The final selection and award ceremony for the winners of the KOSEN Open Innovation Challenge 2024 held by JICA and Nagaoka University of Technology
Day：2024.09.13
event ｜
The final round of “Kosen Open Innovation (KOI) -Challenges from Africa 2024-” (Kosen OI), a hackathon for KOSEN students organized by JICA and Nagaoka University of Technology (NUT), was held on August 20th in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture.
About 40 students from 10 teams of 8 Kosen from all over Japan, which passed the document screening gathered in-person to compete with each other with their ideas for solving social development issues in Africa through presentations in English.
This year Kosen OI focuses on Kenya and Madagascar, especially “Sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, making most of the latest technology” (Kenya) and “Creation of a food production system that captures the characteristics of Madagascar”(Madagascar). The participants had been preparing and working on a plan for about a month after the announcement of the assignments, and each team gave a passionate presentation based on their ideas that were developed through deliberation. Various solutions were proposed, including imaginative ideas with the latest technology, or ideas with low-tech in pursuit of local needs.
The judging panel included Dr. Osamu Takahashi, Vice President of NUT, Dr. Tadachika Nakayama, Professor of NUT and Secretary General of OIC, Ogira Kenneth Omondi, a faculty member of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, as well as representatives from private companies.
During the Q&A session, Kosen participants were asked sharp questions with an eye toward practical application, such as “What is the basis for the cost calculation?”, “Is it possible to maintain the system with local technology?”, and “What are the measures against theft of expensive equipments?”
Presentation by Kosen participant (Photo by NUT）
QA Session
Winners
This year's winners are decided by voting of judges as follows. The winners are going to prototype their ideas in Japan and expected to bring the prototype to Kenya and Madagascar for demonstration experiment in local environment.
- Kenya: “Sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, making most of the latest technology” (Kenya)
- Winner: Nagaoka Kosen “Cultivation of Highly Nutritious Mushrooms Utilizing the Hot and Humid Weather of Coastal Area and Ocean”.
- Madagascar: and “Creation of a food production system that captures the characteristics of Madagascar”
- Winner: Ube Kosen “Both Nutrition and Taste! Rice cultivation with crucian carp and shrimp”.
Award Ceremony
The following award ceremony was attended by special guests, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, as well as Mr. Toshiyuki Nakamura, Special Advisor to the President of JICA. In her opening remarks, Ms. Eziakonwa expressed her hope for co-creation between Japanese and African youths to solve Africa's development issues, while Mr. Nakamura encouraged the Kosen students saying “The future is not something that will happen to you. It is something that you create. I am excited to see you, young generation to give shape to their free ideas and innovations in the real world.
Ube Kosen Team, Mr. Nakamura (R) and Dr. Nakayama (R, Behind)
Ms. Eziakonwa, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa
About Kosen OI
Since 2019, KOI has been held 5 times to date, with a total of approximately 250 participants from 15 Japanese national colleges of technology.
In the past KOIs, students were sent to countries such as Kenya (Nagaoka National College of Technology: development of fertilizer and fodder for American watermilfoil), Rwanda (Kitakyushu National College of Technology and Miyakonojo National College of Technology: development of automatic sugar content measurement device for coffee beans, Ube National College of Technology: development of nutrition and health improvement guidance application with game function), and Nigeria (Sasebo National College of Technology and Kitakyushu National College of Technology: development of self-powered water meter).
The ultimate goal of the project is to apply the solutions (devised by technical college students who have conducted demonstration tests in Africa) to local issues in Japan (reverse innovation). The fertilizer/animal feed project of the American watermilfoil is in fact being put to practical use in Japan after demonstration tests in Africa.
The fertilizer and animal feed production business of the American watermilfoil is now being commercialized in Japan after demonstration experiments in Africa. In recognition of its attempt to combine reverse innovation with efforts to address social development issues in Africa, KOI was awarded the Grand Prize (Prime Minister's Prize) of the 2023 Japan Open Innovation Awards (Organized by the Cabinet Office).
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