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February.19.2022 KIP Forum "The Future of Japan seen through the Manufacturing Industry: What is the Liberal Arts required for Human Resources in Science?"
Mr. Yuta Machida
Profile:After graduating from Tokyo University of Science in 2014, Mr. Machida joined Seiko Epson Corporation, where he was engaged in the technological development of wearable devices in the Research and Development Division. He then moved to an auto parts manufacturer in 2017, where he is currently working in the Digital Solutions Division, developing sensors and peripheral systems for tire digitization, and planning and promoting the company's DX (Digital Transformation).
【Speech and Q&A】
This forum was held online. First, Mr. Machida gave an overview of Japan's manufacturing industry. The premise is that Japan's GDP has been stagnant for the last 30 years, and that Japan's ability to develop new products and services has weakened compared to other countries. As for the state of the manufacturing industry in Japan, the country is lagging in DX in the area of providing services to users, and its presence in the area of medium-priced, high-quality production from R&D of materials to manufacturing of products, which used to be one of Japan's strengths, has become less significant as China has begun to manufacture products at low prices and high quality. Today, the know-how of researchers is dominant only in research and development in the field of materials, but the day is not far off when this advantage will be lost with the advancement of efficiency through materials informatics and AI tools. Today, where business processes have changed drastically due to digitization, there is a need to rebuild data-based systems that can maximize customer value. Technological innovation is needed in every process, and it is important to have management that deepen existing businesses and explore new businesses in parallel. In addition, now that the importance of the circular economy and carbon neutrality is being called for, it is necessary to promote business from a big-picture perspective, and even science-related personnel are required to have cross-disciplinary skills in addition to their specialized skills.
On the other hand, the current situation of science-related human resources in Japan is that the number of engineering graduates is on a downward trend, with about 10,000 fewer graduates in 2021 than in 1990. The percentage of those graduates who go on to work in the manufacturing industry is also declining, and the manufacturing industry is always in a shortage of human resources in science. In addition, the number of advanced science human resources is decreasing in Japan compared to the increasing number of doctoral degree holders in developed countries. In addition to the fact that the total amount of IT human resources in demand these days is smaller than in the U.S., IT human resources are distributed only in IT companies, making it difficult for manufacturers and other companies to promote digitalization. In other words, each company needs to collaborate with vendors to promote digitalization, and this has led to a delay in the shift to DX in Japan. In addition, the number of female researchers in the sciences is on the rise in Japan, but it is lower than in other developed countries.
In terms of fostering human resources in the sciences, the Super Science High School (SSH) has increased the number of people studying the sciences. In recent years, there has been a movement to promote cross-disciplinary learning such as STEM education, but the question of "who teaches what and how" has become an issue. In addition to the current shortage of human resources with specialized knowledge in the sciences, there is an urgent need to educate people with a broad and deep knowledge from a long-term perspective.
【Group discussion and ground discussion】
The theme of this discussion was "Whether the human resources in science should develop first, their liberal arts education or technical skills?” Those who argued that people should develop the liberal arts first argued that learning a wide range of subjects when you are young will broaden your horizons and give you more options for later life, and that acquiring liberal arts as a common language will give you the communication skills to cooperate with people in other fields when you become an engineer. On the other hand, those who said that technology should be developed first said that by mastering one technology as one's weapon, it would be possible to transfer that learning to other fields, and that it would be better to polish one's expertise while one is still a student, when one has more time, and then polish one's liberal arts later as a way of recurrent education. In addition, there was an opinion that education and technology interact with each other and should be studied in two wheels, and the issue was raised that if too much emphasis is placed on practical studies, important studies that are not immediately useful at first glance may be neglected.
【Presonal Impression】
As I am a science student myself, I found this forum very meaningful as I learned about the importance of developing the technology and liberal arts education that will be required in Japanese society in the future. For Japanese industry to regain its competitiveness, I reaffirmed the need to maintain an attitude of learning from a broad perspective regardless of what kind of fields people are engaged in.
(Riki Bando, Graduate School at The University of Tokyo, Master 2nd year)