On October 5th, 2021, Asia Pacific Initiative (API) hosted “PEP Summit 2021 – Opening Doors”. The PEP Summit is an annual symposium hosted by API’s Policy Entrepreneur’s Platform (PEP).

API’s Policy Entrepreneur’s Platform (PEP) aims to form a community for policy entrepreneurs in Japan. “Each and every one of us will bring together his/her expertise, knowledge, perspectives; cross over the vocational borders of politics, public administration, the private sector, academia, and NGO/NPOs; set up various social problems as policy agendas; facilitate enacting actual policy; and solve various social issues.” To realize this goal, PEP conducts various activities such as “PEP Seminar” to share and accumulate expertise on policy entrepreneurship, as well as created the “PEP Journalism Award” to promote online journalism that may facilitate policy entrepreneurship. The “PEP Summit” is an annual symposium to summarize the outcome of these activities and to facilitate networking among policy entrepreneurs.

At this year’s PEP Summit, which invited Japan’s leading policy entrepreneurs, API hosted a 3-hour discussion to take stock of PEP’s various activities over the past year and to promote further the policy entrepreneurship by encouraging people to cross unseen borders and join forces. “What kind of role should policy entrepreneurs, business leaders, journalists and various professionals play in their respective fields in order to solve the social problems they encounter?” “The government’s new Digital Agency recruited many experts from the private sector. How can we further promote the ‘revolving door’ system in Japan?” “How can government bodies run effective PDCA cycles for their policy making?” To address these questions, speakers underscored the importance to “name ourselves policy entrepreneurs first,” “find comrades,” “take the first step anyway,” “amplify unheard voices,” “drawing attention so as to make the issue a social agenda,” “cajole opponents,” “engage,” “get involved,” “move,” etc. Discussions took place to entice every one of us to embark on the path of policy entrepreneurship.

◾️For more about Policy Entrepreneur’s Platform (PEP), click here
◾️Check the PEP Summit 2021 special website here (Japanese only)

Contacts:
Asia Pacific Initiative (API) – Policy Entrepreneur’s Platform（PEP）Project Office
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