event & seminar

Theme: Denmark’s progressive action related to social innovation, and the realization of “life innovation” through the combination of Japanese technologies

Denmark is known as a Nordic country with a higher level of happiness.　One of Denmark’s national strategies, despite its status as the No 1 smart city in Europe, is that the policy driving its social system is human-centered instead of tech-centered. Innovators in Denmark are working on human-centered models utilizing IT technology, service robots, etc.

Denmark also focuses on “design driven innovation,” to create new value by combining international technologies that serve their national interest.

This is the second Working Group held with the aim of studying Denmark’s innovations and the possibility of combining international technologies. Through the Working Group, Odense City’s innovation efforts have received significant attention in Denmark.

[Seminar Program]

(1) “Value Creation 2.0 with Denmark”
Mr. Kensuke Nakajima, Investment Manager / Invest in Denmark of Royal Danish Embassy
(2) ”DK Health strategy, overview and latest trends”
Mr. Lasse Nørgaard Nielsen
・The Danish national and regional Health Strategy
・Odense – the municipal healthcare and welfare approach
・CoLab: Test and implementation of Health Tech Solution
(3) ”Latest research in Robotic and WelfareTech solutions for the elderly of the future”
Mr. Kasper Hallenborg
(4) ”Odense: European Centre for Robot R&D and business development”
Mr. Joost Nijhoff
・Incl. opportunities for Japanese partners and examples scientific test and G2M packages
(5) ”Odense: Frontier of Robotic technologies: Connect, Collaborate, Create”
Mr. Mads Wojtynka

[Profile of Speakers]

・Name: Kensuke Nakajima
・Education:　Investment Manager / Invest in Denmark of Royal Danish Embassy
・Job Description:　 Investment Manager of the Royal Danish Embassy following his role at communications company and consulting companies; embodies expertise ranging from a traditional approach to investment support based on business matching to project-based consulting support, especially support related to customers’ business, growth, and market entry strategies centering on innovation.

・Name: Lasse Nørgaard Nielsen
・Education: MSc.Eng in Product Development and Innovation
・Job title: Senior Consultant, Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark
・Job Description: Lead of test processes. Analyze current practices – identifying potentials for optimization and automation at regional hospitals. Focus on design of new solutions based on Public Private Innovation.
・Experience: Lasse specializes in usability engineering of devices for the health care industry. As lead of the test team he works in collaboration with companies to ensure that solutions and services meet the needs and requirement of the users. Tester at the largest welfare technology project in Denmark (Patient@home) and lead designer of the phase 2 test-protocol for the EU project SILVER (PCP, Pre-commercial procurement) support Independent Living for the Elderly through Robotics. Earlier he served as product development consultant for new OR lightning (NMS), concept developer (KOMPAN) and quality implementer (UGPLUS).

・Name: Mads Wojtynka
・Education: MSc (Politics), Diploma in Business Development
・Job title: General Manager, Invest in Odense
・Job description: Management, strategy and organizational structure. Strategic focus on Odense’s investment profile. Development of investor portfolio and investor relations
・Experience: 9 years experience with business development, investment promotion and management (3CO, South Denmark European Office, South Denmark Asia Office, Developing Funen, Innovirk & Maritime Cluster Funen, Odense&Co)

・Name: Kasper Hallenborg
・Education: Associate Professor, M.Sc., PhD, HDO
・Job title: Director, Head of Department, Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute at University of Southern Denmark
・Job description: Management, directing the institute primarily known for developing robots and welfare technology solutions for the elderly of the future.
・Experience: Intense research in technological solutions for the elderly of the future, where Kasper has developed new aids for elderly people. He has developed systems improving the capacity of technological aids to cooperate with and help citizens. Among other things, he has been working on improving the quality of life for chronic patients – for instance home training for COPD patients, guidance of demented via smartphones and Telepresence robots. Earlier in his career, Kasper developed a new luggage system for airports allowing them to improve handling of large amounts of luggage.

・Name: oost Nijhoff
・Education: Diploma – Management and Leadership
・Job title : Business Developer, Odense Robotics
・Job description: Building strong business cases together with key players within IT, Robotics and Automation leading to growth and inward investments to Odense.
・Experience: Joost Nijhoff is a Senior Business Developer with in-depth knowledge of European industries like Robotics and Digital Publishing. He has special focus on public-private partnerships. Joost has been working as Business Developer IT & Robot since 2010, working with a long range of Japanese companies. He is also assessor at the EU project SILVER (PCP, Pre-commercial procurement), acquiring robotics R&D based technologies that support independent living for the elderly.