SRI, NSIC are Catalyzing Corporate Innovation in Japan

When corporations explore new ways of catalyzing innovation, they often look to Silicon Valley and its startup culture. Yes, there are now notable startup ecosystems around the world in places like Boston, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and London. But Silicon Valley remains the largest in terms of new ventures, funding, and sheer density.

In 2021, SRI began working with the Nomura Holdings to build new bridges between Japanese corporate innovators and Silicon Valley. The Nomura-SRI Innovation Center (NSIC) has since grown into an impactful hub of innovation-focused practices, cultural exchange, and growth.

NSIC connects its Japanese member companies to SRI research labs and the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Participants in NSIC programs benefit from coaching and immersive exposure to the technologies, innovators, and business models that are driving today’s emerging innovations. NSIC participants have created new interdisciplinary business lines, built platforms and programs designed to catalyze corporate intrapreneurship, and advanced transformative products and inventions.

Now, a new hybrid program for Japanese corporate project teams extends the footprint of a center that has already made a demonstrably positive impact on Japanese corporate innovation readiness.

For the past several years, NSIC has offered a five-day Innovation Deep Dive Program, an eight-week Bootcamp Program, and a multi-year Silicon Valley Innovation Program, all held at SRI’s campus in Menlo Park, CA.

“Our program ethos has been shaped by being practitioners of the most impactful tools of innovation: Design thinking, future forecasting, business design, and technology invention,” says NSIC executive director Chris Cowart. “At the same time, we know that many corporate innovation efforts and investments consistently falter due to mindset and low levels of organizational readiness to meet innovation expectations. NSIC develops both innovation capabilities and impactful projects through a unique team process, center environment, and deep integration with SRI research labs.”

Representatives of more than 60 Japanese companies have attended NSIC sessions, programs, and events since the center was founded, and Japanese corporate intrapreneurs have launched dozens of impactful projects incubated during their time at NSIC.

“We measure our success by the progress our members make and the quality of their work, both within and beyond our center,” says Cowart. “These companies are experimenting on our platform to scale their organizational readiness to launch projects.”

Encouraged by the success of the Silicon Valley programs and in response to member feedback, NSIC saw an opportunity to further scale innovation capabilities in Japan. The center’s new Japan-based hybrid program will welcome its first cohort in June 2025.

“Our member company community is expanding, and we are excited to offer them the right support at the right time, meeting them where they are in their innovation journey,” says NSIC associate director Aya Iwasuji. The 12-week, part-time hybrid program is designed to help individuals and teams from each participating company make tangible progress on an innovative new business creation project.

Over the course of the program, which blends virtual sessions with three in-person gatherings in Tokyo, participants will explore SRI’s deep tech portfolio, practice design thinking, engage in immersive collaborative exercises, and gain feedback from expert coaches, all with the goal of refining a business concept or leveraging new technology insights to assess commercial viability.

“Innovation is a long, patient game with our Japanese member companies,” observes Cowart. “Our impact is and will continue to be marked in steady, measurable progress. While mindset shifts can happen quickly, tangible innovation outcomes are a result of leaders and innovators leveraging collaborative processes and projects. We are excited to observe how our new hybrid program will support and amplify team efforts through expert hands-on coaching and fast-paced collaboration.”