Incentivizing Restraint in the South China Sea
How does Southeast Asia incentivize a major power like China to exercise restraint, particularly in the ongoing dispute in the South China Sea (SCS)? Prof. Huang will argue that regional consensus, interactive deliberations, and insulated negotiation settings are most likely to induce China to shift its policy in the SCS toward supporting regional initiatives that it previously deflected, resisted, or opposed, and toward reevaluating the efficacy of using force. Conversely, regional disunity and fragmentation would render China more likely to practice power politics. Without joint influence, the states of Southeast Asia are unlikely to alter China’s preference for pursuing its interests in the SCS by coercive means intended to minimize the capabilities of other claimant states and thereby sustain its unilateral approach to maritime security.
A key question for this research is the extent to which confidence-building diplomacy based on voluntary cooperation between China and Southeast Asia can cultivate habits of avoiding conflict without the binding agreements and formal sanctioning mechanisms that have proven so hard to negotiate. Preliminary findings suggest the need for scholars and practitioners to be more creative, precise, and consistent in studying and suggesting how Southeast Asia can project and implement its security norms in ways that incentivize change in the foreign policy paradigm of an imposing external power.
New disruptors that change the way of traveling may be arising from airspace, in addition to existing ride- and car-sharing, that have changed people's minds and will have an effect on car sales. Many start-ups and aircraft manufacturers are tackling the challenge to realize the urban air transportation business and have begun to improve the level of technology. In his research, Ito focused on the technologies used in the urban air transportation ecosystem and concluded that Mitsubishi Electric could provide some of these technologies. He suggests that Mitsubishi Electric should find the partners by leveraging its U.S. offices and other group companies, which could become a lesson for other Japanese companies. 
Deep learning has received a great deal of attention since it broke a conventional method at an image recognition competition in 2012. Since then, almost every industry is exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve productivity and make innovation. Tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Baidu and others that have invested large amounts of resources to AI have become far more advanced than other companies. How can ordinary companies adopt AI in their business? In his presentation, Kato shares insights into the essential factors for companies to implement AI in business.
In the United States, the standard of patent eligibility of software-related inventions has been significantly raised and complicated since a Supreme Court decision (Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank) in 2014 that has sparked considerable discussion in the patent community. According to the report published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2017, companies in the computer-related industry are divided in their view on the Supreme Court decision. Some companies that had suffered from a large number of patent lawsuits, mainly from Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), welcome the decision because it protects against abusive patent litigation. Other companies, however, oppose the decision, insisting that it hurts the value of patents and innovation. One leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) company has argued that the decision is curtailing innovation in cutting edge areas of information technology such as artificial intelligence. Why does this company insist that the Supreme Court decision stifles research on AI technology? In his research, Nomura tries to reveal the background by analyzing patent data.
Biosimilars are blockbuster drugs in the sense that they are affordable copies of the expensive original biologic drug, providing much needed affordable quality healthcare. A number of top selling biologic brands in key therapeutic areas are due to lose product patent protection over the next few years, opening a wealth of opportunities for biosimilar players. Biosimilar product development for launch in multiple geographic locations with various regulatory expectations would require a clear and concise understanding of the regulatory framework of each region. In her research, Raveendran's primary goal is to understand the regulatory requirements for registration of biosimilar products in various global markets and to also compare and contrast the regulatory requirements of these regions.
Stanford University continues its role as a farm of Silicon Valley as many successful start-ups have their beginnings here. How does Stanford teach entrepreneurship? Through auditing classes and utilizing other resources, Watanabe has observed and experienced some of the education system of entrepreneurship at Stanford. In his presentation, he shares his insights on key factors of the "idea fo start-up" process. He also proposes how his own company, The Asahi Shimbun, should implement these key factors in their innovation process.