Ohio State hosts U.S.-Japan Digital Innovation Hub and Advanced Technology Workshop

Ohio State hosts U.S.-Japan Digital Innovation Hub and Advanced Technology Workshop

Participants discuss AI, space exploration, other critical and emerging technologies

Industry, higher education and government officials from the United States and Japan strengthened and reaffirmed the importance of cooperation between the two countries in critical and emerging technologies at a recent two-day workshop.

The U.S.-Japan Digital Innovation Hub and Advanced Technology Workshop, held on The Ohio State University campus on Sept. 11-12, hosted talks with American and Japanese experts on semiconductors, quantum information science, artificial intelligence (AI) and space exploration.

Discussions centered on current and potential partnerships and the importance of workforce development to fill the growing demands of these technologies.

"At Ohio State, we are excited to bring people and ideas together from all over the world to create opportunities to collaborate at a scale few others can match," said Ohio State President Walter "Ted" Carter Jr. during his closing remarks on the first day of the workshop.

Japanese university presidents and leadership, government officials, researchers, academics and industry representatives joined their American counterparts to participate in informative keynotes and interactive panel sessions. Hiroyuki Fujita, former chair of Ohio State's Board of Trustees, and Shuzaburo Takeda, who earned his doctorate degree in physics from Ohio State, played key roles in bringing the workshop to Ohio State.

Attendees focused on ways emerging technologies can help the countries' workforces, such as using AI as a partner, not competitor, in human endeavors, and creating new innovations in the space industry to help fortify a manufacturing economy. Attendees also were able to meet with students from both countries as part of an interactive poster session.

This was the eighth iteration of the workshop, which typically alternates between the U.S. and Japan, and the first time it was hosted on a university campus. Columbus was the first Midwestern city to welcome the event.

Ohio State has a rich history of collaborating with Japan, including a decades-long partnership with Honda resulting in millions of dollars in research funding. A battery cell research and development center is slated to open in 2025.

Ohio State's Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge and the Board of Trustees office hosted the event. The university conducts research and spurs innovation in each highlighted field, including being chosen as the research home for Starlab's George Washington Carver Science Park Terrestrial Lab, establishing an education and research center for semiconductor fabrication and forging a multidisciplinary approach to AI.

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