The Japanese government has stated that digitalization (DX) and green transformation (GX) will be the two pillars of its future growth strategy, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has adopted the expression "digital green, etc." as a growth field. I use it a lot.In the FY4 supplementary budget, we will create a fund of 3002 billion yen for the support project for strengthening the functions of universities and technical colleges, and will support the reorganization of faculties in specific growth fields (Support XNUMX) and secure human resources with advanced information expertise. With this support, many plans have been announced to establish new undergraduate departments related to digital, increase the number of students, and increase the number of students at graduate schools.
This includes some new faculties and departments related to ``green,'' but there are too many new ``digital'' departments, and ``green'' does not stand out.What is the current status of undergraduate departments related to "green"?Also, what kind of research is supported?
First of all, what exactly is "green"?
During the Suga administration in 2020, the Green Growth Strategy was created in order to achieve Japan's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.The Green Growth Strategy formulates implementation plans for 14 important areas where growth is expected from both industrial and energy policy perspectives, and focuses national policy support.
The 14 key areas where growth is expected are defined as follows:In energy-related industries, "offshore wind/solar/geothermal", "hydrogen/fuel ammonia", "next generation thermal energy", and "nuclear power".In transportation/manufacturing-related industries, ``automobiles/storage batteries,'' ``semiconductors/information and communications,'' ``ships,'' ``logistics/people movement/civil engineering infrastructure,'' ``food/agriculture, forestry and fisheries,'' ``aircraft,'' and ``carbon recycling materials.''In the home/office related industry, we have "housing/building/next-generation power management," "resource circulation-related," and "lifestyle-related."
Many of the fields are related to technology in science, engineering, and agriculture, but there are also content related to management, so in terms of faculties, it can be said that the faculties that integrate the arts and sciences, the faculties of social science, and the faculties of home economics are also involved.However, since there is no undergraduate system called "Green," it is thought that awareness among high school students is low.
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A fund of 496 billion yen will be created under the Innovative GX Technology Creation Project to support equipment maintenance and research and development at universities, etc. (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology supplementary budget for FY4)
In order to achieve ambitious goals such as achieving carbon neutrality in 2050, it will be difficult to achieve only by deploying and implementing existing technologies, and the creation of "innovative GX technology" is essential, and the supplementary budget for FY4 states that , we are creating a fund of 496 billion yen for the innovative GX technology creation project.We decided to use this fund to support equipment maintenance and research and development in the three areas of "storage batteries," "hydrogen," and "bio-manufacturing." A total of 3 applications were received, including 78 universities and private universities.The green growth strategy identifies 8 important areas, but the plan seems to be to narrow it down to three areas and provide focused support: ``storage batteries,'' ``hydrogen,'' and ``bio-manufacturing.'' .
On October 2023, 10, the 3 selected results were announced as follows.The 31 billion yen fund under the University and Technical College Functional Strengthening Support Project is being used for faculty reorganization, but the Innovative GX Technology Creation Project will be used to improve equipment and research and development at existing universities, graduate schools, and research institutes. It is a support.
Innovative GX Technology Creation Project US Advancement Research Institute is listed based on the summary and selection results of the 2023 R&D proposal call
Click here for enlarged image →Storage battery area,hydrogen area,Bio manufacturing area
There are several schools that have been selected for support for faculty reorganization, etc. to specific growth fields (Support XNUMX), and there are several undergraduate departments in "green" fields that have announced new plans, but there are few that are related to energy technology.
Support for strengthening the functions of universities and technical colleges In support for reorganization of faculties into specific growth fields (Support XNUMX), many new undergraduate departments related to "digital" are being established, but undergraduate departments related to "green" are also included. It is. In (Support XNUMX), "Environment," "Agriculture," "Food," and "Green" are among the names of newly established undergraduate departments, and although there are no applications or selections this year, plans for new establishments have already been announced on the website etc. If you also pick up the universities that are doing so, the results will be as follows.Looking at this, you can see that the content is quite different from the Innovative GX Technology Creation Project.Here, there is a tendency for there to be many newly established undergraduate departments in interdisciplinary fields of humanities and sciences related to DX, rather than research and development of energy technology in science, engineering, and agricultural departments.
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Although "green" is a priority field, isn't there little support for human resource development?There are also other important areas
To realize GX, DX is essential for various purposes, so it may be that we are prioritizing the development of digital-related human resources first.Still, I feel that there is little support for human resource development in the "green" field, especially in areas related to technology.This is probably due to the fact that it is difficult to divide the field of green into departments, which is why they are promoting it under the broad umbrella of science, engineering, and agriculture, but high school students are aware that it will continue to grow in the future. I think you could say it's biased toward "digital."
Science, technology and innovation are positioned as important pillars of growth strategies, and the government formulates an ``Integrated Innovation Strategy'' every year, recognizing that we cannot win the world with policies that are an extension of past policies.
In this "comprehensive innovation strategy," (XNUMX) AI technology, (XNUMX) biotechnology, (XNUMX) quantum technology, and (XNUMX) materials are fundamental technologies that should be strategically addressed, and application fields that should be strategically addressed ( XNUMX) Health and medical care (XNUMX) Space (XNUMX) Oceans (XNUMX) Food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries are listed.
Growth fields are often expressed as "digital, green, etc.," but there are multiple fields other than "digital" and "green."Although it may not be possible to provide support uniformly, those in the position of advising high school and university students about their future career paths need to understand this process. I think there is.
