Photo by Andrew Howitt
“This year is the French-Japanese Year of Innovation,” announced Bernard Delmas, president of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, in his opening remarks. Many of the 19 nominees, across six categories, use phrases like “cloud service”, “data analysis”, or “digital connections” to describe themselves — a clear reflection of the chamber’s emphasis on technology.
The ceremony was held at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Roppongi, with over 150 people in attendance, including French Ambassador Thierry Dana. This was the fifth year for the awards.
“We thought that it was very important to show what successful companies are doing,” Mr Delmas told EURObiZ Japan in an interview following the ceremony, explaining why the awards are held. “And also to observe the small ones, the SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises], to give them something that will help them continue to develop. They can use their award as a kind of advertisement to help promote themselves better. It is also for our promotion because we show that we can help new corporations developing in Japan. So it’s win-win.”
When asked how the jury chooses winners, Mr Delmas said: “It’s simple. We judge in each category [based on] the tangible results. And another important criterion for us is if the company is doing something specific in Japan, if they have a global approach.”
In honour of the Year of Innovation, the chamber introduced the French Tech Tokyo Award.
Locarise, recipient of this award, provides behaviour analytics services for retail outlets. Using sensors to collect Wi-Fi signals from customers’ smartphones, they can measure traffic, length of time in a store, and other factors.
On winning the award, Sébastien Béal, co-founder and CEO, said: “It’s a great opportunity. We’re getting a bit of recognition. It was the first time they were doing this award for start-ups. And I think it will help us tremendously — especially in this ecosystem, but also outside of it.”
The winner of the Best SME-Entrepreneur Award, Laurent Safa, CEO of Alldonet, also spoke of how the award would help his company. “Positively,” he said. “In the industry, customers really want to know, can I trust this partner, because I’m going to work with him for 10 years? So, to have this recognition from the French Chamber of Commerce is a big point.”
Alldonet is a technology company that helps manufacturers, especially SMEs, connect their systems to the cloud. They are also working to develop new IoT products.
“I think we get contracts because we show something that’s working,” Safa added. “And that’s the same in France, the same in Japan, and the same everywhere.”
Best Product/Service of the Year went to Vivre le Japon (Japan Experience), a travel operator offering everything from house and car rentals to arranging JR rail passes and pocket Wi-Fi for travellers.
Thierry Maincent, COO, speaking about the rise in tourism in Japan, said that “France can bring so much to Japan today. I think Japan is looking closely at what France is doing. As well, of course, Japan can also bring a lot to France in terms of service quality.”
The business matching service Linkers was winner of the Jury’s Special Award.
“We have a unique network with 1,300 coordinators who are working at municipal or governmental organisations all over Japan,” says Lisa Sakashita, managing executive officer. “Some of our main clients, Toyota, Panasonic and Olympus, have already used Linkers to find their best technological partner.”
Sakashita spoke of her admiration of French tech firms: “I’m always impressed by the technology of France. So Linkers’ mission is to be able to act as a bridge between French and Japanese companies. And we’d like to assist French innovation through Japan’s great technology.”
Other winners were AXA Life Insurance, who received the Corporate Social Responsibility Award for its efforts in promoting work opportunities for people with different abilities; and Horiba Ltd., an instruments and systems manufacturer, who was awarded Company of the Year.
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