Masaru Yarime

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Verified

Masaru verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• Ph.D.
• Professor (Associate) at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

As population ageing accelerates globally, addressing its manifold impacts on society has become a critical mission for technological development. Mobility is a key domain where population ageing poses both challenges and opportunities. Innovations such as autonomous vehicles and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) are widely discussed in literature, with...

This article examines the significance of web data portals in tackling sustainability challenges, particularly in developing countries. Concerns persist regarding access and the quality of data. The study introduces a novel framework that distinguishes between the expert-driven approach (emphasizing scientific expertise) and the stakeholder-centere...

Establishing an appropriate system for governing various data is a critical challenge in developing smart cities. In China, with its distinctive institutional characteristics, it is not yet well investigated what kinds of data governance mechanisms are introduced, how data are collected, shared, and used, and how potential risks concerning data sec...

We explore the idea of 'digital transformation', by examining 'smart city' development in Japan. Great advances in information and communication technology in the last decades have inspired claims about how these technologies are transformative, most recently in reference to 'smart city', 'Big Data', and 'Internet of Things'. We use Webster's (2014...

Purpose This study contributes to the literature on eco-innovation (EI) and the circular economy (CE) by providing insights into the factors of external knowledge absorption that facilitate the adoption of a subset of EIss called proactive-EIs. Proactive-EIs involve collaborations among multiple stakeholders, the use of technical knowledge and a gr...

Artificial intelligence (AI), along with other new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), can help drive sustainable development through what can be called ‘SusTech’ solutions. But how can these be supported by governments, adopted by firms (especially in managing value chains), and encouraged by users? This chapter proposes a thre...

Public research universities in Hong Kong have the potential to play a vital role in accelerating the development of innovation and technology (I&T) in Hong Kong. They are the major actors in technology transfer, university-industry collaboration, and entrepreneurship education. Nevertheless, the extent to which these activities have originated fro...

Numerous governments worldwide have issued national artificial intelligence (AI) strategies in the last five years to deal with the opportunities and challenges posed by this technology. However, a systematic understanding of the roles and functions that the governments are taking is lacking in the academic literature. Therefore, this research uses...

Recent regulations introduced by the Chinese government regarding big data technologies are welcome to those long concerned about the risks associated with their rapid deployment. However, these changes are not sufficient to safeguard privacy and data security. More importantly, these policies may not have fully accounted for the disruptive nature...

The effects that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will have on society in the short- and long-term are inherently uncertain. For this reason, many governments are avoiding strict command and control regulations for this technology and instead rely on softer ethics-based approaches. The Russian approach to regulating AI is characterized by...

In response to the rapid development of AI, several governments have established a variety of regulatory interventions for this technology. While some countries prioritize consumer protection through stringent regulation, others promote innovation by adopting a more hands-off approach. However, this tradeoff has not been analyzed systematically. We...

Carbon tariffs have been widely studied as a prominent climate policy in terms of their influences on the economy and the environment. However, previous studies of their effectiveness did not incorporate into the analysis of some key factors, including, notably, trade elasticities. This paper aims at reducing the gap between trade economics and env...

The energy sector is undergoing a transition of decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization. This paper explores the application of blockchain in this transition. Through qualitative content analysis, expert interviews and discussion rooted in recent literature, key insights on the practical challenges and opportunities of blockchain ener...

The progress of science increasingly relies on machine learning (ML) and machines work alongside humans in various domains of science. This study investigates the team structure of ML-related projects and analyzes the contribution of ML to scientific knowledge production under different team structure, drawing on bibliometric analyses of 25,000 sci...

The progress of science increasingly relies on machine learning (ML) and machines work alongside humans in various domains of science. This study investigates the team structure of ML-related projects and analyzes the contribution of ML to scientific knowledge production under different team structure, drawing on bibliometric analyses of 25,000 sci...

Wildfires drive deforestation that causes various losses. Although many studies have used spatial approaches, a multi-dimensional analysis is required to determine priority areas for mitigation. This study identified priority areas for wildfire mitigation in Indonesia using a multi-dimensional approach including disaster, environmental, historical,...

Contemporary data tools such as online dashboards have been instrumental in monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. These real-time interactive platforms allow citizens to understand the local, regional, and global spread of COVID-19 in a consolidated and intuitive manner. Despite this, little research has been conducted on how citizens res...

Smart cities continue to be conceived and implemented around the world as literature documenting these trends grows at a similar pace. Practices focused on narrow techno-economic objectives have met with sharp criticism as scholars have called for human-centred smart cities that explicitly address social issues and the needs of residents. Yet, lite...

This article discusses the technology of city digital twins (CDTs) and its potential applications in the policymaking context. The article analyzes the history of the development of the concept of digital twins and how it is now being adopted on a city-scale. One of the most advanced projects in the field—Virtual Singapore—is discussed in detail to...

To guide effective energy policy-making towards a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms relevant to behavioral change, it is important not only to investigate whether energy interventions succeed or not, but also to explore the underlying reasons that shape each result. However, certain limitations are hindering a global consensus on the effe...

In Northeast Asia, the debate among key policy actors regarding air pollution attribution is influenced by the issue’s political sensitivity, but it could also be the result of variance in the scientific research. For example, we know that the springtime winds carry desert-originating dust laden with contaminants from industry and energy production...

After one decade of smart city implementation, Japan has reached a crossroads. The focus is shifting from experimental projects to platforms that foster comprehensive and innovative solutions to climate, energy, demographic, and technological challenges. Crises and opportunities have compelled Japan’s smart city paradigm to adapt, leading to an ins...

Contemporary data tools such as online dashboards have been instrumental in monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. These real-time interactive platforms allow citizens to understand the local, regional, and global spread of COVID-19 in a consolidated and intuitive manner. Despite this, little research has been conducted on how citizens res...

To minimize the impacts of climate change, it is increasingly clear that global CO2 emissions should be eliminated by 2050 and that leading low-carbon cities should reach net zero emissions by 2040. However, the precise pathways by which they can reach such ambitious goals have yet to be identified. As costs of photovoltaics (PV), batteries, and el...

In light of climate change, there is pressure worldwide to curb emissions via energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy. Woody biomass has a role in sustainable energy transitions, contributing to emissions reduction, economic development, and energy security as a dispatchable resource. This potential is recognized globally, but the woo...

Contemporary data tools, including interactive dashboards, have been used to monitor the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little research has been conducted on how such dashboards affect the behaviours of citizens in response to the pandemic. This study used surveys and semi-structured interviews to understand the perspectives of the devel...

A broader understanding of the behavioral aspect of energy consumption is increasingly critical for the formulation of policies that are effective in encouraging households to save energy. Such understanding is currently hindered, as the two counterparts of energy-saving behavior, namely efficiency and conservation, are not examined holistically; i...

A broader understanding of the behavioral aspect of energy consumption is increasingly critical for the formulation of policies that are effective in encouraging households to save energy. Such understanding is currently hindered, as the two counterparts of energy-saving behavior, namely efficiency and conservation, are not examined holistically; i...

With the growth of data, data-intensive approaches for sustainability are becoming widespread and have been endorsed by various stakeholders. To understand their implications, in this paper data-intensive approaches for sustainability will be explored by conducting an extensive review. The current data-intensive approaches are defined as an amalgam...

To accelerate the electrification of road transport, numerous countries are promoting the diffusion of both Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Fuel-Cell Vehicles (FCVs). Both technologies hold unique advantages and disadvantages while also facing common barriers with regard to production and diffusion. Barriers may be classified into four categor...

Finding economical and sustainable pathways for the deployment of renewables is critical for the success of decarbonizing energy systems. Because of the variable nature of renewable energy, however, the integration of renewables becomes increasingly costly and difficult as the renewable penetration becomes higher. The recent rise of electric vehicl...

Under pressures to reach net zero emissions by 2050, there is an ongoing transition of energy decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization. Physical and information flows in energy systems are increasingly complex and distributed, leaving centralized structures inefficient. Blockchain technology is suggested as part of the next step in this...

Following numerous global scientific studies and major international agreements, the decarbonization of energy systems is an apparent and pressing concern. The consequence of continued emission growth tied to rising global average temperatures is difficult to predict, but against a background of other natural and human-induced disasters, may create...

The quantity and complexity of scientific and technological information provided to policymakers have been on the rise for decades. Yet little is known about how to provide science advice to legislatures, even though scientific information is widely acknowledged as valuable for decision-making in many policy domains. We asked academics, science adv...

Thailand is by far the most active country in the Southeast Asian region in terms of renewable energy (RE) policy support and technological adoption. Owning very much to its electricity supply industry reformation after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Thailand's electric sector has been extended from government monopoly to market liberalisation...

The IPBES Guide on the production of assessments (the Guide) is complemented by a series of modules, which contain further information for those involved in IPBES assessments. This guidance constitutes Module D of the Guide. It explains how to assess policy instruments and facilitate the use of policy support tools and methodologies through IPBES a...

There is a need for enterprises to incorporate information on the environment into decision making and to take action on ecological restoration. Within academia, a comprehensive understanding of the impacts on how business can serve sustainability transformation is still lacking as diverging holistic approaches and reductive approaches cloud academ...

The future of energy is complex, with fluctuating renewable resources in increasingly distributed systems. It is suggested that blockchain technology is a timely innovation with potential to facilitate this future. Peer-to-peer (P2P) microgrids can support renewable energy as well as economically empower consumers and prosumers. However, the rapid...

Finding economical and sustainable pathways for the deployment of renewables is critical for the success of decarbonizing energy systems. Because of the variable nature of renewable energy, however, it becomes increasingly costly when the renewable penetration becomes higher. The recent rise of electric vehicles (EVs) provides us with an opportunit...

Initial policy-induced market growth in Europe since the 1990s promoted not only mass-production industry, but also process innovation particularly in Asia. Currently, Asia accounts for about 85% of the global PV module manufacturing capacity, and this region has the highest PV market growth. A comparative review in four countries—China, Malaysia,...

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technological leap-frogging greatly enhances energy accessibility, yet energy affordability remains a critical challenge. Traditional financing options, categorized as the solar-as-asset model, usually favor utility-scale PV projects, whereas the investment growth in smaller-scale PV systems is far behind, particularly in em...

The rapid change of technological, social, and cultural structures is challenging universities to offer new educational programs. The Global Leader Program for Social Design and Management (GSDM) of the University of Tokyo can be seen as a forerunner in this field. The paper provides definitions of social design as well as of global leadership and...

The Theory of Probabilistic Functionalism, as a general theory of how organisms interact with complex environmental systems, provides a useful framework for describing essential processes of sustainability planning groups. Particularly, the mechanism of producing evolutionary stable representations of and judgment about the environment has importan...

The energy cost contributes to a significant percentage of the total operational cost of the apparel industry. The energy cost of Sri Lanka, which is higher compared to most of the competitors, hence would make the country less price-competitive. While large apparel manufacturing companies have implemented the introduction of energy-efficient techn...

Small-scale woody biomass energy systems have an inherent ability to aid in emissions reduction while stimulating local economies and, as collective energy systems, are strongly connected to supply chain design based on local conditions and stakeholder integration. Despite an abundance of forest area alongside the promotion of biomass in energy pol...

Sustainability concerns reducing air and water pollution, improving energy efficiency while securing energy supply, and maintaining resilience to disasters. Interconnected in complex and dynamic ways, these challenges pose formidable difficulties and obstacles in designing and implementing sustainable smart cities. As various types of data are incr...

Environmental problems are usually framed by a repertoire of arguments articulated by a network of individuals (scientists and policymakers) and their affiliated institutions. Given the complexity of this network, it is important to conduct network analyses on both individual and organizational levels to achieve a better understanding of the underl...

In this paper, a framework incorporating flexibility as a characteristic is proposed for designing complex, resilient socio-ecological systems. In an interconnected complex system, flexibility allows prompt deployment of resources where they are needed and is crucial for both innovation and robustness. A comparative analysis of flexible manufacturi...

Universities are under mounting pressure to partner with societal stakeholders and organizations to collaboratively create and implement sustainability-advancing knowledge, tools, and societal transformations. Simultaneously, an increasing number of societal organizations are reaching out to partner with universities to achieve organizational objec...

We examine the concept of 'organisational fields', a notion employed frequently, but at times with inconsistency, to describe supra-industrial conglomerations of organisations with a mutual interest. We find this concept analytically useful in today's world of rapid technological change and of organisations searching for business across industry bo...

This study examines ten programmes to advance energy efficiency and retrofitting of existing, private sector buildings in C40 cities in Asia-Pacific and USA. We set out to identify differing policy approaches, together with potential impacts and implementation challenges for each. Findings unearthed six policy models—both mandatory and voluntary—wi...

Accompanying realisations that engagement of multiple societal sectors (academia, industry, government, citizenry) and disciplines is required for formulating effective responses to complex sustainability challenges, calls for new forms of knowledge production are increasing in magnitude, both inside and outside the university. In parallel, experie...

The Routledge International Handbook of Higher Education for Sustainable Development gives a systematic and comprehensive overview of existing and upcoming research approaches for higher education for sustainable development. It provides a unique resource for researchers engaged in the field of higher education for sustainable development by connec...

Japan caught up with the West by initially importing scientific knowledge, adapting it to local circumstances, learning from trial and error, and then innovating better technologies. With the rise of knowledge-based economies and intensifying global competition, Japan is now struggling to maintain industrial competitiveness, particularly in strateg...

This chapter explores under-theorised relations between Education for Sustainable Development and Sustainability Science in the context of re-purposing higher education and research. It discusses potential synergies between Education for Sustainable Development and Sustainability Science first by examining them as global policy initiatives promoted...

Original article available for free until October 25 2015 here: http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ReLM6gsyPLK0Q Universities around the world are increasingly engaging in experimental multi-stakeholder collaborations for the co-creation of knowledge, tools and experiments with social and technical systems for advancing societal sustainability. With m...

Complex Systems can be defined in a broad manner and embrace concepts from different fields of science, from physics to biology, to computing and social sci-ences. Mainly, the definition includes nonlinear dynamical systems that contain large number of interactions among the parts. These systems learn, evolve, and adapt, generating emergent non-det...

Sistemas complexos podem ser definidos de forma ampla e abraçar conceitos de diferentes campos da ciência, da física à biologia, à computação e às ciências sociais. O conceito central de sistemas complexos pressupõe sistemas dinâmicos, não lineares, que contêm grande número de interações entre as partes. Esses sistemas se modificam, de modo a apren...

As the human and financial costs of natural disasters rise and state finances continue to deplete, increasing attention is being placed on the role of the private sector to support disaster and climate resilience. However, not only is there a recognised lack of private finance to fill this gap, but international institutional and financing bodies t...

Commodity trade networks exhibit certain patterns in the configuration of material flows that are similar to natural ecological networks. This article develops and explores an ecological information-based approach to examine the ecology of commodity trade networks. We demonstrate that commodity trade networks show a pattern of commonality when view...

Purpose - Sustainability and Sustainable Development should be the top priorities of a Smarter Planet. On the basis of this statement, our aim is to highlight opportunities of knowledge co-creation that derive from the integration of the research efforts of two communities of scientists, scholars and professionals, recognized worldwide that share a...

While some local governments push ahead with recycling phosphorus from wastewater, there has been little progress nationwide. In this study. we analyzed the perceptions and interests of each stakeholder in this issue by conducting interviews to assess recycling approaches. In comparison with recycling in other fields, for instance. industrial mater...

We used an ecological network analytical approach on a simplified, non-trivial and expandable model of the Philippine brackish-pond milkfish (Chanos chanos) resource network as an initial attempt in quantifying sustainability of aquaculture systems holistically. The approach defines sustainability as robustness which is the appropriation between sy...

The concept of reflexivity has been brought forward as a key component of sustainability science and sustainability governance, being indispensable for sustainability as a process and a goal. The reflexive governance research field has started to produce some insight into what reflexivity could mean in practice when brought out from the hallowed ha...