Akihiko Suwa

NineSigma, Inc. provides product development consulting services. It connects organizations with external resources for private, public and social sectors. The company was founded by Mehran Mehregany and Paul S. Stupay in 2000 and is headquartered Cleveland, OH.

McKinsey & Co., Inc. provides management consulting services. It specializes in design, marketing and sales, analytics, operations, transformation and restructuring, risk, strategy and corporate finance, and sustainability and resource productivity. The company was founded by James O. McKinsey in 1926 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

The Japan Research Institute Ltd. is a 'knowledge engineering' company, a company that offers information services, through the coordinated application of its three functions, that is, information systems, consulting, and think-tank. As a systems integrator, the company offers services in information technology (IT) strategy planning, implementation and outsourcing for a broad range of industries and activities. The company is also active in research of both domestic and foreign economic issues and formation of policy recommendation, as well as consulting in fields, such as corporate strategies and public administrative reform. In addition, the firm provides analyses and surveys for incubation activities in the creation of new markets and industries. Through these operations The Japan Research Institute offers a vision to its customers towards changes in the economic and social environment as well as developments in the IT area.