20
November
2019

[MakanNight!] Corporate Innovation at Japanese Firms: From Key Stakeholders’ Perspectives

"Innovation" is one of the most commonly heard terms in today's world. However, it remains a difficult goal for small and large corporations alike. With this panel, we will explore the common pitfalls, challenges and barriers Japanese corporations face as they try to incorporate innovation into their businesses.

Panel Speakers:

Kentaro Iwamoto Singapore Correspondent, Nikkei Asian Review

Kentaro Iwamoto has been Singapore correspondent at Japanese news outlet Nikkei since January 2018. He covers various topics including startups, macroeconomics and social issues across Southeast Asia. Some of his works include feature stories such as "Asia's gender imbalance is bad news for growth" and "Grab vs Go-Jek: Duel of digital 'decacorns' escalates in Indonesia". His story "Overworked: Economic prosperity at a personal cost" won the excellence in lifestyle reporting at the Society of Publishers in Asia award in 2017.

Ameya Khasgiwala, Group Manager, Rakuten Asia Pte Ltd

Ameya Khasgiwala works as Group Manager for Rakuten overlooking a group of products built around Rakuten Web Search, an independent web search engine and ad platform in Japan. He holds MBA degrees from UCLA Anderson School of Management and NUS Business School and an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering. He has helped build products for companies like PayPal and Gemalto prior to Rakuten. He also helps organise tech meetups and mentors startups on product strategies and tech innovation.

Aki Nakamura, Founder / MD / Community Management of ExpectConnect Asia

Aki Nakamura is an Intrapreneur (ex-Disney) & entrepreneur hybrid. At Disney, she was one of the team members of Disney Mobile, the first Disney contents business initiated outside of their US headquarters and achieved 4.8 million subscribers within 2 years. She recently embarked on her own startup (www.expertconnect.asia) in Singapore, aiming to revolutionise the "knowledge distribution value chain" in Southeast Asia. By utilising her unique experiences, she also acts as an advisor for several Japanese MNCs on corporate innovation. In her free time, she enjoys mentoring generation-Z and local food hunting.

Associate Professor Atsushi Goto, School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences and Assistant Chair (Research & Graduate Studies), Nanyang Technological University

Dr. Atsushi Goto received his Bachelor degree (1996), Master degree (1998), and Ph.D degree (2001) from Department of Polymer Chemistry, School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Japan. He was appointed to an instructor (2001), an assistant professor (2002-2010), and an associate professor (2010-2015) in Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Japan. His research interests include polymer chemistry and polymer materials, particularly controlled syntheses of polymers.

Moderator: Chan Wei Siang, Deputy Director, Enterprise Development, NTUitive

Register your attendance at http://tiny.cc/MakanNight

Date and Time

Wed 20 Nov, 2019
05:45 PM - 08:30 PM

Location

ACE Ideation Centre
79 Ayer Rajah Crescent, #01-13/14, Singapore 139955

Back to List