Student's Voices

Hello, this is Simon Dedjo Yao from Ivory Coast. I completed a Masters Degree in Geography and a Masters degree in GIS & Remote Sensing at University Felix Houphouët of Abidjan. After a few years of professional experience in different projects and especially in the JICA’s project of the “Development of the Urban Master Plan and Transport Master plan of the Greater Abidjan” within the multidisciplinary team of Oriental Consultants Co.Ltd, I realized that I need more skills in the field of ICT (Software Engineering, Programming, Network technology) and ICT4D in order to increase my efficiency and be able to handle real word problems in their holistic dimension.

Through JICA’s ABE Initiative (African Business Education Initiative for Youth) program, I got a scholarship and I made the choice to study at Kobe Institute of Computing (KIC) to fulfill my career objectives. At KIC, I belong to Professor Ikuo Sugiyama Lab, a Lab which researches about utilization of ICT for efficient Management of urban area and its development. The research axes of the Lab motivate my choice of that Lab. Personally, I researched about the “development of a Flood Alert system for a quasi-real time flood risk information sharing in Abidjan”.

I appreciate my Lab research activities which are based on Lab activities with my Supervisor, collaboration with other labs of KIC and the Lab of Osaka University (Division of Global Architecture), writing papers and attending conferences and workshops.

I hope to get valuable skills during my graduation in order to apply them back to my home country and to set up innovative businesses.

My name is Ngugi Victor Njoroge and I am from Kenya. I am pursuing a Masters in Information technology here at the graduate school of Information Technology at Kobe Institute of Computing. The theme of my research paper is ‘ICT and digital media in Marketing: Creating applications to enhance market access in SMEs.’ My study is about finding how successful Japanese SMEs and companies have embraced ICT to enable them to get a head start and boost their growth and cement their position in the market. Specifically digital media technology can improve efficiency, to stay ahead of game.

Ms. Chika Yoshida is my laboratory Professor. Her knowledge about the business of Japanese companies has helped me with my study. Studying with my other lab members broadens my thought process.

I have done a lot of literature research; this is a very key step in my theme study. My lab has regular meetings with my Professor to go over my findings and look at what needs to be done next.

With the research that I have been doing, introducing my product into the market is the next step. I will have enough data about the market and development skills of building an augmented reality application and commercializing it will be very possible and near future. With this I hope to work with a Japanese company to realize this goal.

The lab is creating a convenient environment in raising leadership, innovation and Business management skill. On a weekly basis there are interactive discussions on world news, business trends or any news affecting business.

We attended several visitations to companies which connect us with them, gave us understanding of new technology and exposing us to advanced business practice. There are enough sessions of One to One meetings with Prof. Yamanaka, where we discuss our progress in our thesis and theme studies.

I enjoyed to be part in this lab because extensive knowledge the professor shared with us which stems from his international and local consulting experience. KIC has brought a breakthrough in my professional life. It has been a remarkable juncture of discovery. KIC is a center of influence and excellence.

Participants of the lab come from diverse and culturally rich backgrounds, i.e Asian, Middle Eastern and African as well as academic and professional backgrounds, including Architecture, Urban Planning, Engineering, Civil Engineering and ICT. Consequently, interactions in the lab are rich in perspective of the developing world.

"nILab" conducts discussions through the triangular approach (instructor to students, student to student, students to instructor).

My research intends to examine Streetlights as a cyber-physical social system. A platform, an enabler of Smart Social cities. Through the research, I purpose to re-think the place of the streetlights as part of a continuously evolving and increasingly networked infrastructure that can enable cities to improve the quality of City-zens, and address real needs with effective and long-term quality services.

I am a determined, and detail-oriented lady, a pioneer in social innovation and entrepreneurship, using available ICT solutions to foster Social Development.

Tsuji's Lab deals with actual Project Management where students are exposed to project planning designing implementing and managing using a real life project and scenarios in Africa.

We collaborate with both private and public organizations to find common issues. Students set a common goal through the supervision of the Professor and using the PCM (Project Cycle Management) and PDM (Project Design Matrix) which are the main tools in Project Development to achieve the set goal and objectives.

We welcome students who can 'Try Together, Think Together, Work Together!!!"