RT development for local area disaster mitigation via local area human network: A case study in NAGAOKA area in Japan

In 2004, CHUETSU great earthquake of M6.8 had occurred around NAGAOKA area in Japan. Just after the earthquake, a local university and a group of about 60 local metal manufactures had decided to develop the rescue robots and had participated Robocup Rescue Robot League(RRRL) in order to cheer up their home town. Through their six year effort of the development, their rescue robot had achieved some remarkable result in RRRL and also awarded the Nagaoka City Mayer Award. Their achievement implies the possibility of the RT development for local area disaster mitigation in each local area. In this paper, we investigate the reasons of their achievement in the viewpoint of innovation defined by Schumpeter and discuss the possibility of RT development in the local area via local people.