SEMINAR:“TECHNOLOGY IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY: THE CASE OF POST TSUNAMI JAPAN AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLES”

Co- organized by

Contact: Renata Piazza, Founder and Director, NPO Hasekura Program +34.649.323.404//+81.90.1769.1941//Skype:piazzarenata renata@hasekuraprogram.com // http://hasekuraprogram.comhttps://www.facebook.com/hasekuraprogram

PROGRAM

Date: Barcelona, 21st November 2013, 16.00h-19.00hVenue: Auditorium, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce,

Av Diagonal 452 Barcelona

Organized by: Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, NPO Hasekura Program,

In collaboration with:Casa Asia, Consulate General of Japan in Barcelona, Smart City Expo / Fira de Barcelona

OUTLINE

The reconstruction process undergoing in Tohoku requires a general revision of national energy supply, urban planning and public-private relations and other regional and national policies adopted by the central government since World War II. Priority should be given to risk prevention and crisis management, but also to planning a more socially and environmentally sustainable future not only for Tohoku but also for the country as a whole.

New projects emerged in the tsunami-hit area are looking for alternative, renewable and locally produced/locally consumed sources of energy, the rediscovery of a more human-size community based urban structure, the promotion of the collaboration between local community leaders and grass roots movements with local and central authorities in order to support a smoother regeneration of Tohoku. Tohoku’s “Smart-Communities” will then become a model to which developed as well as developing countries outside Japan will look at as a source of inspiration.

The Second Mission of the Hasekura2.0 Program welcomes to Spain young entrepreneurs and experts active in the Tohoku area to discuss, with their International peers, about the future of Smart City-Smart Communities, the role of technology in solving crucial social issues such as regional depopulation and the aging of society and the role of social entrepreneurship in shaping a people rather than profit-based human society worldwide.

BACKGROUND OF THE SEMINAR:

1. The celebration of the “Year of Spain and Japan” (June 2013-July 2014) offers an excellent opportunity to strengthen business relations between Spain and Japan and create new form of bilateral collaboration between entrepreneurs of both countries.

An official project of:

2. The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, as one of the leading members of the Plà Japò (Japan Plan established by the Catalonian Government to promote the relations with Japanese companies investing in Catalonia) wishes to organize an event focused on Japan in the occasion of the “Year of Spain and Japan”

3. The NPO Hasekura 2.0 Program works actively to make known outside Japan those innovative and sustainable projects born after and as an answer to the dramatic tsunami that affected the North East in March 2011

4. The World Bank and the City Council of Barcelona have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly promote innovation as well as share knowledge on sustainable urban development and the use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in the delivery of public services.

5. In November 2013 Barcelona will host the third Smart City World Exhibition (SCEW13), a world leading event in terms of technology applied to urban sustainable development.

Within this framework, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Hasekura Program, co-organize a seminar/workshop around the topic: how technology can help solving pressing social issues (such as the decrease in population, the aging of society, the loss of traditional knowledge and techniques, the efficient response and prevention to natural disasters, etc) using the experiences of post-tsunami Japan as a reference.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Offer to small IT companies a platform where to present products and ideas aimed at solving pressing social issues

2. Create opportunities to share ideas and experiences in the application of new technologies for a socially sustainable development, with the support of examples from Japan

3. Inform small companies from the technological sector on available opportunities for international cooperation with Japan

TARGET PUBLIC:

SMEs from the technology sector interested in Japan Companies with innovative ideas in so called “traditional sectors” SMEs that are planning to restructure or internationalize their business Universities and R&D centres MBA and Postgraduate students

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PROGRAM:

16.30h Welcome speechBy Mr Josep Maria Cervera, Director of International RelationsThe Barcelona Chamber of Commerce andH.E. Takashi Fuchigami, Consul General, Consulate General of Japan in Barcelona

16.45h Presentation of topics and speakersBy Ms Renata Piazza, FounderNPO Hasekura Program

17.00h TECH-AGRICULTURE: technology applied to the agricultural sector. The negative consequences of the Green Revolution on human health and the environment are very well known. Can technology offer a greener future to the countryside and support a sustainable economic and social development of regional areas? An example from Yamamotocho (Miyagi, Japan).

By Mr. Hiroki IWASACEO GRA Group Fortune Magazine, 21.07.2013 http://www.gra-inc.jp/english/about.htmlhttp://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/1-2-Hiroki-Iwasa-at-TEDxTohoku

17.15h SMARTCITIZEN AND FABCITY: THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGYInitiated a few years ago by MIT, FabLab is a worldwide network that makes hi-tech accessible to the citizen as a public service, with the aim of promoting innovation and creativity. The worldwide congress of FabLabs took place this year in Yokohama Japan and will be held in Barcelona in 2014. We will hear about the work of FabLabs in both cities and especially how projects such as Smart Citizen and FabCity ,promoted by FabLab Barcelona, may affect the way citizen live in and think of their urban space worldwide.

By Mr. Guillem Camprodon FabLab Barcelonahttp://fablabbcn.org/

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17.30h IT AND THE AGING SOCIETYHow can technology help solving some of the problems of the aging society. Compelling problems with the elderly in Tohoku’s prefab housing Heat detectors in Higashimatsushima.

By: Dr. Yasuo UTSUMI,Vice President, ProfessorRegional Collaborative Center, Sendai National College of TechnologyVice President HOPE

17.45h SOCIAL MEDIA AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT The year 2011 has been described as the most expensive year in counts of global disaster damages ever. NITIMesr is a research initiative that addresses research on new modes and competencies for coordination and collaboration of organizations and individuals in emergency situations through social network devices. The aim is to explore new frontiers of safety and security with the institutional, governance, organizational and managerial challenges of crisis networks, to develop and test innovative approaches for coordination in real world settings.

By Prof. Francesc MirallesCoordinator NITIMesr-La SalleURL

18.00h Panel discussion and Q&A with the publicModerated by Mr Josep Maria Cervera,Director of International Relations, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce

18.45h Conclusion of the event By Renata Piazza, NPO Hasekura Program

NOTES: Seminar in English without interpretation Attendance free of charge but previous online registration

(www.cambrabcn.org)is necessary. Limited seats available.

This seminar is part of the Hasekura 2.0 Second Mission on Smart Cities and Sustainable Community Building, which will take place in Barcelona and Madrid between November 18th and 23rd 2013.For more information: http://hasekuraprogram.com

An official project of: