The UKTI ICT team in Japan were delighted to have Professor Joe McGeehan, Director, Centre for Communications Research, University of Bristol and also Managing Director of Toshiba's Telecommunications Research Laboratory (based in Bristol), in the country last week. After promising not to mention the performance of his beloved Liverpool team this season and with some wonderful assistance from our South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWERDA) colleagues - for which many thanks - Joe kindly offered to take part in a few events in Osaka and Tokyo to help us promote the UK's ICT industry strengths to the country's leading players.
First up, Joe spoke in Osaka on Tuesday to an invited audience from the ICT and utility industries. The theme of his talk was low carbon communications. Unfortunately he used lots of big and technical words which went way over my head but thankfully they were lapped up by our guests. Smart grids are all the rage at the moment but Joe was keen to point out that there are still a few hurdles in front of us, a view shared by local companies too. Afterwards we had an informal but lively discussion about how the industry is going to have to go to meet those challenges (and considerable opportunities too) a low carbon economy will throw up. Sadly this was all too brief as Joe had to be whisked away by our SWERDA colleagues back up to Tokyo.
References to Liverpool were still under wraps by Thursday so Joe agreed to do the next event at the Embassy in Tokyo. This time he spoke about smart grids and energy management to representatives from UKTI, some of our DA and RDA partners, the Embassy's Energy and Environment team and Osaka's Science & Innovation section. Again he spoke about the challenges confronting us. But the UK was in pretty good shape to meet them and collaborate with the rest of the world too. So good opportunities for all teams.
Next up a reception the Tokyo team organised for three innovative ICT companies in Japan from Joe's area (South West England) timed to coincide with the visit. Supported by UKTI South West's Mike Brodin (thanks Mike), the companies (plus one other who was with us earlier on in the week) had met various Japanese companies in Tokyo and Osaka under UKTI's OMIS scheme. Good contacts were made which we hope will lead into real business in the not too distant future. Joe briefly spoke about the UK ICT industry and then handed the floor to the three companies to talk about their technologies to Tokyo's finest.
It was great having such an authority from the academic world to help us with our work here. Bridging the gap between academia and business is a key tool in getting across our message to the Japanese ICT sector. This went down well here and so we are grateful to Joe. And through this blog we are inviting other UK regions to contact us to see if we can do something similar with their academics and companies. If you think we can please get in touch with us (david.abbott@fco.gov.uk)
And finally, did we keep our promise about not mentioning Liverpool? Well sort of. As I am a long-suffering Spurs fan and therefore used to finishing way behind Liverpool, it was nice to reverse places this season. I could not therefore let this opportunity pass. During the reception, Professor Guy Orpen (Pro Vice Chancellor and more importantly a fellow Spurs disciple) and I had to remark to Joe that he and his boss, Vice Chancellor Professor Eric Thomas (a Newcastle fan) could have a wager over which one of them would win the battle for mid-table mediocrity next season!
David Abbot
UKTI Japan
2 comments
Comment by Yinka posted on
I hope this boosts the UK'S ICT industry
Comment by Yinka posted on
I hope this boosts the UK'S ICT industry