
Overseas, there is a strong tendency to set in advance the amount that will not result in a loss even if results are not produced (Affordable Loss: allowable loss), conduct demonstration tests within that range, and experiment the commercialization of intellectual property by prototyping. The company is also repeating its voluntary experiments by applying Affordable Loss in its intellectual property illustrations and Konel.
Finally, Mr. Demura concluded: "Rather than spending a long period of time creating a single business as '0→1', creating and transmitting a large number of '0→0.1' quickly creates a new resonance. Originally, researchers and creators are compatible. I hope I can become a partner who creates a wonderful future from intellectual property."
Promotion of new projects and important matters
In the latter half, in addition to Mr. Demura, Mr. Kentaro Adachi, Technology Manager of the Intellectual Property Department, from Shiseido to Mr. Kentaro Adachi (lower right), Photograph Manager of the R&I Strategy Department, General Manager of the Incubation Center, and Mr. Hidefumi Araki, General Manager of the Incubation Center and fibona Project Owner (upper right), and at the headquarters, Mr. Tomonori Toyota, a fibona member (lower left), held a panel discussion on "Intellectual Property from the Perspective of Innovation."
First, when Adachi of the Intellectual Property Technology Department raised a question about "how to conceive ideas from what you like and how to connect them to business," Ms. Demura replied, "The first team building is the key."
"The team, including planners, engineers, designers, and others, should be able to attract people who can think from different positions and different perspectives as much as possible. In the case of Shiseido, it is excellent that there is a single company with marketers, creators, researchers and professionals in various fields. Diverse experiences are accumulated by one person through department transfers. The formation of teams with diverse members is indispensable for accelerating business. I think it should be utilized for team building."
Araki, fibona project owner, spoke with enthusiasm, "GIC (Shiseido Global Innovation Centre) brings together employees from various fields, including researchers as well as people in charge of marketing. We want to combine research in the field of science with what needs to be done in real life, such as the problems of consumers and dreams. We want to create innovation in a multi-cultural way."
Araki commented on Mr. Demura's talk: "We are very empathetic to interpret intellectual property that changes the world from the creator's point of view, and also to say that delusions are important. R&D requires not only functional value but also emotional value and meaningful value. We would like to incorporate not the researcher's left-hand mindset, but also the creative and intuitive right-hand mindset of the artist."
Prototyping, more important than the Proposal
When a team building is carried out by gathering diverse human resources, the next factor is "communication discrepancies." Mr. Demura says that the important thing for bringing together people with different occupations and backgrounds is to "create prototyping.""When the target to comment is born, independence will be generated beyond the workplace, and a specific opinion will emerge. If there is a prototype, there will be a movement of the idea that "This will be used in life." I think it will be more important to create a prototype with a hand-to-hand feel than to draft a draft plan heavily."
More than 100 researchers participating in the event commented one after another that they wanted to create a place where they could experience a prototype using S/PARK Studio on the first floor of S/PARK and S/PARK Museum on the second floor.
Araki said, "In recent years, we have been thinking of advancing projects in ways such as agile development and small beta, and one of the initiatives is fibona. As the head of the Incubation Centre, we would like to propose value to consumers as quickly as possible, while retaining the size of the dreams and excitement that they want to achieve.
Furthermore, Mr. Demura told me the concrete tips: "In order to proceed with the project faster, it is good to stock a variety of ideas in a mist form. Then, when the budget and deadline are set, it is possible to quickly make the ideas scattered in the brain into a budget. It is the essence of prototyping that the difference between the human resources and the cost and time is a limited deadline."
What is the project's discretion?
In the following Q&A session, there were a series of questions from participants to Demura-san. One of these is the real content of "how can decisions be sought from superiors and managers when proceeding with a project.""This is a perpetual theme for new businesses," Mr. Demura said, while smiling at all. "Managers should decide as many lines as they can, and then give them the discretion to the front lines. "If it doesn't end by this deadline," he said. "It's just like a tightening team, which tends to be loose, and it's just like a sense of temperature," says Mr. Demura.
There is also a fairly thoroughgoing question: How do we get to PMF (when we develop a new product, we are offering the best product to satisfy our customers) when we develop a new product?
In response to this, Mr. Demura advised, "When the product is completed, talk with the business side such as marketing and sales planning, and discuss with them how to introduce it to the market. However, since "it does not perform as expected" is a new business, it is better not to tighten too much with numbers and KPI."
"R&D Next Generation: Creating the seeds of innovation through technology and re-interpretation and delusive driven innovation" is not simply a matter of using intellectual property. Rather, it contained important hints for creating new value in the age of the future, such as how to link technologies at the heart of intellectual property with value for consumers and how to develop agile products that visualize them.
More than 100 participants gave active comments during the discussion, and the stimulation was conveyed. With intellectual property and future R&D as hints, I would like to accelerate open innovation in fibona.
（text: Kanako Ishikawa edit: Kaori Sasagawa）