The final round of “Kosen Open Innovation (KOI) -Challenges from Africa 2024-” (Kosen OI), a hackathon for technical college students conducted by JICA and Nagaoka University of Technology (Nagaoka University of Technology), was held on August 20 in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture. About 40 students from 10 teams of 8 colleges of technology from all over Japan who passed the document screening gathered to compete for ideas to solve social development issues in Africa through presentations in English.
The themes for Kenya and Madagascar, which were this year’s challenge countries, were “Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Utilizing Technology” and “Creation of a Food Production System that Captures the Characteristics of Madagascar,” respectively. For about a month after the assignment was announced, each team gave a passionate presentation based on their ideas that had been developed through a process of trial and error. The teams proposed a variety of solutions to the challenge, including dreamy ideas that made full use of high-tech, and ideas that combined low-tech with local needs.
The judging panel included Osamu Takahashi, Vice President of Nagaoka University of Technology, Tadachika Nakayama, Professor of Nagaoka University of Technology and Secretary General of OIC, Ozira Kenneth Omondi, a faculty member of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and others from private companies. The Q&A session was attended by judges from the private sector, including faculty from Kenneth Omondi Omodi Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, as well as private-sector representatives.
Presentation in English (photo by Nagaoka University of Technology)
Q&A with the Jury
This year’s prize-winning teams
As a result of strict voting by the judges, this year’s winning teams are as follows. After prototyping and testing the prototypes in Japan, each team will travel to Kenya and Madagascar to conduct demonstration tests.
Kenya Issue: Harmonizing Industry and the Environment. Seeking ideas for sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fisheries using technology!
Prize: Nagaoka National College of Technology “Cultivation of high nutrient mushrooms using the hot and humid coastline and sea”.
Madagascar Challenge: Seeking ideas to find the creation of a food production system that captures the characteristics of Madagascar!
Prize: Ube National College of Technology “Double the Nutrition and Taste! Rice cultivation with crucian carp and shrimp” (Ube National College of Technology)
commendation or awards ceremony
The award ceremony was followed by presentations by the two winning teams, with special guests Afuna Ezakonwa, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director-General for Africa, and Toshiyuki Nakamura, Special Assistant to the President of JICA, in attendance. In her opening remarks, Ms. Ezakonwa expressed her hope for co-creation between Japanese and African youths to solve Africa’s development issues, while Mr. Nakamura, Special Assistant to the President of JICA, said, “The future is not something that will come but something that we will create. He also encouraged the young people to give shape to their free ideas and innovations in the real world.
The winning Ube National College of Technology team with JICA Special Assistant to President Nakamura (right) and Professor Nakayama of Nagaoka University of Technology (back right) Afuna Ezakonwa, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director-General for Africa
About OI, College of Technology
The Technical College OI was held a total of five times from 2019 to the current fiscal year, with a total of approximately 250 participants from 15 technical colleges across the country competing for ideas.
In the past, 12 projects were proposed and produced as part of the OI of National Colleges of Technology, including Kenya (Nagaoka National College of Technology: conversion of American watermilfoil into fertilizer and feed), Rwanda (Kitakyushu National College of Technology and Miyakonojo National College of Technology: development of automatic coffee bean sugar content measuring device, Ube National College of Technology: development of nutrition and health improvement guidance application function with game features), and Nigeria (Sasebo National College of Technology and Kitakyushu National College of Technology: development of self-powered water meter). development of a self-powered water meter) in Nigeria. In addition, the project aims to apply the solutions devised by technical college students who have conducted demonstration tests in Africa to local issues in Japan (reverse innovation), and in fact, the fertilizer/feed conversion project for American watermilfoil is being put to practical use in Japan after demonstration tests in Africa.
In recognition of its attempt to combine reverse innovation with efforts to address social development issues in Africa, OI, a technical college, was awarded the Grand Prize (Prime Minister’s Prize) of the 2023 Japan Open Innovation Awards (sponsored by the Cabinet Office).
© Source JICA
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