ACA welcomed its first Japanese client to its inward investment program in October. The company, a major electronics firm active in a wide range of industrial and public infrastucture fields, spent two days in Cambridge visiting university departments, venture companies, and service providers, including The Cambridge Network's offices. A second visit is now planned in the Spring to follow up leads and establish new ones. ACA is interested in achieving a commercial agrement with a company or the University, which could eventually lead to an investment or the setting up of an R&D antenna office in Cambridge.

It may have been a first when members of the Japanese academic and industrial research community organised a symposium at the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratories to discuss innovation strategies. The event was conducted mainly in Japanese. ACA gave a presentation about “New Trends in Cambridge”. The evening’s catering (Japanese food) was arranged by ACA. Joint organiser of the event, Prof Eichi Yamaguchi, Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge, commented, “ACA provided our Japanese audience with a valuable insight into the changes happening in the Cambridge academic and venture business community, together with an historical perspective to help us understand the direction that change has been taking.”