2022 Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards Symposium

“Recognizing the best of innovation and entrepreneurship in Japan – U.S. business”

For details and to register: usjinnovate.org

Presented every year since 2011, the Symposium returns in 2022 to an in-person format.  Please join us to network with awardee companies and thought leaders of the innovation community between Japan and Silicon Valley, as well as to view in-person the keynote fireside chat, other speaker presentations, a panel discussion by winners of the SunBridge Emerging Leader Awards, and pitch presentations by top executives of five exciting Japanese startup companies in the Innovation Showcase.  The day's activities begin with a box lunch (included in registration) and informal conversations around awardee and sponsor display tables. 
 

At this time, the Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards Program also proudly announces the winners of theSunBridge Emerging Leader Award for 2022. Each year, this award recognizes one innovative high-growth company from Japan and one from the U.S. that are already beginning to transform a major industry or value chain.

The 2022 SunBridge Emerging Leader Award – U.S. winner is Databricks, the data and AI company and pioneer of the data lakehouse program, while the SunBridge Emerging Leader Award – Japan goes to TIER IV, creator of Autoware, the world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving.

The Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards Program, the longest running annual program in the Bay Area celebrating the links between Silicon Valley and Japan innovation, is produced by the Japan Society of Northern California in cooperation with the Stanford University U.S.-Asia Technology Management Center.

Databricks Co-Founder and Chief Technologist Matei Zaharia and TIER IV COO Daisuke Tanaka will accept their awards at the 2022 Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards Symposium on July 14th, which will also include a panel discussion on innovation by top executives of the two firms.

Awarded every year since 2011, prior U.S. winners of the Emerging Leader Award include: Tesla Motors (2011), Square (2012), Zoom Video Communications (2019), and Color (2021). Prior Japan winners include SanBio (2011), which later had Japan’s largest IPO, Line Corporation (2014), Preferred Networks (2017), which became Japan’s first unicorn, and Astroscale (2021).

The Emerging Leader Awards are sponsored by SunBridge Corporation, the premier partner and investment firm for leading enterprise IT companies to enter the Japan market. SunBridge Founder and Chairman Allen Miner (https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenminer/) helped create the Japan – U.S. Innovation Awards Program 12 years ago and served as the first Chair of the Awards Program Steering Committee.

For more information about the Symposium, including speakers and participants, please visit <https://www.usjinnovate.org/>.&nbsp;

This event is FREE for Stanford ID Holders - please register using your Stanford.edu email address.  Limited seating - first come, first served.  Program is open to the public.  Lunch included.  Early bird ticket sales end 6/30.  Registration required at <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2022-japan-us-innovation-awards-symposium-…;.  

SunBridge Emerging Leader Award Winners:

Databricks (https://databricks.com/) supports more than 7,000 organizations worldwide with its lakehouse platform, which combines the best elements of data lakes and data warehouses to deliver the reliability, strong governance and performance of data warehouses with the openness, flexibility and machine learning support of data lakes. By pioneering this unified approach to the modern data stack, Databricks empowers its customers to eliminate the data silos that traditionally separate and complicate data engineering, analytics, BI, data science and machine learning to operate more efficiently and innovate faster.

TIER IV (https://tier4.jp/en/) is the creator of Autoware, the world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving, and provides full-stack solutions for the commercialization of intelligent vehicles based on the Autoware-defined Autonomous Driving Kit (ADK) which runs on multiple platforms. Autoware is currently used by hundreds of companies globally, with field operation tests run in about 20 countries, implemented with 30 different types of vehicles. As a founding member of the Autoware Foundation, TIER IV is dedicated to providing open access to autonomous driving technology so that everyone, from individuals to organizations, can participate in and contribute to a sustainable ecosystem of intelligent vehicles and autonomous driving technology for the benefit of society.

The organizers:
Japan Society of Northern California (usajapan.org)
Since its founding in 1905, the Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC) has advanced U.S. – Japan mutual understanding in a global context. The Society offers an array of programs and networking opportunities for people and organizations in the Bay Area with a strong interest in Japan. It is the go-to place for U.S. – Japan insights, opportunities, collaboration, and networking. The Society is a dynamic link connecting the world-renowned innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem of San Francisco/Silicon Valley to a resurgent Japan.

Stanford University US-Asia Technology Management Center (asia.stanford.edu/)
The US-Asia Technology Management Center (US-ATMC) is an industry-funded center in Stanford University under the Stanford Global Studies initiative. Established in 1992, the US-ATMC conducts education and research into innovation and emerging business trends in technology-intensive industries. Its courses and public programs provide Stanford students and the Silicon Valley community with knowledge and analytical capabilities that are important to global success in high-tech fields in the 21st century.