The Role of Open Innovation and Platform in Agriculture

Abstract

Growth in the industrialization of agriculture and food industry is important. In Japan, policies such as new technology development and sixth industrialization have attempted to develop agricultural industries. However, further breakthroughs require innovation. In this chapter, I focus on open innovation in agriculture and roles of platforms. First, I discuss the concept of open innovation theory, platform theory, and value co-creation theory, and then examples of platforms deployed in the agriculture and food industries. I evaluate cases in France, the Netherlands, and Japan and consider the roles of open innovation and platforms. I examine the applicability and future development of the open innovation theory in the agriculture and food industries through case studies of open innovation. The cases are as follows: (1) French food clusters and the Kyushu Bio Cluster Conference, which develops brand knowledge in agriculture and food industries through international collaboration; (2) Food Valley and its support to Dutch agriculture and food industries, which includes an evaluation of its participating companies/organizations; and (3) a new Japanese innovation policy that is noted for its unique support of agriculture and food industries that is called “field for knowledge integration and innovation” and is based on the policies of France and the Netherlands.