Interim presentation of “Mongolia open Innovation and Co-creation for SDGs: MICS-2023” was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. ｜ News & Media

Event Summary

Conference Title: Mongolia open Innovation and Co-creation for SDGs: MICS-2023

Date: Friday, December 8, 10:30-12:00 (Japan time)

Organized by JICA

Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Economy and Development, and the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications

Support: KDDI Corporation, SOS Medica Mongolia (medical institution), Trade Development Bank of Mongolia

Venue: Crystal Hall (3F), Blue Sky Hotel, Mongolia

Mr. Tanaka, Director of JICA Mongolia Office, delivers opening remarks

Interim presentation pitch (EDU-MICS)

Contents

On December 8, 2023, the interim presentation of “Mongolia Open Innovation and Co-Creation for SDGs (MICS) 2023” was held in Ulaanbaatar. MICS is a program that supports a wide range of stakeholders in industry, government, and academia in Japan and Mongolia to bring together technologies, ideas, and funds to co-create innovative solutions and work together to achieve the SDGs and solve social issues in Mongolia.

The kick-off event on August 17 was attended by 500 participants from 390 organizations (500 people), including start-ups, corporations, financial institutions, educational and research institutions, and NGOs from both Japan and the United States. For about 5 hours, participants discussed co-creation of innovative solutions and collaboration, and 91 collaborative project proposals were submitted.

Ten collaborative projects were selected from among them, and JICA is supporting them from September 2023 to February 2024 through mentoring and partial subsidies for travel expenses between Japan and Mongolia. Five of the 10 projects are supported by the sponsors (KDDI Corporation, SOS Medica Mongolia, and the Mongolian Trade Development Bank) and JICA, which will cover part of the implementation costs.

At this interim debriefing, the 10 collaborative project teams made pitches on the progress of their projects, followed by networking with participants, including 12 Japanese companies and organizations currently visiting Mongolia. This was followed by a networking session with participants, including 12 Japanese companies and organizations currently visiting Mongolia. 10 collaborative projects have received mentoring to improve and refine their content and activities. Already, the collaborative projects Call Pro Agent won first place at She Loves Tech Mongolia, Qparking won a special award at MON X sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science, Intelligent Traffic Monitoring won third place at the Financial Innovation Competition (3rd place) and Data Hackathon (1st place).

On the same afternoon, 3D Printing with Plastic Waste, one of the collaborative projects, held an exhibition “ZERO Waste Self Expression” at a gallery in the city. The project also won a prize at SLT Mongolia (3rd place) and MON X (special prize) organized by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Finally, the final debriefing will be held in early February 2024. If you are interested in participating in the debriefing session or joining or cooperating with one of the 10 collaborative project teams, please contact the JICA Mongolia Office.

Program Links

Overview of the 10 selected collaborative projects

1000 Students, 1000 Part-time Jobs

(Job Creation) Creation of a job-seeking platform for part-time student workers by Mongolian companies that have received work orders from Japanese companies. Developed a cell phone application and held information sessions at universities and other venues.

3D Printing with Plastic Waste

(Environment) Development of products made from recycled waste plastic materials using 3D printer technology, combined with augmented reality (AR) technology, and an exhibition.

Healthy Parents’ Healthy Kid

(Health) Collaboration between a public hospital located in a ger district with a large population of poor people and a Mongolian ICT company to develop health education content for the public based on appropriate information sources. Created 8 videos that can be viewed on cell phones.

EDU-MICS

(Education) DXing of education and improvement of the educational environment in public schools by Japanese IT companies. Collected data from students and teachers in 8 public schools.

Call Pro Agent

(Job Creation) Creation of jobs for people with disabilities in rural areas through collaboration between wheelchair associations and call center companies.

Mongolian Eco Construction

(Environment) Hokkaido company’s snowbreak fencing was introduced after being converted to wood using locally harvested timber and other materials to mitigate the impact of snowfall and sandstorms on traffic, protect forests, and safeguard livestock.

QPARKING

(Transportation) Install EV charging stations in parking lots in the city and develop a mobile app to relieve traffic congestion to find a parking space.

Intelligent Traffic Monitoring

(Traffic congestion) Monitoring of traffic and mushroom cultivation in Ulaanbaatar, a city with heavy traffic congestion, using a machine learning-based system created by personnel with experience studying at Japanese technical colleges and universities.

Organic Mushroom

(Agriculture, Environment) Cultivation of eco mushrooms utilizing organic fertilizers made from Japanese mushroom seeds and Mongolian wool, etc.

Argal Paper

(Environment) Production of environmentally friendly products by a paper production company using cow dung as a material, which was started by a former student who studied in Japan.

Interim presentation pitch (Healthy Parents’ Healthy Kid)

Interim Presentation Pitches (1000 Students, 1000 Part-time Jobs)

Face mask made from waste plastic (3D Printing with Plastic Waste project exhibition)

read more

© Source JICA