The Kickoff Symposium of the "Kawasaki Care Design Consortium"
On November 6, the Kickoff Symposium of "Kawasaki Care Design Consortium" was held at the hall of Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion.
Nearly 200 participants from various companies and medical institutions attended, reflecting a prominent level of interest.
The event begun with greetings from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and Kawasaki City. Following them, Prof. Takanori Ichiki, CHANGE Project Leader gave an overview of Project CHANGE. Mr. Isao Shirasaki (Chairperson of Lilium Otsuka), CHANGE Senior Coordinator and Secretary-General of the consortium then presented an overview of the consortium. This was followed by a lecture on anticipation from the care side by Ms. Akie Hotta, Chairperson of the Kawasaki Nursing Association and a Steering Committee Member of the consortium.
After that, Mr. Takayoshi Mimura, former Chairperson of Terumo Corporation, delivered a special lecture. He spoke about the current state of the medical device industry, comparing domestic and international perspectives based on his experience. He also explored business opportunities in the patient journey, particularly in the context of healthcare transformation driven by declining birthrates, an aging population and the expansion of healthcare services, which provided invaluable insights.
Furthermore, he likened the relationship between the care sector, companies, and society to the concept of "Sanpo Yoshi" (a win-win-win approach), incorporating elements of the SDGs and expanding it to "Roppo Yoshi”, which satisfies 6 different parties. He emphasized that the healthcare business is not solely about financial profit but significantly impacts people's lives and future society.
This event reaffirmed our belief that the consortium has the potential to design the future of care.
