June 15, 2026 National University Corporation Okayama University

Okayama University (Headquarters: Kita-ku, Okayama City; President: Yasutomo Nasu) announced that the "Chugoku-Shikoku Tech Gateway" project, a collaborative initiative in which the university participates as a partner with GOB Inc., has been selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's (METI) FY2025 regional youth talent discovery and development support subsidy program, known as the "AKATSUKI Project."

The "AKATSUKI Project" is an initiative designed to discover and nurture young talent with exceptional ideas and technical skills, facilitating their social implementation through hands-on mentorship provided by Project Managers (PMs).

Co-promoted by Okayama University and GOB Inc., the "Chugoku-Shikoku Tech Gateway" operates under the concept of "Break the Bias." Targeting university, graduate, and technical college students in the Chugoku-Shikoku region, the initiative reframes individual challenges of local companies as common issues for the entire industry. It aims to achieve social implementation by leveraging technologies such as AI, robotics, IoT, and data analysis. Selected participants will receive hands-on mentorship from PMs including Lecturer Yuki Matsuda (General PM) and Associate Professor Yuta Kodera (PM) at the Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology. They will gain comprehensive experience spanning from R&D and prototype development to Proof of Concept (PoC) and business model design.

The initiative will collaborate with the Peace & Science Innovation Ecosystem (PSI) and the Okayama Digital Innovation Start Platform (OI-Start), in which the university participates, to discover young talents, collect corporate challenges, and create verification opportunities. It will also coordinate with the university's "Okayama Tech Garage" to bridge product development driven by students' technical interests and creative ideas with industrial problem-solving. These efforts align with the university's goal under the J-PEAKS project to nurture "knowledge workers" who connect academic knowledge with social problem-solving and value creation.

Moving forward, 10 projects will be selected during the cultivation period from July 2026 to January 2027, with all projects aiming to conduct on-site PoCs in industrial settings. After the subsidy period concludes, the university will continue to utilize regional corporate involvement and existing platforms like "Okayama Tech Garage" to sustain talent cultivation and technology implementation, working toward establishing a regional co-creation innovation hub.

[References] - METI FY2025 Regional Youth Talent Discovery and Development Support Subsidy "AKATSUKI Project": https://mitouteki.jp/ - Okayama University Research University Declaration: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000003808.000072793.html - Okayama University Organization for Research and Innovation Co-creation: https://www.orsd.okayama-u.ac.jp/ - Okayama University "Okayama Tech Garage": https://venture.okayama-u.ac.jp/tec-garage/ - Okayama Digital Innovation Start Platform (OI-Start): https://oistart.okayama-u.ac.jp/ - Okayama University J-PEAKS Project: https://j-peaks.orsd.okayama-u.ac.jp/ - GOB Inc.: https://gob-ip.net/ - Chugoku-Shikoku Tech Gateway: https://gob-ip.net/chushikokutechgateway

[Contact Information] Organization for Research and Innovation Co-creation, Okayama University Administration Building, Tsushima Campus, 1-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama City, Okayama 700-8530, Japan TEL: +81-86-251-8918 E-mail: co-creation@adm.okayama-u.ac.jp

<For inquiries regarding collaboration with Okayama University Hospital (Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Companies)> Center for Innovative Clinical Medicine, Okayama University Hospital 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama City, Okayama 700-8558, Japan Please contact via the following URL: http://shin-iryo.hospital.okayama-u.ac.jp/ph_company

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  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: Partnership