Curiosity Lab recently welcomed a delegation from Japan led by representatives from JFE Holdings, one of Japan’s largest industrial companies, for an in-depth discussion about technology deployment, innovation ecosystems, and the future of next-generation urban districts.
The delegation included Makoto Iwayama, Senior Vice President of JFE Holdings and leader of the company’s Keihin Area Land Development efforts; Fumiaki Nagano, Senior Management Staff in the Keihin Area Land Development Department; consultant Kentaro Harada of Nippon Koei Urban Space; and several additional members of the JFE team. Joining the visit were Toshio Kii, Chief Executive Director of JETRO Atlanta, and Koki Danno of JETRO Atlanta.
The visit was facilitated through Curiosity Lab’s ongoing relationship with JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), one of several organizations helping build connections between Curiosity Lab and Japan’s innovation ecosystem.
A Global Industrial Leader with an Ambitious Vision
JFE Holdings is a $33 billion global industrial company whose businesses span steel production, engineering, infrastructure, and trading. The company is currently leading one of Japan’s most ambitious redevelopment initiatives: the transformation of a former steelworks site in the Keihin coastal area near Tokyo into a next-generation industrial and urban innovation district.
Known as Ohgishima 2050, the vision encompasses approximately 220 hectares (more than 540 acres) of redevelopment and includes advanced logistics, carbon-neutral energy infrastructure, hydrogen technologies, mobility systems, mixed-use development, and a shared urban space designed to support real-world technology demonstrations.
At the center of the project is a concept that felt immediately familiar to the Curiosity Lab team: creating a real-world environment where emerging technologies can be tested, validated, and experienced outside of the laboratory. As JFE continues planning the future of Ohgishima, the company identified Curiosity Lab as one of the few operating examples it could study firsthand.
“What makes the Ohgishima project so exciting is that JFE is thinking beyond individual technologies and focusing on how to create an environment where innovation can thrive over the long term,” said Emily Heintz, Executive Director of Curiosity Lab. “Building a successful living laboratory requires more than infrastructure. It requires the right partnerships, governance, processes, and long-term commitment to help emerging technologies move from concept to real-world impact. We were honored to share our experience and learn more about JFE’s vision for the future.”
Learning from a Real-World Living Laboratory
During the visit, the delegation toured Curiosity Lab and participated in a working session focused on how Peachtree Corners has built and operated a living laboratory within an active city environment—and what lessons that experience might offer as JFE advances the Ohgishima 2050 vision.
The conversation went far beyond technology itself. JFE’s team was interested in understanding how Curiosity Lab functions operationally, how partnerships are structured, how companies engage with the ecosystem, and how the City of Peachtree Corners has integrated innovation into its broader economic development strategy. The discussion also explored lessons learned from supporting emerging technologies and creating an environment where companies can move from concept to real-world deployment.
During the working session, Curiosity Lab Executive Director Emily Heintz and Economic Development Director Bertrand Lapoire discussed how Peachtree Corners has built and evolved Curiosity Lab as a platform for innovation, technology deployment, and economic development.
Heintz shared Curiosity Lab’s strategic operating model, including how companies engage with the ecosystem, how opportunities are evaluated, and how Curiosity Lab has intentionally built processes and partnerships to support technology deployment and growth. Lapoire discussed how the City has integrated Curiosity Lab into its broader economic development strategy and leveraged innovation, infrastructure, and public-private partnerships to attract companies, investment, and international collaboration.
Shared Goals Across Continents
What made the visit especially exciting was the alignment between JFE’s vision and Curiosity Lab’s mission.
While the scale and context of the projects differ, both organizations share a belief that innovation happens most effectively when technologies are deployed and evaluated in real-world environments rather than isolated test facilities.
The Ohgishima redevelopment effort seeks to create a shared urban space where advanced mobility systems, carbon-neutral energy solutions, logistics technologies, and other emerging innovations can be demonstrated and refined in practical settings. That focus on real-world deployment is one of the reasons JFE sought out Curiosity Lab as a reference model.
“Curiosity Lab provided us with a valuable reference for how a real-world technology deployment environment can be designed and operated within an active city,” said Fumiaki Nagano, Senior Manager, JFE Holdings. “In particular, the way it integrates the public and private sectors – combining institutional and financial support with clearly defined roles across communications, transportation, and other infrastructure systems – is highly instructive. As we work toward developing a next-generation industrial hub, the concept of establishing a demonstration platform for logistics and mobility in the Ohgishima area while connecting it to surrounding assets such as Kawasaki Port and Haneda Airport was an especially important takeaway.”
Building Global Innovation Connections
The visit reflects Curiosity Lab’s growing role as an international hub for innovation and technology deployment.
The visit also reflects Curiosity Lab’s growing engagement with Japan’s innovation ecosystem. Through relationships with organizations including JETRO, MUFG Bank, and ATR, Curiosity Lab is building pathways for Japanese companies and institutions interested in technology deployment, partnership development, and U.S. market engagement.
Organizations from around the world increasingly visit Peachtree Corners to learn how cities, companies, universities, and ecosystem partners can work together to accelerate innovation while creating tangible economic development outcomes.
For Curiosity Lab, those conversations are valuable because they create opportunities to exchange ideas, build relationships, and strengthen connections between innovation ecosystems across different countries and markets.
For JFE, the visit provided an opportunity to learn from an operating model that has successfully supported technology deployments, company engagement, and ecosystem development within a real city environment.
As both organizations continue advancing their respective visions, the visit marked the beginning of what could become a meaningful exchange of ideas between Georgia and Japan.
We were honored to welcome the JFE delegation to Curiosity Lab and look forward to continuing the conversation as they advance the exciting future of Ohgishima.
The future of innovation is global – and partnerships like these help bring it to life.