What can we do with ICT?

There are probably a few of you intending to enter the Kobe Institute of Computing that are thinking that you would like to become ICT engineers. But something I have realized after years of working in private enterprise is that even if you have the best engineering abilities, it means nothing if you lose sight of your purpose.

Japan has gone through the experience of rebuilding our nation from the ashes of defeat in the war, passing through a period of rapid economic growth, and our engineering abilities are certainly treasures we can be proud of. However, with the recent economic downturn, it is time to consider whether we can continue doing things as we have up to now.

“We really want to find solutions for the things people need using ICT.”

Become someone that wants to find solutions

Some may wonder what I am talking about. But for what purpose does technology exist?

It surely must be to make people happy. Aren’t there times in your daily life that you wish something was otherwise, or felt that something was problematic? Most people leave it at that and move on. But are there times when you stand a little while longer and wonder how great it would be to bring an idea into reality or solve the problem? It’s not too much to say, I think, that it is to the realization that “ICT (Information and Communication Technology)” education is required.

What is required of ICT as a business

At Kobe Institute of Computing, the “Tankyu Practice” philosophy is our most important asset and was born when our president, Toshiki Sumitani, came across new ways of thinking during his time working as a corporate consultant in Northern Europe. We really want to find solutions for those things people need using ICT. But it is not something that you can implement haphazardly. You have budgets in business, and time limits. It is not necessarily the case that the best solution is to implement everything that you are asked for. First, you use “Tankyu” (inquiry) to find out what the requirements of the customer are, and then focus on the technology required. There are also probably going to be times when you’ll have to make cuts. The abilities to make these decisions and convince people will be required.

The ability to get close to people will get you around the world

It seems to me that wanting to be of use and wanting to help those in trouble is a hallmark of being a human. Firstly, how well can you relate to the feelings of others? I think that ICT is the technology that is born from the act of trying to get closer to others.

ICT is nothing without people. It is my wish to see as many people as possible take off from the Kobe Institute of Computing and to wing their way into the world as human resources that can put ICT to good use in making people happy with an ability to find issues in society and to bring solutions to these problems.



Professor Mamoru Ito

Assistant Vice President / Professor