Kobe Institute of Computing

There are currently no news stories for this month.

Please feel free to select another month from the tabs above.

Special lecture by iSEC at KIC

2018/2/21

A special lecture for students of the ICT professional course and ICT innovator course who wanted to attend, titled “Cybersecurity Industry & Working in Japan”, was held by Information Security Inc. (iSEC), at KIC on the February 7th, 2018.

Their head office is located in Kobe city, and branch office in Tokyo. iSEC provides security solutions, diagnostics and audits, transfer of server to virtual data center, recommendations of safe and reliable system operations, mainly to public offices. At this time, Mr. Adrian Oprea, Senior Security Engineer, and Miss. Emong Zheng, International Business, from iSEC visited KIC. They spoke on “Cybersecurity Industry & Working in Japan” in English.

Miss. Emong Zheng gave a presentation regarding basic knowledge about cybersecurity, social background of the security technology, and increasing demand in the future.

Mr. Adrian Oprea showed a demonstration on how to find a serious vulnerability through the UTM(Unified Threat Management) which is hardware that unites some security functions of Firewall, Web filtering and Antispam by utilizing a test program.

Finally those who are experienced in business spoke with humor about unique Japanese culture of “Nenko-joretsu”, “Nemawashi”, and “Nomikai” as useful little tidbits for working in Japan. Their story set off some laughter from students in the classroom. It was a good opportunity to learn about not only technical knowledge, but also Japanese society for students.

Mr. Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, was invited to "Ethiopia Investment Promotion Seminar in Kobe" as a facilitator

2018/2/10

"Ethiopia Investment Promotion Seminar in Kobe" was held on February 6, 2018 under the auspices of the Kobe city government, JICA Kansai, Hyogo Kobe International Business Square, and Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Tokyo, Japan.

Mr. Fukuoka who is vice-president of Kobe Institute of Computing, Graduate School of Information Technology (KIC) was invited to facilitate the panel discussion in the seminar.

The seminar was held to inform Japanese companies which are considering expanding to Africa regarding new business and investment environments in Ethiopia where rapid economic growth has been continuing.

The delegation which was organized from officers of the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) and Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) were invited. They spoke on investment environment, business chances, status of development of Industrial Parks, contents of support service in industrial fields by JICA in Ethiopia, and services of encouraging medium-sized and small Japanese companies to advance overseas.

Nowadays, even in Kobe city, Mr. Hasen Keder Edris who graduated from our school, as a former Ethiopian national government employee, was appointed as an Africa-Kobe Liaison Officer by Kobe city government for encouraging companies in Kobe city to advance East Africa including Ethiopia. That means enthusiasm to advance Africa, especially Ethiopia, is growing with a focus on Kobe city. Mr. Fukuoka who is vice-president of KIC which is located in Kobe city was invited to be a facilitator of the panel discussion as a pioneer in the educational sector to advance Africa.

In this seminar, Investment in Ethiopia, where rapid economic growth has been continuing, was focused on. The participants in the reception room, a meeting place in the Kobe Industrial Promotion Center, were more than the available 70 seats, including our foreign students from Ethiopia. We could see the rising interest in Africa including Ethiopia.

After His Excellency Mr. Cham Ugala Uriat, Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, His Excellency Mr. Shinichi Saida, Embassy of Japan, and Dr. Aklilu Hailemichael, State Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia gave opening addresses one by one, Mr. Teka Gebreyesus, Deputy Commissioner, Investment Division of EIC, gave a presentation regarding "Investment chance to Ethiopia", Mr. Shiferaw Solomon, Vise-president of IPDC gave presentation regarding "Industrial Parks in Ethiopia", and Mr. Tomita, Councilor of JICA Private Sector Development gave a presentation regarding "Support service in industrial field by JICA".

In the panel discussion during the latter half of the seminar which the Vice-president of KIC Mr. Fukuoka facilitated and welcomed 4 guests, Mr. Furukawa from Fukunaga Engineering Co Ltd, Mr. Uematsu from Phnom Penh SEZ Co Ltd, Mr. Hasen Keder Edris who graduated from our school, as an Africa-Kobe Liaison Officer from Kobe city government, and Mr. Zelalem the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. They spoke regarding "Expanding Investment from Japanese companies for Ethiopia". First they gave a presentation about what they are doing for the theme. After that they mentioned the potentials and problems of Ethiopia as a new development site. There are problems which internet access limitation could incur, and difficulty of distribution. However the panelists mentioned there are charms which are the honest national character, which have self-reliance and growth willingness, and reasonable price of electricity and land. Therefore Ethiopia is in the spotlight of many Japanese companies nowadays. Finally Mr. Hasen Keder Edris gave a strong comment that he tries to do his best for making a strong relationship to utilize ICT in the future between Kobe city, Ethiopia, and including Rwanda where is developing continually by ICT. He also mentioned that he spares no effort to supply information to companies which are considering to expand to Africa.

Dear Kobe city government, JICA Kansai, the participants and all persons involved in the seminar. Thank you very much for your assistance on that occasion.

Mr. Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, was invited to the symposium which was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

2018/2/10

The symposium “Talking with Mr. Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Spreading the attraction of Hyogo to the world” which was held at Kobe University on July 23, 2017 under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Kobe University and Kobe Shimbun Co., Ltd are the cosponsors.

The meeting place which has 450 seats was full through many participants of the general public, stakeholders, and mass medias.

In the symposium, Mr. Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affair, gave a keynote talk about various efforts for connecting to local revitalization by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and future visions. After that, a panel discussion was held by 5 panelists. Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Shunsuke Takei, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Toshizo Ido, the Prefectural governor of Hyogo Prefecture, Ms. Kimiko Ito, Representative Director of Tashima Inc., and Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC. Vice-president Mr. Fukuoka spoke about KIC policy and the project of industry-academia-government collaboration for development of human resources in the African business field. It received an enthusiastic response from the audience.

Many overseas students from KIC and Kobe University participated to the symposium. We took a commemorative photo around Mr. Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.3

We have already gotten good results in practice exams. ICT human resources development in Bangladesh.

2018/2/8

The technical aid project in Bangladesh ‘’ICT Human Resources Development targeting Japanese Market’’ aims to develop ICT human resources and create an independent human develop cycle in Bangladesh. KIC has been entrusted it from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).

We are making efforts to increase the number of successful candidates of ITEE (Information Technology Engineers Examination) and are promoting turning this project into an official Bangladesh project. The processes such as on-site review, making a human resources development plan, creating original educational tools and lectures, have been steadily progressing in the last six months, and we have gotten good results in the practice exam conducted last month. 155 people, including those who be going to take ITEE in March, took the practice exam and 45 people made a passing mark. (Pass rate: 29%)

This is showing that we’ve already got a potential exceed the best record in Bangladesh. （10 times of the pass rate of the latest exam last October.） Yukinobu Miyamoto, a KIC associate professor is saying that it’s expected that over 100 people pass the next exam coming this March for the following reasons.

First, we already can count on 500 examinees for the next exam. Second, we already succeeded in motivating the trainees to follow to the study plan. Finally, the trainees have started to do the required learning with each other as an independent human resources development cycle. And he continues; ‘’If we achieve a great result in the next exam, it’ll be a big step towards a national project.’’ This project will be continued until October 2019, but it has shown great progress already. Thank you for your continuous attention in this project.

Research of Synthetic Electronics Maker which is representative of Japan -Visiting Panasonic Corporation

2018/3/10

13 voluntary students of the ICT innovator course visited the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) office at Panasonic Corporation lead by their teachers on March 2nd, 2018.

First they visited Wonder LAB Osaka which was established as a place for Open Innovation at the company. Then they listened an explanation from Mr. Kazuo Kazimoto, the director, in charge of technical strategy and software strategy section. He spoke about efforts for IoT and AI, future plans for product development (Panasonic β), Web of Things (WoT) which supply a One Stop Service for users, and an idea of a Shareable Platform Service over respective companies. They could get important information regarding future business development plans.

The participating students asked a lot of questions and showed eagerness about various fields in AI, IoT, Network Technology, Deep Learning, and Business Models. It was a good opportunity to broaden their horizons before starting their master's research.

Special lecture "KIC: Service Design Workshop" was held at KIC

2018/3/5

A special lecture for M1 students of the ICT innovator course in "Practice of Creativity Development" by Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, titled "KIC: Service Design Workshop", was held by Mr. Hiroshi Tamura, who is a lecturer in KIC, on February 27th, 2018.

"Practice of Creativity Development" is a lecture which trains and grows essential power of originality, ingenuity, and flexible thinking to find and solve problems. It has an "Active learning Style" which includes various methods regarding idea creation and ways of thinking. Omnibus style in which different guest lectures are invited through all 15 lessons is one of the unique features. The special lecture was held over 2 sessions in the morning and afternoon.

The morning session was "design observation" training, where personal belongings including mobile computers, cameras, bicycles, and lunch boxes were sorted into attribute groups on the basis of attributes such as types of recyclable or non-recyclable, movable or non-movable.
The afternoon session was a presentation from students regarding suggestions for new products and services, and what customers can experience by utilizing them.

One of the groups gave a presentation about "A tracking service when customers lose baggage" which is relevant to traveling overseas. Another group gave a presentation about "A service of ingredients information for lunch boxes" which had the theme of food safety.

The students discussed the values of the services and reliability assurance in depth in each presentation. For the students, today was a good opportunity to understand and provide better experiences to customers by analyzing objectively the customers who use various products and services by thinking out of the box.

Ms. Misato Kinouchi's Workshop was held for ICT innovator course M1

2018/3/12

In the "Practice of Creativity Development" for ICT Innovator course M1, the lecturer is Dr. Toshiki Sumitani, and is one of the foundation subjects at KIC. We supply unique methods and experiences for students to contribute to creativity development through inviting various guest lecturers within all the 15 lessons of the course.

In the lesson on March 6th, 2018, Ms. Misato Kinouchi, the author of "Sekai no Hatemade Chocolate" which is a famous book in Japan, and Chocolate buyer, held a workshop about "Clinical Art". "Clinical Art" is an Art program to aid recovery from any symptoms and to free someone's mind as well as to have an effect to stimulate creativity, and it has merit that anyone can enjoy through the creation of art and artistic objects.

Today's workshop was drawing pictures using an oil pastel on a paper which is partitioned into square space by masking tape. At first students started to draw on that limited space, with limited colors and limited lines which are like zigzag-lines and scroll-lines. They presented freely by what color selections, various lines, strength, and "rub by hands", "scratch by chopsticks" little by little following guidance from Ms. Kinouchi.

The new colors which are born by mixing colors, the figures which are made accidentally from the overlaping of lines, and towns and natural landscapes which are represented in chaos. The students created beautiful original arts, which were born from their inspiration. Then finally all of them were crazy to "present". It was good opportunity to realize something of importance regarding creation as well as healing our brains which can tire to think logically.

Release App "Bongo Faster Beta Version" by a KIC Master's degree holder from Tanzania at "Google Play" and "App Store"

2018/3/31

Mr. James Mmari who graduated from the ICT innovator course at KIC last September, developed and released the App "Bongo Faster Beta Version" on the "Google Play" and "iTunes" app stores.

BRT (public transportation that runs on bus lane called Bus-Rapid-Transit) system was established for promoting industry and relieving traffic congestion in recent years in Dar es Salaam the largest city of Tanzania in East Africa..

There are some issues as follows;

The information of the BRT system is not keeping everyone informed.
It is hard to understand information about the BRT routes, details of the journey, bus stations, merits for users.
As a result, users of BRT system are very few. It is not utilized efficiently.

Not only can this App solve some of the problems, but also provide town information around bus stations for users, feedback to BRT Operators from user voices and experiences.

Mr. James Mmari has been researching this problem since he was student in KIC, and he was awarded the "Tankyu Practice Award" when he graduated from KIC. His future success is greatly anticipated.

Functions of "Bongo Faster Beta Version"（Just in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania）

Providing information such as BRT Routes and Details, Bus Stations, Timetable and Current Location of Buses using GPS technology.
News and Guides may be provided by BRT Operators through this App.
Via this App you can also send feedback to BRT Operators as well as App developers for more improvements on transportation matters and App features respectively.
Not only Tanzanians or local commuters can use this App, but also users outside Dar es Salaam and tourists can use BongoFaster's various functions and will be able to commute and explore Dar es Salaam city without confusion.

Official site links for iOS and Android

KIC has signed a MoU with Rwanda Ministry of ITC

2018/4/3

KIC has signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Rwanda Ministry of ITC for creating a cooperative relationship in development of human resources and industries. Exchanging the MoU with Ministry officially is the first time and revolutionary for KIC.

Our signing ceremony for MoU was held in front of Mr. Kizo Hisamoto, Mayor of Kobe City, at Kobe City government office building on March 16th, 2018 after that Kobe City signed a MoU with the Rwanda Ministry of ITC. The MoU was signed between Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-President of KIC, and Mr. Jean de Dieu Rurangirwa, Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Information Technology & Communications, Minister.

Nowadays the national government in Rwanda is leading in becoming an ICT nation. There are some important issues which are investments from overseas, promotion of corporations advance to overseas, and additionally promotion of growing enterprises as well as ICT human resource in Rwanda, job creation including training for entrepreneurs.

KIC has been training students from Rwanda and sending them back as highly skilled ICT personnel or as entrepreneurs. As well as the achievement of "ICT Human Resource Development Project in Kigali, Rwanda" which is entrusted business from JICA since last October was highly evaluated. Therefore, this MoU has been signed.

The following day, 17th, Mr. Jean de Dieu Rurangirwa, Republic of the Rwanda Ministry of Information Technology & Communications, Minister, Ms. Irere Claudette, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Business Development Directorate, Director General, and Ms. Venetia Sebudandi, Ambassador of Rwanda to Japan, who participated in the signing ceremony for MoU, visited to KIC. They participated in a meeting with students from Rwanda as well as at a welcome event.

The final presentation was held in "Practice of Creativity Development"

2018/3/10

The final presentation for solving problems from each of the groups of M1 students from the ICT innovator course as their achievements in "Practice of Creativity Development"* by Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, was held on April 3rd, 2018.

*"Practice of Creativity Development" is a lecture which trains and grows essential power of originality, ingenuity, and flexible thinking to find and solve problems. It has an "Active learning Style" which includes various methods regarding idea creation and ways of thinking. Omnibus style in which different guest lectures are invited through all 15 lessons is one of the unique features.

5 groups challenged the problems in which each group using KIC's original problem solution method "Tankyu Practice" obtained creative points of view or ways of thinking through the lecture as weapons. Finally all of groups gave presentations about their original solution methods for that issues. The presentation themes are as follows;

Group-A: Inadequate Transportation for Farmers to the Market
Group-B: Zamura Africa -Empowering Young Africa
Group-C: TCPC Solution for Japan Aging Issues
Group-D: Safe Tour
Group-E: Mental Health

Group-A gave a demonstration how stake holders who have relatives with agricultural product transportation issues like farmers, markets, and drivers can utilize the information a system which was developed as a mobile phone app for solving the physically or economically inefficient methods when farmers transport their products to market in Africa.

Group-E explained how to use an original diagnosis assistant tool by a skit of communication between the doctor and the potential patients of mental disorders or illnesses. They attracted audiences by realistic acting. Their approach which presented creatively not only what they want to present, but also how to present, was impressive.

After finishing all presentations, students discussed actively to focus with more reality regarding originality, sustainability, or user's human rights of suggested solutions from each group. Mr. Toshiki Sumitani mentioned "Each group's approached to issues by different concepts and various methods. It was so creative." as a conclusion to the class. There was a scene how a student's power was shown more by connected organically between the methods of idea creation and "Tankyu Practice".

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.4

''Towards the realization of an independent ICT human resources develop system''

2018/4/3

The technical cooperation project ''ICT Human Resources Development Targeting The Japan Market'' that KIC has been promoting, aims to create an independent ICT human resources development cycle in Bangladesh. As concrete activities, we are making an effort to increase the number of successful applicants for ITEE as an index of implementing Japan's ICT education system in Bangladesh, and we train Bengali trainers to disseminate the Japan ICT education method in Bangladesh.

Ever since the project started in last July, our activities such as on-site review, making a human resources development plan, creating original educational tools, lectures, practice exam for TEEE have been steadily progressing and on the 2 practice exams conducted in January and February, we've got results that the number of successful applicants and the passing rate greatly exceeded the record highs in Bangladesh.

This time, Mr. Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor made the fourth visit (Period: 23 February - 12 March) to conduct the following.

Analysis and explanation of the result of the practice exam conducted in February.
Training of Trainers (ToT): targeting 50 people that consist of university faculty members, business people, and government officials.
An Intensive course for ITEE on 25 March.
Lectures at specific companies and universities.

In particular, with the ''ToT'', we not only had lectures using the original texts, which are 250 pages in length and more detailed syllabus lecture notes, but also had ''the place for educational practice'' at the classes for the ITEE examinees for the prospective trainer candidates. We are heading steadily to the project's goal of creating an independent ICT human resources development system such as holding special training in Japan that aims to develop ''Master trainers'' who can lead Bangladesh ICT education in the summer. In addition, for ITEE conducted in Bangladesh on the 25 March, there were 562 applicants, that is unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh, and we're looking forward to seeing the results being announced at the end of April. Thank you for your continuous attention to KIC global activities.

The Japan Times reported on the success of a student who graduated from KIC

2018/5/29

We have already reported what Mr. James Mmari, who graduated from the ICT innovator course at KIC last September, developed and released the app "Bongo Faster Beta Version" on the "Google Play" and "iTunes" app stores at end of the March, 2018, in cooperation with Studio Canbe Corp.

The Japan Times reported the story about the App development, practical applications, and marketing on May 15th, 2018.

Mr. James Mmari came to KIC in 2015 to study information systems under the African Business Education Initiative for Youth scholarship, or “ABE Initiative,” which is administered by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and is designed to foster young people who can contribute to Africa’s development by building bridges between African and Japanese private enterprises.

He belonged to the Dr. Markon Sandor Laboratory in KIC. He researched targeting for app development which can solve the problem of the BRT (public transportation that runs in bus lanes called Bus-Rapid-Transit) system which was established for promoting industry and relieving traffic congestion in recent years in Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania in East Africa.

The article by the Japan Times reported the following:

How the prototype App which was developed by Mr. James Mmari in KIC made a great step forward towards practical application and marketing through an unexpected encounter with Studio Canbe Corp.
The various features and advantages of the app "Bongo Faster", which can improve traffic condition in Dar es Salaam.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which is administering “ABE Initiative” has a high opinion of the story and the growing human resources of international students from KIC, as well as internship programs by Studio Canbe Corp connected to expanding overseas business of Japanese companies.

The app "Bongo Faster" provides route maps and timetables for buses that run in public lanes for exclusive use by the bus system on roads in Dar es Salaam with the aim of increasing the number of users.

The app also delivers info on current bus operations and allows users to send feedback to the operating company. That was highly regarded as it encouraged safe driving.

Additionally the Japan Times reported that Studio Canbe Corp and Mr. James Mmari are now in the final stages of negotiating with the Tanzanian government to equip Dar es Salaam buses with Global Positioning System tracking devices, which would allow "Bongo Faster" users to check the current locations of buses in real time.

Please do not miss the follow-up report.

To see the original article, please visit the Japan Times official link.

ICT Innovator course students visited “Nogyo (Agriculture) World” exhibition to research cutting-edge agricultural technologies. It was highly relevant to their research activities.

2018/5/22

ICT Innovator course students along with teachers from KIC visited “Nogyo (Agriculture) World”, which is one of the largest general agriculture exhibitions in Western Japan at Intex-Osaka hall on May 5th, 2018.

In the ICT Innovator course, government-sponsored international students from developing countries learn at KIC. Some of them conduct research on themes of national level issues.

Among these, there are many students who conduct research on the themes of agricultural issues. They were very interested to see products, services, technologies, and systems which were all related to agriculture at the exhibition event.

There were exhibitions relevant not only to their research, but also to some students who are trying to solve problems in disaster prevention, healthcare, politics, and education without agriculture in terms of utilizing ICT. Some students took the initiative to ask questions to the exhibition staff.

It was good opportunity to obtain useful information for research activities in the future.

KIC exhibited at the event “078 (Zero Nana Hachi)”

2018/5/15

The event “078 -Zero Nana Hachi-” which started since 2017 is a Cross-Media event that was realized and collaborated on by creaters, engineers, and citizens in the theme of music, movie, IT, food, fashion, kids, and anime for developing Kobe as an attractive city where young people can be active.

(For more detail, please visit this link *Japanese Only)

It was held at the Design Creative Center Kobe (KIITO) for 3 days from April 27th to 29th in its second year. There were colorful talk sessions, exhibitions, movies, and communications.

KIC exhibited a booth in collaboration with Kobe city. KIC, which has been accepting many international students from Africa, and Kobe city, which is moving on with economical exchanges between Japanese firms located in the Kansai area and growing markets like Africa, exhibited with the theme “Let’s get to know Africa”. Some of the international students from KIC also participated as volunteer staff to construct and maintain a Local Area Network at the event place.

KIC held a “KIC National Hour” in our booth by utilizing our characteristic of having many international students from various countries gather together. International students were form 6 different countries; Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Rwanda gave presentations about their thoughts on topics like tourism or cultural points for visitors.

We had many visitors who were interested in our content, as well as good opportunities for international students from KIC to communicate with many Japanese people, regardless of age or gender, that are far from the everyday life in the school.

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.5

The project got good results on ITEE

2018/5/14

The technical cooperation project ‘’ICT Human Resources Development Targeting Japan Market’’ that KIC has been promoting in Bangladesh from last July, aims to develop ICT human resources and create an independent ICT human resources cycle in Bangladesh. Especially in the human resources development, the number of successful examinees for ITEE is an important indicator to measure success.

On 25 March the trainees of this project tried ITEE for the first time and got good results. From 562 applicants, 374 people took the exam and 22 people passed.

In comparison with the results of ITEE which were held last spring and last summer, the number of successful examinees increased by 7 to 10 times, and the pass rate was improved more than 2 times.

Additionally, ITEE is consists of two parts; a morning test and an afternoon test, and there were 99 people those who passed either of them. Especially the morning test, the number of passing examinees increased dramatically from the past high record of 5 to 87, showing the effect of KIC’s education method. It was highly evaluated as population formation of successful examinees towards next ITEE.

We take the increase in the number of successful examinees very seriously to appeal to the Bangladesh government to promote this project towards becoming a national project. This project is going to put effort into further improving the trainees as always. Thank you for your continued attention to KIC’s global activities.

International students from KIC drew flower pictures in “INFIORATA KOBE KITANOZAKA 2018”

2018/5/15

“INFIORATA” means “To spread flowers all over a surface” in Italian.

This event has been held across cities in Europe, which is known for drawing pictures using flowers on roads or in plazas.

In the case of Kobe, it started in the Sannomiya area in 1997 for a remembrance event for the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995.

At the present time, the event, which has become a special feature of Kobe in spring, has spread to various places in Kobe. KIC has also participated in making flower pictures with local residents since 2016.

“INFIORATA KOBE KITANOZAKA 2018” was held from May 3rd to 5th. The theme was “Animal Parade of Flowers”.

International students with various backgrounds have been coming from various countries to KIC and learning and understanding each other’s cultures and habits. Such a state is likened to the harmony of nature and animals. The 5x10 meter flower picture “KIC Diverse Nature” was made using tulip petals of red, white, yellow, purple, and pink as well as green stalks and brown woodchips.

Although the students sometimes had a hard time drawing due to clouds and strong wind, they got periods of refreshing clear weather as the flower picture was being made. All over Kitanozaka Ave. was colored with sunlight and variously designed flower pictures.

News Item Pic-left -->

The training program “Capacity Building for ICT Project Planning” has started

2018/6/29

The training program “Capacity Building for ICT Project Planning” started on June 12th, 2018 at KIC.

The 6 trainees who are in charge of the information and technology field come from six countries; Bangladesh, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Grenada, Palestine, and Trinidad and Tobago.

They will learn the necessary knowledge and techniques for solving problems by utilizing ICT and the methods of “Tankyu(Inquiry) Practice” through to July, 2018 at KIC.

Midterm Presentation for ICT Innovator Course 2018

2018/6/20

Midterm Presentations for research projects from “Specific Theme Study B”, were conducted on June 11th, 2018 at KIC by the ICT Innovator Course M2 students. They gave presentations on how their research is progressing as well as on their future plans.

Nowadays, there are many international students who are government-sponsored, mainly from developing countries, in the ICT Innovator Course.

Therefore, most of the students gave presentations focusing on how to solve the problems of their home countries. For example, one of the research themes was on solving the problem of there being many people who struggle to get information about hospitals in the student’s home country, by developing an ICT system and explaining how it works.

Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, evaluated their presentations and commented: “I felt the passion and devotion from each student towards their research. Additionally, each student was able to demonstrate their respective strengths in research, analysis, programming skill, and presentation skill.”

He also mentioned: “You will receive much feedback from your teachers. I hope all of you will take it into account as you continue your research activities.”

He asked the students to improve their research by utilizing the advice from the teachers for final presentations in this coming August.

The MoU was signed between Rwanda Polytechnic, Integrated polytechnic college-Tumba and Kobe Institute of Computing, Graduate school of Information Technology

2018/6/14

KIC has signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Rwanda Polytechnic, Integrated polytechnic college-Tumba for institutional collaboration between the parties in carrying out training, applied research, consultancy and community out-reach activities.

Our signing ceremony for MoU was held on May 9th, 2018 at Kigali Convention Center. KIC and the Rwanda Polytechnic, Integrated polytechnic college-Tumba agreed to promote interaction and exchange between faculties and students of the two institutions, through visits, exchange programs, joint research programs, and joint supervision of students’ projects by signing the MoU.

KIC has been training students from Rwanda and sending them back as highly skilled ICT personnel or as entrepreneurs. As well as the project of "ICT Human Resource Development Project in Kigali, Rwanda" which has been entrusted business from JICA since it started last October. Additionally, KIC has signed a MoU with Rwanda Ministry of ITC for creating a cooperative relationship in development of human resources and industries. Going forward, we will be working on the cooperation project with Rwanda through the MoU.

Click here for the Rwanda Polytechnic, Integrated polytechnic college-Tumba website

Transform Africa Summit 2018

We attended the Japan Pavilion booth at the exhibition

2018/6/1

KIC has been further contributing to global projects with the vision to create a sustainable future for society by harmonizing humans and technologies.

Recently, the Cabinet Office is proposing “Society 5.0” and “Smart Africa” which is organized by 21 countries in Africa. These are actions to build ‘Smart Cities’ by increasing the economic contributions of ICT and solving social problems.

KIC participated in the Transform Africa Summit 2018, which was held on May 7th to 10th in Rwanda, Africa. We joined the Japan Pavilion booth, which was hosted by 30 groups, including government and international organizations, companies and universities.

We distributed brochures for KIC, made presentations about “ICT Human Resource Development” projects running in Rwanda, recruited new trainees and made business negotiations with related companies. Many people and VIPs from domestic and foreign companies visited our booth.

In addition to our own booth, we were able to see many students who had graduated from KIC or completed “ICT Human Resource Development in Kigali” training, staffing their own booths. We were very proud to see the ongoing success of our graduates.

In order to contribute to SDGs aimed at international society and Society 5.0, the university will continue its domestic and international projects. Please look forward to KIC’s next announcements.

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.6 “KIC supported business by companies from Bangladesh at an IT event in Japan”

2018/6/1

KIC has been entrusted with the technical aid project ‘’ICT Human Resources Development Targeting the Japan Market’’ from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) during the period from July 2017 to September 2019. This project aims to grow ICT human resources and to establish an independent training system of ITEE in Bangladesh.

As the project title mentions, this project also aims to promote economic interchange regarding ICT, or the import and export of ICT products, "Offshore Development" and recruiting directly or indirectly, human resources like a bridge engineer for higher purposes.

The ICT educational content sector is working with the other sectors which develop and promote educational platforms like an “e-learning system” for human resource development including ICT skills, Japanese, and business manners. In total, 3 sections from KIC are working together towards the project’s success.

“Japan IT Week” which is one of the biggest IT exhibitions in Japan was held in Tokyo from May 9th to 11th, 2018. It was important opportunity for Bangladesh to market their companies, products, and human resources directly.

There was a “Bangladesh Pavilion” which consisted of 16 booths from 15 private companies and a governmental organization to support the businesses in the exhibition. Yukinobu Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor joined through the governmental organization booth to support the business activities of the 15 private companies.

Yukinobu Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor mentioned about reaction from the exhibition,
“We needed to explain in detail about not only service quality, business practice, but also "Offshore Development" or recruiting costs for mainly System Integrators from Japanese network companies or IT service companies who visited the “Bangladesh Pavilion” because the visitors who have traded with Bangladesh companies are very few. From this point of view, we were able to explain the activities and achievements by the project of “ICT Human Resources Development Targeting the Japan Market” which targets 3 sectors of ICT: educational contents sector, educational platforms sector, and human resources sector, to convince Japanese companies which are planning business with Bangladesh.”

Thank you for your continued attention to KIC’s global projects.

The training program “Capacity Building for ICT Project Planning” has finished

2018/7/25

The training program “Capacity Building for ICT Project Planning” which started on June 12nd, has finished on July 12nd, 2018.

The 6 trainees summarized ideas to solve the social problems of each country, as well as verifying their usability and creating a concrete action plan as a result of training. Finally, they gave presentations over 2 days on July 5th and 12nd.

One of the trainees from Ivory Coast gave a presentation about a higher education course issue, in that it is difficult to maintain a high educational quality as well as improve teacher’s skills because there are too many students per teacher. He proposed to build an online education service for solving the issue.

Another trainee from Ghana proposed software which can realize efficient and effective logistical business by connecting stakeholders like truck drivers, forwarding agents, and wholesalers in his country. All of trainees delivered excellent presentations.

Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, commented: “All of the presentations and accompanying documents were easy to understand. Moreover, it was good how they are analyzed from various viewpoints such as interview research. So, do your best to realize your plans even when going back to your home countries.”

KIC established a joint-venture in collaboration with state-of-the-art US aerospace industry

A successful demo flight of a fully autonomous vertical takeoff drone took place in Kobe, Japan

2018/7/25

KIC, in collaboration with Swift Engineering Inc. - an aerospace company based in California, USA, and supported by Kobe City, established “Swift-Xi Inc.” in April, 2018 (Mr. Hiro Matsushita, CHAIRMAN & CEO).

The new company “Swift-Xi Inc.” has the philosophy of “Accelerating Social Innovation”. The fusion of advanced aerospace engineering technology from Swift Engineering (which has clients including NASA, SpaceX and Boeing), with KIC’s ICT human-resource development know-how and capacity for solving social problems, is challenging “Social Innovation in the Sky Field” in a way which has never been tried before.

In front of a large crowd of onlookers, we were able to perform a successful demo flight of the drone “Swift020” model, with took place at the southern area of Meriken Park in Kobe, Japan on the July 21st, 2018.

The Swift020 is a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and fully autonomous turnkey solution. It’s the world's most cutting-edge drone which was made by combining the best technologies from Swift Engineering, Inc.

The Swift020 has the highest level of safety performance. Even if its four motors go down it can safely land without any damage to people or cities. It is expected to be used in many fields such as farming, emergency medical services, surveying, and scientific investigations.

During the successful demo flight, the drone elegantly flew at a height of around 100 meters like a bird, and then safely landed in its original place. Except for a few motor noises during takeoff and landing, there was no noise during its flight. The visitors were amazed by that.

After the demo flight, Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, President of Swift-Xi Inc., Vise-president of KIC, said that “We are going to challenge “Social Innovation in the Sky Field” by combining the knowledge of the excellent international students from KIC with the advanced automatic operating technology of AI, IoT, and robotics application systems from Swift Engineering Inc.”

You can watch the successful demo flight movie on KIC’s Facebook page!

H.E. Mr. Koji Yonetani, Japanese Ambassador to Djibouti, visited KIC

2018/7/24

H.E. Mr. Koji Yonetani, Japanese Ambassador to Djibouti, visited to KIC on the July 17th, 2018. He had a meeting with an international student from Djibouti who is studying in the ICT Innovator course at KIC.

He visited to KIC when he had time to spare from his busy schedule. We conducted a tour of facility and gave him an overview of KIC. Afterwards, had a meeting with the international student.

Final Presentation for ICT Innovator Course, “Specific Theme Study A”

2018/7/13

The final presentation for ICT Innovator Course “Specific Theme Study A”, was held on July 10th, 2018 at KIC by M1 students.

“Specific Theme Study A” is one of the compulsory core subjects (projects) for M1 students. An important part of preparing students to go out and take on challenges in the world is to give them a solid foundation of practical experience. The subjects are designed to help students identify and respond to real-world problems using ICT. They participate in activities to help develop professional skills such as team work, delivering presentations and communication.

Many M1 students continue to research their themes in “Specific Theme Study A” even in their 2nd year. Therefore, how the students accept advice from teachers or fellow students, and how they utilize the advice to improve their research activities are important.

At first, Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, gave advice to the students. The students started to give presentations after he stated “Today is good opportunity to get effective feedback, as well as to share experiences or results on what each of the M1 students have learned. It is important to exchange opinions honestly and utilize them.

Nowadays, there are many international students who are government-sponsored, from all over the world, especially Africa, in the ICT Innovator Course. One of the students from Ethiopia attempted to develop an app which can identify autism early, which is a difficult issue because it is not clear what the onset mechanism is yet.
Someone asked “I am sure it is important to treat early autism. However, I am not sure the app can be used efficiently in developing countries where societies have limited knowledge regarding such developmental disorders.” An active debate was held among the students on this topic.

Another student from Mozambique attempted to solve the educational problem where there are many children who drop out of school and are not interested in studying in his country. He developed an ICT system which supports a withdrawal from Active Learning or Paper Tests. There are various research themes and all of them had impressive presentations.

In conclusion, Mr. Toshiki Sumitani highly evaluated all their activities and efforts.
“Do not forget to verify from the Customer’s standpoint. Remember, ‘Who do you make happy? How do you make them happy?’, and keep going into your 2nd year’s research.”

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.7 “KIC discussed sustainable program management with BASIS (Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services)”

2018/7/6

The technical aid project "ICT Human Resources Development Targeting the Japan Market" which KIC has been entrusted with from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) achieved the largest number of passers ever in ITEE, which was held on March 25th, 2018.
“Training of Trainers (ToT)” which means to grow Bengalese trainers who support an independent training system for ICT human resources in Bangladesh is also going well.

In “Japan IT Week”, which is one of the biggest IT exhibitions in Japan, was held in Tokyo in May 2018, and the project supported businesses by Bangladesh companies. Many companies from Japan visited the “Bangladesh Pavilion” for business with Bangladesh companies. We are feeling a certain reaction about "Promoting economical exchange related to ICT between Japan and Bangladesh" for higher purposes. This time, Mr. Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor made the fifth visit (Period: May 28th – June 12nd) to conduct the following:

Giving a report of project’s results for governmental organizations and relative companies.

We visited an administrative vice-minister and some ICT companies in Bangladesh and reported all results that the project achieved. We also appealed for more development in the project such as pushing the project to a national level. The administrative vice-minister and some ICT companies reacted very well. They highly evaluated the results of the project, and expectations for future actions.

Holding the Kickoff event for the next ITEE

We encouraged and gave advice to continue the efforts for the next step to participants of the events who passed all or half of the ITEE examination and hope to be a trainer.

Holding the advanced orientation for trainees who are going to join training in Japan

The establishment of independent training system for ICT human resources in Bangladesh needs to grow Bengalese trainers. Therefore, this project is holding the “Training of Trainers (ToT)” which targets totally 50 people from university faculties, businesses, and governmental offices.
Additionally, we are going to give training to some of them from the end of July in Japan to become “Master Trainers”. This time, we selected 6 trainees from them, and held the advanced orientation.

Discussion with BASIS (Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services) on the project

We discussed with BASIS (Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services) about the K-BIT (Kobe Bangladesh Information Technology) program. The K-BIT program, which is planned for sustainable running of the project, aims to make strong the cooperation among KIC, Kobe city, and Bangladesh, as well as promote growth in ICT human resources in Bangladesh who can work technically and linguistically at Japanese companies in the future.

We will report about the training in Japan which starts from the end of July in the next news. Thank you for your continued attention to KIC’s global projects.

Student from the ICT Innovator course receives the “Best Student’s Presentation Award 2018” from the Japan Society of Information and Knowledge

2018/7/5

Four students from KIC gave presentations on their research results at the Japan Society of Information and Knowledge (JSIK) 30th Anniversary and 26th annual conference which was held at Printing Museum and Toyo University, Tokyo on May 26th – 27th, 2018. One student from the ICT Innovator course, Mr. Ramadhani Thabit Katunda from Tanzania, received the “Best Student’s Presentation Award 2018”.

The JSIK was established in April 1988 upon the requests from three research liaison committees of the Science Council of Japan related to the sciences of information and many other specialists in various fields. JSIK, through its continuous research activities for over 10 years, has been taking the lead in tackling a range of the problems on information and knowledge. The basic posture of JSIK's activities is to find new directions in those problems such as development of information technology, establishment of the sciences of information and knowledge, methodology for effective utilization of information, and establishment of social norms. KIC has been participating in the annual conference since 2014, and many students have given presentations there.

Mr. Ramadhani Thabit Katunda, who received the “Best Student’s Presentation Award 2018” has been researching to solve the social problem of theft of vehicles in his home country of Tanzania since last summer.

Mr. Ramadhani Thabit Katunda spoke about his App, “In case of Japanese police, they set up traffic enforcement cameras as well as patrol cars with cameras. In Tanzania, there are so many cases of theft of vehicles and violation of traffic regulations even though they are spending many labor costs for traffic regulation activity. Why I started to research this is to solve such social problems in Tanzania. But I realized that traffic enforcement cameras or cameras which are equipped in patrol cars in Japan are very expensive as tools. Therefore it is not realistic to use such tools in Tanzania I thought. That’s why I decided to utilize smartphones which are useful in places where internet connection is available. I developed an App which can get information on whether a car is stolen or not, or whether a driver is has committed a traffic violation or not, from the database.”

Mr. Ramadhani Thabit Katunda received this award from JSIK based on the contents of his research, which tackles a serious social problem in Tanzania, as well as his presentation skill, in which he spoke softly and clearly in English.

“I was so surprised when I received the award. I want to continue to pursue social issues even when I go back to Tanzania.” Mr. Ramadhani Thabit Katunda said in his comments.

Final Presentation for ICT Innovator Course 2018

2018/08/24

The final presentation for the ICT Innovator Course, 2018 was held on the 20th and 21st of August at KIC by final year students at the culmination of their final year of study.

The students from 21 deferent developing countries in Africa, Eastern Middle East, and Asia gave their final presentations as their compilation of two years studying at KIC.

They used practical methods to create innovative solutions for social problems in their home countries by utilizing ICT technologies and the method of “Tankyu Practice” which they have learned at KIC.

The students targeted various fields such as education, agriculture, traffic, disaster prevention, and food culture.

Some examples are shown below:

IoT and AI methods for plant disease detection in Myanmar
Teaching coding to children in Rwanda using robotics: an innovative approach (Everything from hardware to programing was made by the student.)
E-learning based gamification in a history learning context case study: Bakumatsu era
A Proposed E-portfolio System for enhancing employment opportunity in labor market for VETA’S graduates in Tanzania
E-CITIZEN: Digital Citizen Engagement in Improving Government Public Service Delivery

Nowadays, anyone can utilize cutting-edge technologies like IoT, AI, and Big Data at a low rate or for free. Therefore, practical systems or services which connect to solve social problems can be developed with only an idea, even in developing countries where they have more budget limitation than others.

It became clear the “leapfrog” effect in social innovation due to cutting-edge technologies happens more in developing countries than in developed countries such as Japan, which has many limitations or obstacles, over the past two days.

Every teacher who was in charge of the students attended the presentation, and provided questions, comments, and evaluations.

Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, was very impressed and commented “Actually I know you are all brilliant and have a strong sense of responsibility. However, today I was able to see excellent results beyond my expectations. Well Done!”

KIC Alumna Ms. Akaliza Keza Ntwari was assigned as a member of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation

2018/08/10

Ms. Akaliza Keza Ntwari, who graduated from the KIC Innovator course in September, 2016, was assigned as a member of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, which was established by United Nations.

The Panel was established by United Nations Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres, on 12 July 2018 for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and cut uniquely across international boundaries, policy silos and professional domains. Cooperation across domains and across borders is critical to realizing the full social and economic potential of digital technologies, mitigating the risks they pose, and curtailing any unintended consequences.

The 20 members of the Panel on Digital Cooperation were invited by the UN Secretary-General to advance proposals to strengthen cooperation in the digital space among Governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, academia, the technical community and other relevant stakeholders.

Mr. Yuichiro Anzai, from Japan, Senior Advisor and Director of the Center for Science Information Analysis, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, was also selected to join the panel.

Miss. Akaliza Keza Ntwari has been providing services for clients of around the world as a Multimedia Consultant after she graduated from the KIC Innovator course in September, 2016.

She was a very active student when she was studying at KIC both public and private, including participating in the “INFIORATA KOBE KITANOZAKA 2016” where she designed a flower painting on the theme of “KOBE×AFRICA”.
Click here for more information.

The Panel will hold its first in-person meeting at the end of September, 2018. The future success of our graduates is greatly anticipated.

Meeting for an exchange of ideas was held with the project team for lightning prevention from Rwanda

2018/08/4

OTOWA Electric Co., Ltd., which is the Japanese top manufacturer specializing in lightning protection related products in Amagasaki-city, Hyogo-prefecture and KIC signed a MoU regarding the development of business and human resources for industries in Africa in 2016.

OTOWA Electric Co., Ltd. has already expanded their business to Rwanda which is famous for many lightning strikes since they accepted internships of KIC Innovator course students from Rwanda.

In Rwanda, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), and DATA.EKI which is an ICT company in Rwanda have started a collaborated project of prevention, recovery, and development of human resources for solving the problems of lightning.

The members of the project who are Mr. Shinji Inoue, director of OTOWA Electric Co., Ltd., Mr. Kwizera Georg, director of RURA ICT department, and Mr. Amiri Mugarura, president of DATA EKI, all KIC graduates, visited KIC from Rwanda and exchanged opinions regarding activities for the project with KIC Innovator students from Rwanda on July 26th, 2018.

Mr. Shinji Inoue explained the project in detail at first. “Education is important. The people in Rwanda have a lack of knowledge regarding lightning strikes, so we will launch a campaign for enlightenment by radio in collaboration with NGOs or universities as well as establish tools for lightning strike prevention.”

Mr. Kwizera George said to students, “We are doing big business, though the project is small. “I am so happy that we can work together.”

Students from Rwanda said “Rwanda has delayed taking necessary measures even though many people have lost their lives in lightning strikes. One of the factors is that tools for prevention of lightning strikes are still expensive for people in Rwanda. We are so happy that the project is reducing the cost of lightning strike prevention.” They appreciated the support for Rwanda.

New students for fall, 2018 are coming soon!!

2018/09/28

We held an orientation program at KIC on September 25th, 2018 for new students starting in fall.

The number of students is 17. They are from various countries, mainly Africa.

We will hold the Entrance Ceremony and Welcome Party on October 5th, 2018.

We are looking forward to welcoming them.

Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, gave a lecture at the "Africa Business Seminar in Kobe 2018"

2018/09/28

"Africa Business Seminar in Kobe 2018" was held on September 14th, 2018 under the co-sponsorship of the Kobe city government, Rexvirt Communications Inc., JICA, JETRO, and Kobe Institute of Computing, Graduate School of Information Technology (KIC) at Kobe International House, Kobe, Japan.

Continuing from last year, Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, gave a lecture at the seminar.

The seminar aims to increase the number of opportunities that Japanese companies have to start new business in Africa by introducing some examples of the business environment and existing new business by Japanese companies in Africa.

In spite of the weekday schedule, around 50 participants from many companies joined the seminar. It seemed to garner a high level of interest.

In this seminar, 3 Japanese organizations, Sysmex Corporation, Rexvirt Communications Inc., and KIC as a pioneer of ICT Innovation in Africa gave their examples about “How to start Africa Business”.

Mr. Youta Kawamura, Director of Global Support Europe and America Department, from Sysmex Corporation which has already started business in Africa, mentioned that “it is important for Japanese companies which plan to start new business in Africa to cooperate and share information.”

Mr. Hidekazu Tanaka, CEO, from Rexvirt Communications Inc. which planed “Business Community Rwanda Tour” as well as engaging in offshore development for the first time in Japan as a bridge between Japan and Africa, mentioned that “All countries in Africa have the potential to solve problems in developed countries, although there is room for improvement in their social systems. Please work towards starting new business in Africa!”

Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, gave speech about the possibility of African ICT Business through TICAD or some of KIC's efforts with Rwanda in the past. He has a vision that Kobe city, Africa, and KIC cooperate in the future. He mentioned that “The African market is one of the most important and promising markets. You can obtain the possibility of new innovation even in Japan if you join.”

KIC’s efforts in Africa through ICT technology is expected to do well.

KIC Graduation Ceremony (Fall, 2018)

2018/09/20

The KIC Graduation Ceremony for fall 2018 was held on September 15th, 2018.

We were glad to have a lot of attendance from the embassy, Kobe city, companies, and student’s families, friends and host families. ICT Innovator course students from 20 countries of Asia, Middle East and Africa received a Master's Degree of Information Systems (Professional) in front of the visitors.

Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, praised in oration their efforts, results, and skills in applying the most advanced technologies like AI or IoT easily as well as many awards of contests or academic meetings. He paid all of the students with bountiful compliments including “You are the ‘Akkan’ (Beyond all expectations) Class”. All of you will find a place in the history of KIC.”

Miss. Andriamagnevalonaky Arei Rodelys, who is a student’s representative from Madagascar, gave a speech and stated “We have learned not only ICT, but also techniques and ways of thinking for solving real problems. We were able to encourage each other and grow in a diverse environment.” in both English and Japanese. It brought waves of applause in the hall.

“Tankyu (Inquire) Spirits” which has developed hard work for 2 years, and “KIC Family” which encourages and helps each other even if you face any difficult situations, are properties for all graduated students.

We pray for everyone's even greater success in the future.

Swift-Xi Inc. participated in the International Industrial Fair 2018 in Kobe.

2018/09/15

In front of a large crowd of onlookers, we were able to perform a successful demo flight of the drone “Swift020” model which is a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and fully autonomous turnkey solution, with took place at the southern area of Meriken Park in Kobe, Japan on the July 21st, 2018. You can watch the successful demo flight movie on KIC’s Facebook page!

Swift-Xi Inc. participated in the International Industrial Fair 2018 Kobe which is the largest industrial fair in West Japan at Kobe International Exhibition Hall, Port Island, Kobe on September 6th to 7th.

The fair organized by Hyogo Prefecture, Kobe City, The New Industry Research Organization (NIRO), and others as executive committee. The fair became really lively as 512 companies and organizations participated and the number of visitors was around 30,000 over the 2 days.
Even among them, Swift-Xi Inc. which was established by KIC in collaboration with Swift Engineering Inc. garnered attention as a unique start-up company which is challenging “Social Innovation in the Sky Field” at the fair.

In our booth, Mr. Toshizo Ido, Governor of Hyogo Prefecture, and many visitors from governments, companies, even students from universities or high schools visited our booth. They watched the movie of demo flight or touched the model of Swift020 while listening our explanation. They seemed to be interested in the unfamiliar drone.

One of the visitors stated that “I hope this new technology will be utilized for disaster prevention because heavy rain, typhoons, and big earthquakes have happened often recently.”
The new technology by Swift-Xi Inc. is expected to be utilized in the field of emergency care and some other fields.

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.8 “Training Program for Master Trainers of ITEE (Information Technology Engineers Examination)”

2018/09/13

We achieved the largest number of passers ever in ITEE, which was held on March 25th, 2018 through our original teaching materials and method. Moreover, we have been supporting business relationships between Bangladesh and Japan.

Today, we held the “Training Program for Master Trainers of ITEE” in KIC. It aimed to establish a system of ITEE training which is high quality, autonomous and sustainable in Bangladesh even after the project is finished.

The training program was held in KIC, Japan during the period from the end of July to the beginning of August 2018. The 6 trainees who were selected from 50 Bangladeshis who had taken “Training of Trainers (ToT)” participated the training program.

Mr. Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor, and 5 teachers from Kobe Electronics Vocational School also known as our sister school “Kobe Denshi” gave lectures on technical knowledge, examination technics, and efficient learning method like “HANPUKU (Repetitive) Learning” regarding ITEE.

The contents of program includes visiting 4 IT companies in Kobe as well as sightseeing to Kyoto for experiencing Japanese tradition. Mr. Rasel Annajiat Alim, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, who is one of the trainees stated “There are kind people and rich nature in Kobe. We were able to learn how to lecture for ITEE from wonderful teachers as well as enjoy a view of the mountains and sea.”

The 6 trainees who finished training program in Japan are expected to contribute to improve ICT level and spread ITEE through ToT, which will be managed by them in the future.

Mr. Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor, went to Bangladesh again in the middle of September 2018. We will report our next actions soon.

KIC's Campus Open Days 2018

2018/10/29

We will hold the “KIC Campus Open Days 2018 - What is KIC? Let’s find out and enjoy!”.

We welcome anyone who has thought the following;

Even people who are liberal arts graduates should utilize ICT well in this era.
I want to step up in my career! Can I get Master’s degree while working?
I hope to change my job into the IT field even though I am still a beginner.
The first step of my new life after retirement is getting a Master’s Degree!
Can I learn while parenting?
International students like me want to get a Master’s degree and a job in Japan!
Daily life is very tough for international students. I need support for tuition!
I hope to gain world standard skills by keeping touch with international students!
I am looking for Master’s programs in English.
I have no bachelor. Can I still join?
It is important to not only have technical skills but also useful communication skills.

Event outline

Date: November 16th and 17th, 2018

Place: Kobe Institute of Computing (KIC) / Graduate School of Information Technology 2-2-7 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, JAPAN

Contents: Guidance of KIC/Campus Tour/Let’s talk with teachers and students/Short Lecture on “Tankyu Practice”/Special Speech/Network Security Workshop/Consultation

*These events may change without prior notice.

Book here now!

See Flyer (Japanese Only)

Lecture Report “Tankyu Practice” has started for new students fall, 2018

2018/10/19

Fall semester for the new academic year started in October 2018 and the students are attending their classes.

At KIC, the educational model aims to produce professionals and business leaders who can contribute to the prosperity of their countries and people by finding solutions to social problems through the implementation of the “Tankyu Practice” principles.

Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, is the instructor of the “Tankyu Practice” special course. He conducted the first lecture of the course on October 9th, 2018 in which he gave an orientation about the concept of “Tankyu Practice”. After that, he held a workshop for making a “Lifecycle Chart” which is visualized by the abscissa of the graph representing age, and the ordinate representing the level of well-being through the past life of the student.

The students from different countries were divided into groups of four or five. They shared their “Lifecycle Chart” to their group members. It was like going around a small world.

When the students are M1, they master the basics of the “Tankyu Practice” method, and they are going to advance to “Specific Theme Study A’’ from late M1. From when they are M2, they will advance to “Specific Theme Study B” in which they start research activities from making prototypes to implementing them into real society for solving problems.

Entrance ceremony fall, 2018

2018/10/11

The entrance ceremony for the 2018 ICT innovator course was held at Sonic Hall in Kobe Denshi vocational school on October 5th, 2018.

The new students who are eager to contribute to their home countries, to realize “Smart Society” by solving social problems, from different 12 countries were welcomed by many guests from government office, private companies, and members of the KIC faculty.

In his speech, Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, mentioned 3 features of KIC;

Social Innovation by ICT and Yourself
Practical learning
Diversity

He gave advice for new students, “Do not wait for your directions. Act with enterprising spirit.”, “It is not only important to gain more experience but also to learn from teachers or textbooks as well.”, “I hope all of you talk, cooperate, and create with each other NOT compete or cause conflict in this special diversity environment.”

The new students seemed like they look forward to diving into our unique education program and diverse learning environment. They seemed to be ready to pursue something for developing their home countries.

We wish all of you good luck in your research activities.

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.9 “ITEE project produced results qualitative and quantitative”

2018/10/02

In the technical aid project “ICT Human Resources Development Targeting the Japan Market” which KIC has been entrusted from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), KIC has been growing ICT human resources who can promote economic exchange between Japan and Bangladesh by establishing an independent training system of ITEE (Information Technology Engineers Examination) and increasing its passers in Bangladesh.

This time, Mr. Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor made the 6th visit (Period: September 10th – 19th). He analyzed the results of the trial examination for the coming autumn ITEE as well as giving a lecture based on the analysis for examinees.

The results of the first ITEE for the project trainees which was held on March, 2018 was announced in September, 2018. Some of the ITEE examinees in Bangladesh held second place in ITEE and first and third places in the ITPE (Information Technology Passport Examination) from among all examinees from the 7 countries (Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mongol, and Bangladesh) which are affiliated with ITPEC (IT Professionals Examination Council).

The first-ever higher-ranking three passers in Bangladesh from Asia were given awards in the ceremony.

As for the results of the project, in comparison with the results of the ITEE which was held last year, the number of successful examinees increased by around 10 times. Moreover, in comparison with the highest result of ITEE which was held in autumn, 2014, the number of Half Passers who passed a morning test or an afternoon test increased by over three times.

Regarding to the quality of passers, the project’s education system has been shown to work.

Finally, this project was approved officially as one of national undertaking by Bangladesh on September 24th, 2018 three days after the ceremony.

This project will be managed more efficiently in the budget, staffs, and operating authority.

Mr. Miyamoto also visited two companies and a university for promoting the ITEE, and reported to the national government about six trainees who have taken the “Training Program for Master Trainers of ITEE” in KIC which was held from the end of July to the first of August, 2018.

He strongly felt that the officials in Bangladesh have enthusiasm for the project which was approved officially as one of national undertaking. They explained enthusiastically the importance what the project brings to the industrial world in Bangladesh.

He has a plan to go to Bangladesh at the end of November, 2018. He will participate in the official meeting for the project.

Special lecture about App Development by Studio Canbe at KIC

2018/11/09

A special lecture for students of the ICT innovator course who wanted to attend, titled “ICT4D with Hybrid Mobile Apps”, was held by Studio Canbe, at KIC on the November 2nd, 2018.

Studio Canbe is an ICT professional group which is mainly working for companies in Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Eastern Africa Tanzania.
At this time, Mr. Takahiro Kanbe, CEO, from Studio Canbe visited KIC. He spoke on “ICT4D with Hybrid Mobile Apps” in English.

He introduced some web services which can be used on websites. He also explained how to use them practically based on the “Bongo Faster” App which was developed with Mr. James Mmari who graduated from KIC.

During the last part of lecture, he gave a message “Act First, Think Later, Keep Moving On.” to the participants. The students asked him many questions after the lecture.
It was a good opportunity for the students who aim to develop new apps as method of solving problems.

“Tankyu Practice” Final Presentation by ICT Innovator Course 2018 Students

2018/11/11

The “Tankyu Practice” Final Presentation was held on the 11th of November 2018 at KIC by the ICT Innovator Course 2018 M1 students.

The students began to share the social problems which they are conscious about in their home countries as soon as the fall semester for the new academic year started.

The students from different countries were divided into three groups. Each group verified and substantiated from the viewpoint of the “sources of money”, “skills/know-how”, and “human resources”. Then they made the “Tankyu Chart” based on the “Tankyu Practice” method as the hypothesis for solving the problems and providing additional value. Finally, they are ready to give presentations.

The three groups gave presentations on how to solve the social problems of natural resources, education, and farming fields which are existing in their home countries by utilizing ICT.

The first group gave a presentation on an original App which can give information on where to find suitable waste sites for conducting more effective disposal and recycling methods to solve the problems of natural resources. They also suggested an original business model which connects stakeholders and recycle traders.

The second group gave a presentation on an original E-learning system which can give an effective education service for students in Ethiopia, which is in need of an enhanced quality of education.

The third group gave a presentation on an original service which can provide information about weather conditions, fertilizer prices, and its specifications by utilizing SMS for enhancing the productivity of farmers, especially in rural areas.

The contents of the presentations included SDGs, interviews with expected users and revenue and expenditure plans for sustainable business. All groups discussed how the ideas can be implemented into real society.

Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, was very impressed and commented “All of you soaked up the thinking method of “Tankyu Practice” very quickly, and applied it to make a problem solution plan for your home countries very well. Well Done!”

This time some guests from outside participated in these presentations, and they gave their impressions as follows;

From an entrepreneur:

I was deeply impressed by KIC’s activities. I think that such an essential learning system and the model for social contribution can make the world better little by little.

From a teacher:

It was really exciting because the classroom was crowded with diverse and eager students. The good teamwork, exchanging of opinions, and attitude of contributions are very bright for me.
I feel that the creation of such a learning opportunity is really significant.

Tea Party, autumn 2018

2018/11/22

A tea party was held at KIC on November 5th, 2018 to welcome the new 2018 ICT Innovator course students. This party also aimed to promote a good relationship between the students and the faculty members.

This party, which is held regularly was planned by student volunteers from. The students were from not only from the ICT Innovator course, but also the ICT Professional course. The faculty members joined as well.

There were not only various Japanese snacks and drinks but also halal foods. The students and faculty members talked with each other about school life and their home countries in Japanese, English, and other languages.

In the group-by-group competition, students participated in games where they had to guess the pictures someone drew on a whiteboard, and “scissors-paper-rock (Japanese: “Janken”)”. It was the first time to experience these games for some of them. Everyone had a good time.

The KIC Campus Open Days for 2018 were held successfully.

2018/11/24

The KIC Campus Open Days for 2018 were held on the 16th and 17th November, 2018.

On those days, there were many visitors including international students and students not only from the Kansai region but also from distant places such as Tohoku, Kanto, Shikoku in Japan.

The visitors enjoyed a programming workshop which used the Kids PC “IchigoJam” and “Scratch” which is a free programming language. There were also opportunities to talk with KIC professors, campus tours, participate in trial lectures, and so on.

On the first day, we held a seminar by Mr. Hideki Yamamoto who wrote a topical book about “Minerva School”. Moreover, we broadcasted it on Facebook Live.

It was a great opportunity what let many people know what KIC is all about.

Research Planning Seminar for ICT Innovator course, 2018

2018/11/28

A Research Planning Seminar was conducted on November 5th, 2018 at KIC by the ICT Innovator Course M2 students.

This is one of the opportunities where students can verify the direction of the method of problem-solution approach and the values of the research subjects. The student gave presentations about the plan of their research subjects, problems, and approach methods, and discussed them with faculty members and students. The research subjects will be continued during “Specific Theme Study B” in the 2nd year.

The 33 M2 students in the ICT Innovator course gave presentations on their research plans to solve problems related to medical care, education, and others in their home countries.

One of the Japanese students in the ICT innovator course gave a presentation on a research plan about farming with the existing case of a Japanese garden. Everyone discussed and shared the background of problems and the method of their original solution approaches.

Mr. Toshiki Sumitani, President of KIC, advised the students: “Please find more originality or uniqueness for your research subjects. I hope that all of you pursue what will be the most beneficial and valuable in your research.”

The first KIC GLOBAL REUNION of the ICT Innovator course was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania!

2018/12/11

The first KIC GLOBAL REUNION of ICT Innovator course to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the opening of the course was held on November 15th, 2018 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania!
The alumni of the ICT Innovator course came from Tanzania and the neighboring states.

They watched a photo slide show which had been taken over the last 5 years, and a movie of a message from the faculty. They said “I love this teacher!!”, “This teacher was strict for me…” They seemed to miss so much KIC.
An alumnus who was not able to come joined by Skype. It is the ICT Innovator course-specific reunion.

KIC’s alumni of the ICT Innovator course are very successful in all the countries of the world including their home countries in Africa.

We are hopeful that the alumni network will become stronger, and their areas of activity will expand through the reunion.

“ICT Human Resource Development Project in Kigali, Rwanda” Graduation Ceremony was held in Kigali, Rwanda.

2018/12/11

The graduation ceremony for the second batch trainees of “ICT Human Resource Development Project in Kigali, Rwanda” in partnership with the City of Kobe, which is to be funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was held on November 13th, 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 20 trainees were handed a certificate of completion of training.

This project is run for people from their teens to thirties who are studying ICT, or want to work utilizing by ICT in Kigali, Rwanda.

This project aims to produce capable human resources in the ICT sector that satisfy the technical and general skills standards required by ICT related enterprises. It will continue until July, 2019.

The 5 trainers of the project in Rwanda, who themselves have graduated from KIC through ABE Initiative program, participated to the ceremony. They cheered for future success of the 20 finished trainees.
The Japanese ICT companies also joined. This ceremony was very exciting and an opportunity for “Business Matching” for the finished trainees.

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.10 “ITEE project is expected to increase by advancing to a national level”

2018/12/21

In the technical aid project “ICT Human Resources Development Targeting the Japan Market” which KIC has been entrusted from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) from July, 2017, KIC has made efforts to educate candidates and trainers of Bengali people for ITEE (Information Technology Engineers Examination) as well as making a bridge between the private companies in Bangladesh and the private companies in Japan.

This time, Mr. Miyamoto, KIC extraordinary associate professor made the 7th visit (Period: November 23st - December 1st). He reported the results of the ITEE and the series of activities for the national government of Bangladesh in the Bangladesh National Project Conference.

In the conference, the permanent vice minister of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications & Information Technology delivered an address of thanks that “The project directs the flow of ICT human resources development in Bangladesh.” At the same time, it has been decided to advance this project to a national level in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is raising a purpose “Vision 2021” which targets to achieve high economic growth in the medium term under the strong leadership of President Sheikh Hasina now.
In particular “Digital Bangladesh”, which promotes utilizing ICTs by the national government is the most important policy.

This project which has been advanced to a national level will follow the policy in terms of ICT human resources development in the sustainable budget of the country.
The project received a high evaluation even in JICA. Therefore it received the JICA President Prize on November 29th, 2018.

In this year, only 19 projects received the prize in the whole world. Our project is only one of them as JICA Bangladesh branch.

Mr. Miyamoto also visited some IT companies and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

He appealed to the students strongly to take the ITEE, to the companies to hire ITEE full passers so as to increase student’s motivation to take the ITEE, and promoted new business with Japanese companies.

Please watch for our success.

Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, gave a lecture at "The Second Africa Business Seminar in Kobe 2018"

2018/12/25

"The Second Africa Business Seminar in Kobe 2018" was held on December 7th, 2018 under the auspices of the “Hyogo Kobe International Business Square” which is organized by JETRO Kobe, Hyogo International Business Center, Kobe International Business Center at JICA Kansai Center, Kobe, Japan. Continuing from the first time, Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, gave a lecture at the seminar.

Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, gave speech about “The Activity Ensamples of KIC Alumni by ABE (African Business Education)”.

He mentioned what KIC has done for ABE. Moreover, he introduced some examples of the remarkable performance of KIC’s alumni; Miss. Clarisse Iribagiza from Rwanda who was selected as one of Africa's Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs: Forbes Africa's 30 Under 30 For 2015 and Mr. Joachim Rutayisire from Rwanda who gave a presentation in Paris for the 2025 Expo bid.

A Networking Fair with ABE international students was also held in the same place. Many Japanese companies participated in the fair, exchanged their business cards, talked about their companies, and consulted internship program for ABE international students.

KIC’s alumni also joined in charge of internship programs from Japanese companies. They gave advice to the KIC juniors.

Nowadays developing ICT in Africa to promote new growth is remarkable. Many Japanese companies are entering and developing human resources who will work as bridge between Japan and Africa from now on.
Please watch for KIC alumni’s and our success.

Graduate School of Information Technology

Graduate School of Information Technology

2018 News

2018 News

There are currently no news stories for this month.

Please feel free to select another month from the tabs above.

Special lecture by iSEC at KIC

2018/2/21

Mr. Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, was invited to "Ethiopia Investment Promotion Seminar in Kobe" as a facilitator

2018/2/10

Mr. Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, was invited to the symposium which was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

2018/2/10

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.3

We have already gotten good results in practice exams. ICT human resources development in Bangladesh.

2018/2/8

Research of Synthetic Electronics Maker which is representative of Japan -Visiting Panasonic Corporation

2018/3/10

Special lecture "KIC: Service Design Workshop" was held at KIC

2018/3/5

Ms. Misato Kinouchi's Workshop was held for ICT innovator course M1

2018/3/12

Release App "Bongo Faster Beta Version" by a KIC Master's degree holder from Tanzania at "Google Play" and "App Store"

2018/3/31

KIC has signed a MoU with Rwanda Ministry of ITC

2018/4/3

The final presentation was held in "Practice of Creativity Development"

2018/3/10

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.4

''Towards the realization of an independent ICT human resources develop system''

2018/4/3

The Japan Times reported on the success of a student who graduated from KIC

2018/5/29

ICT Innovator course students visited “Nogyo (Agriculture) World” exhibition to research cutting-edge agricultural technologies. It was highly relevant to their research activities.

2018/5/22

KIC exhibited at the event “078 (Zero Nana Hachi)”

2018/5/15

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.5

The project got good results on ITEE

2018/5/14

International students from KIC drew flower pictures in “INFIORATA KOBE KITANOZAKA 2018”

2018/5/15

The training program “Capacity Building for ICT Project Planning” has started

2018/6/29

Midterm Presentation for ICT Innovator Course 2018

2018/6/20

The MoU was signed between Rwanda Polytechnic, Integrated polytechnic college-Tumba and Kobe Institute of Computing, Graduate school of Information Technology

2018/6/14

Transform Africa Summit 2018

We attended the Japan Pavilion booth at the exhibition

2018/6/1

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.6 “KIC supported business by companies from Bangladesh at an IT event in Japan”

2018/6/1

The training program “Capacity Building for ICT Project Planning” has finished

2018/7/25

KIC established a joint-venture in collaboration with state-of-the-art US aerospace industry

A successful demo flight of a fully autonomous vertical takeoff drone took place in Kobe, Japan

2018/7/25

H.E. Mr. Koji Yonetani, Japanese Ambassador to Djibouti, visited KIC

2018/7/24

Final Presentation for ICT Innovator Course, “Specific Theme Study A”

2018/7/13

Bangladesh ODA Report Vol.7 “KIC discussed sustainable program management with BASIS (Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services)”

2018/7/6

Giving a report of project’s results for governmental organizations and relative companies.

Holding the Kickoff event for the next ITEE

Holding the advanced orientation for trainees who are going to join training in Japan

Discussion with BASIS (Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services) on the project

Student from the ICT Innovator course receives the “Best Student’s Presentation Award 2018” from the Japan Society of Information and Knowledge

2018/7/5

Final Presentation for ICT Innovator Course 2018

2018/08/24

KIC Alumna Ms. Akaliza Keza Ntwari was assigned as a member of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation

2018/08/10

Meeting for an exchange of ideas was held with the project team for lightning prevention from Rwanda

2018/08/4

New students for fall, 2018 are coming soon!!

2018/09/28

Mr. Kenji Fukuoka, Vice-president of KIC, gave a lecture at the "Africa Business Seminar in Kobe 2018"

2018/09/28

KIC Graduation Ceremony (Fall, 2018)