The Nippon Foundation Ocean Innovation Consortium

Cultivating human resources for marine resource development

Amid concerns of a shortage of marine resource development engineers with the expertise and practical techniques needed by the marine resource development market, The Nippon Foundation Ocean Innovation Consortium is a program to train marine resource development engineers across Japan.

Comprehensive platform for training of human resources for marine resource development

With significant growth anticipated in the global markets for offshore oil and natural gas development and renewable energy generation going forward, related companies in Japan are accelerating their efforts to enter and expand their presence in these markets. In addition, abundant natural resources like methane hydrate and seabed minerals are present in Japan’s oceans, holding possibilities for future use.

At the same time, there are concerns regarding a shortage of marine resource development engineers who have the practical skills and expertise to drive this growth. Given the need to train engineers for gaining additional market share in the future, at a special event held on the 20th Marine Day (Umi-no-Hi) holiday in July 2015, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a goal of increasing the number of Japan’s marine resource development engineers to 10,000 by 2030.

Recognizing the need for a nationwide approach to the training of these marine resource development engineers, The Nippon Foundation Ocean Innovation Consortium was established with cooperation from the Japanese government, as a platform bringing together Japanese universities, public institutions, and companies seeking to enter or increase their presence in the marine resource development market.

The Consortium will work to understand corporate needs related to the training of these engineers and match those with university education, while also building a training structure that will operate in Japan and overseas with assistance from companies and public research institutions to implement training that would be difficult for individual universities or companies to carry out on their own.