Open innovation in Ajinomoto Co., Inc. and expectations for the innovation center of nanomedicine (iCONM)

Abstract

The history of Ajinomoto Co., Inc. started with the open innovation between Professor Kikunae Ikeda, who discovered umami, and Saburosuke Suzuki II, who commercialized the umami seasoning AJI-NO-MOTO®. Since the founding of Ajinomoto Co., Inc., such open innovation has expanded our business. This article mentions specific examples of our recent open innovation trials and the key factors to our success. Expectations for new open innovation utilizing the Innovation Center of Nanomedicine（iCONM）as the core institute in “Center of Open Innovation Network for Smart Health (COINS),” an initiative under the “Center of Innovation Science and Technology based Radical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program (COI STREAM)” of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology are also described.