This year’s final trip of the Innovators Community Lab (ICLab) at the University of Trieste took participants to Japan: a training itinerary designed to strengthen skills, networks and international vision in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The initiative involved Valentina Coggiola (Master’s Degree in Marketing & Management) and Romina Doz (PhD student in Applied Data Science and AI), two students who excelled in the UniTS programme dedicated to developing business projects and promoting an entrepreneurial mindset.

The first stop was Osaka, with visits to the Innovation Hub, which hosts incubation and start-up support projects, and to the Italian Pavilion at the ongoing Expo. In Yokohama, the two UniTS students presented their projects at Yokohama Connéct, the country’s leading venture café, where they met professionals and innovators in a space that brings together digital culture and community building.

The itinerary continued in Tokyo, with meetings at UNIDO and the United Nations University, followed by a visit to the University of Tokyo in a highly innovative interdisciplinary research centre. The programme then included participation in an event organised by the Tokyo AI community, which brings together researchers, professionals and investors in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The mission concluded with a reception at the Embassy of Italy and a meeting with Franco Nori, one of the world’s most cited and influential physicists, at RIKEN, a leading Japanese research centre, where the students had the opportunity to see one of Japan’s first quantum computers.

A laboratory of culture and relationships: this is how Coggiola and Doz describe their experience, where understanding cultural codes proved almost as significant as exploring the new frontiers of technology. ‘In Japan, I realised that every professional interaction is guided by deeply rooted values such as respect, the building of trust and the determination to complete every task flawlessly,’ says Valentina Coggiola. ‘In particular,’ adds Romina Doz, ‘personal and direct contact is essential to build trust before any collaboration can begin.’

The mission to the Land of the Rising Sun reflects the role of ICLab as a bridge between academic expertise and business culture: field experiences, role-modelling with scientists and managers, and connections with innovation ecosystems and international institutions. For the UniTS students, it was an opportunity to validate their projects, to understand how a profoundly different culture approaches business, and to strengthen their global perspective on AI, quantum research and technology transfer.