Journalist Tim Hornyak, Ben Marcus of AirMap, Gajan Mohanarajah of Rapyuta Robotics, Takashi Toraishi of Rakuten and Tian Yu of YUNEEC Technology discussed a future in which flying robots are a part of life.
The New Economy Summit (NEST) 2017, a global conference organized by industry advocacy group Japan Association of New Economy (JANE), was held in Tokyo in April. Featuring sessions on venture capital, the circular economy, fintech, IoT, ride-sharing, drones, AI and much more, it really did provide the audience with the chance to – in the words of Representative Director Mickey Mikitani – “see around the corner.” Below are some highlights in photographs.
Mickey Mikitani, Representative Director of JANE and Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, kicked off NEST 2017 by encouraging participants to “see around the corner.”Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi spoke about energy policy at NEST 2017.Drew Houston of Dropbox spoke about how services like Dropbox could help the Japanese economy by transforming work practices.In his keynote speech, Tom Kelley of D4V spoke about how to foster a culture of innovation.Startup adviser Shoji Honjo of Honjo International led the proceedings during the NEST Startup Challenge.Judges for the NEST Startup Challenge shared their thoughts on the presentations before naming two startups working in the agricultural industry – Agribuddy and Pocket Marche – as the winners.Ben Marcus of AirMap explained in a session on drones that “we still haven’t imagined the benefits from drones that will come 10 years from now.”Akira Morikawa of C Channel Corporation explained that in the video-streaming industry efforts are being made to determine “how to convert users from simply internet ad consumers to e-commerce buyers.”Representative Director of JANE Mickey Mikitani and fellow directors Takashi Inoue of LIFULL, Noboru Hachimine of OPT Holding, Noriyuki Matsuda of Sourcenext Corporation, Takashi Yuri of TechMatrix Corporation and Koichiro Yoshida of CrowdWorks reviewed NEST 2017’s many sessions and thanked the audience for attending.We look forward to saying hello again in 2018!
