Development of the case-based reasoning system for regional science and technology policy: An interim report

Various types of policy to promote regional science and technology have been introduced in Japan since the 1980´s. Although those policies have achieved a degree of success in fostering entrepreneurs and developing human networks, some remaining problems have been pointed out regarding the fact that the policy target of sustainable revitalization of regions has not been realized. In this Paper, we report an interim result of the project aims to develop a decision-making support system with applied case-based reasoning to contribute to the resolution of these problems. Case-based reasoning is a technique for problem-solving based on the solution of similar past cases. The system of reasoning has been put to practical use in engineering problem-solving, diagnosis, decision making on managerial issues, legal reasoning and so on. By applying the technique of planning and problem-solving to regional science, technology and innovation policy, the sharing of useful knowledge for regional revitalization among regions becomes possible. The scheme of this project includes a large-scale acquisition of case information, construction of database, analyses of success factors of policies, and the development of rules of inference and their implementation.