Yamaguchi Prefecture Seeks Participants for Joint Pilot Projects, Including a New Smartphone Monitoring System to Prevent Troubles

Urban Innovation JAPAN (UIJ) (Secretariat: Community Link, a nonprofit organization / Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Representative: Masayuki Nakanishi) has announced eight joint pilot challenges by Yamaguchi Prefecture and opened applications for startups and other participating companies (https://cc-yamaguchi.jp/). Applications will close on Sunday, July 12, with selected participants to be announced in early September. The collaborative period is scheduled from early September to January 2027. The maximum payment for pilot project expenses is 500,000 JPY (tax included) per project. ■ What is the 'Civic Tech Challenge YAMAGUCHI'? UIJ is a project that addresses social challenges faced by local governments through collaborative experiments with startups. Starting with initiatives in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture in 2018, UIJ has since partnered with municipalities across Japan. Yamaguchi Prefecture's pilot project, the 'Civic Tech Challenge YAMAGUCHI (CCY),' began in 2021 and is now in its sixth year. Community Link, a nonprofit organization, supports the operation as the secretariat. Yamaguchi Prefecture believes that digital transformation should make greater progress precisely in rural areas. By leveraging digital technologies to solve various regional challenges and create new value, the prefecture aims to build a future where residents can live richer, safer, and more secure lives. Yamaguchi Prefecture seeks to co-create new problem-solving methods suited to the digital age together with startups and other innovators. We welcome your participation and applications for these collaborative pilot projects. Selected organizations will receive pilot project funding of up to 500,000 JPY (tax included) per project. Through this year’s development and pilot testing, effectiveness will be evaluated, and future implementation beyond next year will be considered. ▼ Online Challenge Briefing Session (Friday, June 26, 2026, 13:30–16:25) A valuable opportunity to discuss the open challenges directly with municipal officials! If you are considering applying, please join. Held online: Register here ■ Eight Challenges – Apply by July 12 (Sunday) Creating a Walkable Shopping District! A Dispersed Parking Project to Prevent Congestion Traffic congestion occurs on roads around the central shopping district during events such as festivals and fairs. Vehicles tend to concentrate at specific major parking lots. We aim to develop a system to alleviate congestion in the city center and improve circulation within the shopping district. (Details here) Responsible: Yamaguchi City, Central Urban Revitalization Promotion Office Mobility Without a License: Transforming Transportation in Mountainous Areas! In the Ato region, mobility options are limited after driver’s license surrender, making it difficult for elderly residents to engage in farming or social activities. We aim to ensure access to essential transportation through safe, license-free mobility demonstrations and create a new transportation system that can also be used by tourists. (Details here) Responsible: Yamaguchi City, Regional Revitalization Division Eliminating Information Gaps! Delivering Information Promptly to Visually Impaired Residents Existing systems provide audio versions of newsletters and other materials to visually impaired residents, but maintaining this system is becoming difficult due to volunteer shortages and aging equipment. We aim to build a sustainable system that enables visually impaired individuals to receive audio information in a timely manner. (Details here) Responsible: Nagato City, Regional Welfare Division Before Neighborhood Associations Collapse: Creating a System to Sustain Information Delivery! Neighborhood association block leaders currently distribute newsletters twice a month, but due to aging, concerns exist that some associations may soon be unable to maintain this system. We aim to develop a new information distribution system that combines paper and digital formats tailored for elderly residents, rather than a simple shift to digital. (Details here) Responsible: Suo-Oshima Town, Policy Planning Division Connecting Citizens with Sports: Creating a New Way to Share Information! While sports event information has been collected from local sports organizations and distributed to media outlets, this system may not be utilized beyond the media. We aim to develop a system to share sports event information that inspires citizens to think, 'I want to go.' (Details here) Responsible: Yamaguchi Prefecture, Sports Promotion Division Delivering Dormant Regional Knowledge: Supporting Research with Natural Language Search Yamaguchi Library’s current search system requires exact keyword matches, making it difficult for users to search using everyday language. We aim to redesign the library’s reference service system to reduce reliance on front-desk staff. (Details here) Responsible: Yamaguchi Prefectural Yamaguchi Library The Day 370,000 Sleeping Museum Artifacts Spark Children’s Curiosity! Approximately 370,000 collection items across seven fields—including flora and fauna, archaeology, and history—remain stored away due to limited exhibition space. We aim to build a system to digitize museum collections and create a 'virtual archive' that captivates children. (Details here) Responsible: Yamaguchi Prefectural Yamaguchi Museum Changing 'My Child is Fine'! A Monitoring System to Fill Gaps in Crisis Awareness and Encourage Parent-Child Dialogue An increasing number of households provide smartphones to elementary school children, yet most parents are unaware of how their children use the devices. We aim to build a system that enables parents to detect and intervene when children exhibit behaviors indicating potential trouble. (Details here) Responsible: Prefectural Police Headquarters, Public Safety and Juvenile Division ■ What is 'Urban Innovation JAPAN'? Urban Innovation JAPAN (UIJ) originated in Kobe City and serves as an open innovation platform that matches challenges from municipalities across Japan with startups and businesses. UIJ has received high praise for effectively connecting the needs of municipalities pursuing digital transformation with innovators capable of solving real challenges, accelerating the right matches between problems and problem-solvers. In 2021, it received the Good Design Award. ▼ Past Cases (24 municipalities as of June 16, 2026) https://urban-innovation-japan.com/past/ [Population Decline] A Former Employee Speaks: What’s the Future of Municipal Services? ▼ Official Website / Official Accounts ・Official Website: https://urban-innovation-japan.com/ ・YouTube 'UIJ CHANNEL' (top left photo): https://bit.ly/UIJ_CHANNEL ・Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UrbanInnovationJapan/ ・X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/UIJ_info 'Government Innovation Gathering' Held – Aiming to Solve Social Challenges ・note (bottom left photo): https://note.com/uij_info