Despite the critical need for Japan’s economy and society to achieve growth far into the future, existing paradigms and outdated frameworks are hindering the growth of many companies and entrepreneurs. For this reason, the Japan Association of New Economy, or JANE, was established to support the future of new industries beyond the realm of IT and E-business.

JANE’s goal is to promote and reinforce innovation, entrepreneurship, and globalization as keywords for reviving and growing Japan’s economy and society. The New Economy Summit 2013 marked a physical manifestation of this goal. The summit’s speakers were from around the world and known widely for disrupting existing paradigms and pioneering great new innovations in people’s lives. Although it was only a one-day event, the significance of the New Economy Summit 2013 far exceeded its scale several fold, because it brought these great minds together under one roof. The achievements of the summit were immediately submitted to the Government of Japan in the form of a policy proposal, and today many of these proposals are being examined within the government, as has been widely reported.

Thanks to the great success of last year’s summit, we are now planning the New Economy Summit 2014. This two-day event will feature speakers from various fields beyond the IT and E-business sectors. We are currently making preparations with the desire that the 2014 summit offer greater impacts than the 2013 summit, both qualitatively and quantitatively, for not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

I sincerely look forward to seeing you at the New Economy Summit 2014.