Institute for the Promotion of Business-Regional Collaboration consists of three main departments. The Center for Innovation and Business Promotion, which promotes industry-academia collaboration for the implementation of research results in practice, identifies inventions with a view to implementation of research results in practice, secures intellectual property rights, collaborative research with businesses, and conducts technology transfer activities such as patent licensing, as well as develops and certifies the “Hokkaido University Brand”, a group of products that utilizes the research results of the University. The Social and Regional Emergence Department (S-RED), which was established in April 2022, creates new value from social issues and advances the integration of different fields, as well as strives to solve regional issues by promoting collaboration with local governments and other organizations, primarily through the work at the Hokkaido University COI-NEXT “Life Design Center for the Mind and the Body”. In addition, in April 2023, the Startup Creation Department, which provides entrepreneurship education to develop human resources with the ability to solve social issues and develops support for cultivating university-launched startups, became independent from the Center for Innovation and Business Promotion and made into a separate department. It has been based at the “HX (H Cross)”, the wide-area integrated incubation base, and provides support for startups by offering consultation services and holding events and study sessions.
Furthermore, in April 2024, the University-Industry Global Development Office was established to promote international industry-academia collaboration by supporting the international collaboration activities of each department.
Moreover, in July 2024, the Industry Liaison Satellite Office was launched to promote industry-academia collaboration in regions outside of Hokkaido, with a focus on the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The purpose of the institute is to advance these initiatives and cultivate human resources who contribute to such advancement, thereby developing domestic industries and creating innovations.
- Center for Innovation and Business Promotion
- Implementation of research findings in practice through collaborative research and organization-to-organization industry-academia collaboration
- Foster human resources who contribute to the promotion of industry-academia and regional collaboration
- Make active use of the university’s intellectual property and other assets
- Social and Regional Emergence Department (S-RED)
- Advance research to foster a “place” for the creation of new value by addressing social issues
- The hub for industry-academia-government and regional collaboration across different research fields
- The place for diverse human capital including those from business and local governments
- Startup Creation Department
- Provide entrepreneurship education and support for startups founded by utilizing the university’s intellectual property rights or knowledge
- Development of human resources for the above purposes
- University-Industry Global Development Office
- Promotion and enhancement of global industry-academia collaboration activities with a global perspective
- Hub function for overseas bases located in North America, Europe, and Asia
- Foster human resources who will lead future global industry-academia collaboration efforts
- Industry Liaison Satellite Office
- Promote industry-academia collaboration activities mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, excluding Hokkaido
- Connect with support businesses to facilitate the creation and growth of Hokkaido University-launched startups
- Coordinate liaison with central government agencies regarding industry-academia collaboration
