Keio University Syllabus and Timetable

Value Design in the Age of Human Survival

Professional Experience:
Joined McKinsey & Company in 1993. After four and a half years, entered Yale University's Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program. Obtained Ph.D. in Spring 2001. Returned to Japan and rejoined McKinsey after completing postdoctoral research in late 2001. As a leadership member of the Marketing Practice Group for the Asia-Pacific region, engaged in brand revitalization and product/business development across various sectors including beverages, retail, and high-tech. Became Head of COO Office (equivalent to Head of President's Office) at Yahoo! JAPAN in 2008. Served as CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) for 10 years from 2012, overseeing corporate planning, strategy development, and business development, while initially also managing data and R&D divisions for several years. Currently serving as Senior Strategist at LY Corporation (parent company of LINE, Yahoo! JAPAN, Paypay, ZOZO, and Ikkyu) since 2022.

Serves on various public committees including: Expert Member of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI), Member of the Education Future Creation Council, Chairman of the Cabinet Office Digital Disaster Prevention Future Vision Team, Vice Chairman of the Mathematical/Data Science/AI Education Program Certification System Review Committee, Member of the New AI Strategy Review Committee, Management Council Member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems, Special Advisor to Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and Special Committee Member of Toyama Prefecture Growth Strategy Council. Involved in various public policy discussions concerning Data × AI strategy, human resource development, national university endowments, disaster prevention, and spatial design based on current societal needs.

Director and Chair of Skill Definition Committee at the Japan Data Scientist Society (DS Society). Founder of the "A Worthy Tomorrow" ("Valley of the Wind" Creation Movement). Author of national bestsellers "Issue Driven" and "Shin Nihon".

Drawing upon these professional experiences, multidisciplinary academic background, and long-standing expertise at the DataScientist Society, this Ataka lab activity will provide practical education through:

1. Analysis of structural changes in modern society and future prospects in the digital age
2. Exploration of alternatives to urban-concentrated society and practical design thinking for sustainable social systems, using the "Valley of the Wind Creation" movement as a real case study
3. Development of multilayered and structural problem analysis and solution derivation processes based on issue-driven thinking
4. Cultivation of analytical perspectives to grasp discontinuous transformations in social systems
5. Practical problem-solving using real big data through joint research with JAL/LY Corporation

--

(1) What the Ataka Lab is aiming for

Humanity is now at an unprecedented historical turning point. In this era, what is needed is not people who can multiply their abilities by N, but people who can renew the existing system and 0 to 1 people who can create completely new movements. The future will be born by solving dreams (problems) with technology and packaging them in a design-like way.

This research group aims to create a place where we can explore what we can leave for the next generation and the generation after that, by setting off and accelerating a new wave in the human survival society, and supporting and incubating people who are passionate about creating something.

In our day-to-day activities, we will cover a wide range of research areas (multi-disciplinary), and make the most of the strengths of SFC, which has created the Internet economy, to wildly experiment with collaborations with various faculties, researchers and activists on and off campus, including the SFC Research Institute.


(2) What will we do in this study group?

Rather than learning just to learn, we aim to provide a place where you can learn to think, learn through practice, and acquire highly versatile skills. The management of this study group itself will also evolve dynamically through trial and error. The following is a tentative plan at this stage.

First, each person will have their own theme in line with the basic formula of the Value Design Society (future = dream/issue x technology x design), and will promote it autonomously from the issue setting to the implementation stage. At each stage of issue setting, analysis design, meaning extraction, and compilation, guidance will be provided individually and collectively on issue resolution that is issue-driven and data-driven as appropriate, and we will learn from each other.

Depending on the size of the theme, work will be carried out individually or in groups of several people. Depending on the theme, some may be completed in about a month, while others may continue for about a year. (We would like you to tell us specifically what you want to do at the application stage. ) This will make up 60-70% of each person's Ataka Lab activities

Secondly, as a journal club, we will introduce books or papers that are worth studying together each week, in turns.

Thirdly, each member will introduce a book that should be considered basic education for global human resources, or a basic book for Ataka Lab research activities.

Each member will introduce their own research, thesis, or book at least once or twice a semester. This will be an interactive process that includes not only prior study and discussion, but also post-study review (sharing of individual insights based on study and discussion).


(3) Skills to be developed in this study group

In this study group, we aim to develop the vitality, mindset and necessary skills to survive in this wild age by taking the initiative, taking the lead, making things happen, and trying and making mistakes while giving shape to things.

- Basic discipline and rigor in thinking and analysis
- Ability to read textbooks and papers critically
- The ability to set your own goals and dive in and dig
- Cultivate the basic skills of intellectual production and problem solving
-- Issue definition
-- Issue analysis & structuring
-- Analysis and synthesis
-- Basic communication skills (written, oral)
-- Basic activity management skills (yourself, team)

Value Design in the Age of Human Survival

The three major research themes are as follows

(1) Creating the Valley of the Winds (Reference: https://aworthytomorrow.org/)

Clarify the issues and create concrete solutions for "realizing an alternative to living with nature outside of the city ("Valley of the Winds") using the power of technology. Consideration and specific encouragement to create a future worthy of leaving to future generations.

1. Culture / Overall Design
2. Space design
3. Infrastructure design
4. Energy
5. Forest and countryside
6. Living office space
7. Town commercial space
8. Education
9. Healthcare
10. Food and Agriculture
11. Technology

Meetings with the mentors of each group are usually held in the evening or on Saturdays and Sundays, and field studies are held on weekends in Gunma and Toyama prefectures and other open and sparse spaces as needed.

(2) Development of interpersonal support system (text processing team) : Collaboration with Dr. Takashio at SFC and Dr. Ryuichiro Higashinaka at Nagoya University, a leading expert in text processing

(3) Exploring social issues using big data: In addition to open data, we will conduct simple but interesting and socially valuable research by utilizing big data held by companies that are not usually exposed to the public, and we will pursue the possibilities of the fun and power of data and appeal to the world.

(3-1) Collaboration with Yahoo! JAPAN Big Data Report Team (Reference: https://about.yahoo.co.jp/info/bigdata/)

(3-2) Joint research with Japan Airlines (JAL) using various internal data

(3-3) Utilization of various open data (depending on the will of the individual)

In addition to the above, the members of the Ataka Lab may be allowed to participate in projects in which Ataka is involved as appropriate, such as the Skill Definition Committee of the DataScientist Society and the National Innovation in the Age of DataxAI study. Decisions will be made based on the need to strengthen the workforce, the applicant's wishes, and a match with the necessary qualifications.

This item will appear when you log in (Keio ID required).

This item will appear when you log in (Keio ID required).

This item will appear when you log in (Keio ID required).

This item will appear when you log in (Keio ID required).

Kazuto Ataka "Issue Driven" Eiji Press, 2010

Kazuto Ataka "Shin Nihon" NewsPicks, 2020
Kazuto Ataka "Perception represents intelligence" Diamond Harvard Business Review, May 2017 issue
Ryuichiro Higashinaka "AI Chat Power" (Kadokawa Shinsho 2021)
Jun Rekimoto "Delusional Head Thinking Hands" (Shodensha 2021)

Each term, we will read and discuss 1-2 books or papers per week. In the case of the fall of 2024:
The World Runs on Systems (Meadows)
Wild Thought (Levi-Strauss)
Jomon and Yayoi Prototypes (Tetsuzo Tanikawa)
Governance of the Commons (Ostrom)
Social Common Capital (Hirofumi Uzawa)
Complex Systems (M. Mitchell Worldrop)
The Logic of Self-Organization and Evolution: A Law of Complex Systems (Stuart Kaufman)
Scale (Geoffrey West)
Rivers of the Earth (Masakazu Seki)
Mixed Forests of Cedar and Broad-leaved Trees (Kenji Kiyokawa)
Forests of Coexisting Species (Kenji Kiyokawa)
Science of Groundwater and Landforms (Isamu Kayane: Gakujutsu Bunko)
The True Story of the Water Crisis (Oki Taikan)
A History of Civilization in the Soil (Montgomery)
Introduction to Gastronomic Geology (Yoshiyuki Tatsumi)
Japanese Food and Agriculture (Yoshihisa Kamon)
The Society of the Out-of-School (Ivan Illich)
Japanese Landscape (Tadahiko Higuchi)

This item will appear when you log in (Keio ID required).