Co-creation Program "InnoLabo Academy" (5 Sessions) Connecting Students with "Social Implementation" Starts
S-Innovation Co., Ltd. and JR East Niigata Branch will launch the "InnoLabo Academy," a 5-session co-creation program for companies and students in Niigata Prefecture, starting June 10th. The program aims to solve regional issues by incorporating students' knowledge and ideas into society.
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- 📰 Published: May 8, 2026 at 19:00
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S-Innovation Co., Ltd. (Representative Director: Yoshinobu Hoshino) and East Japan Railway Company Niigata Branch (Branch Manager: Hiroko Shirayama, hereinafter "JR East Niigata Branch") will launch the co-creation program "InnoLabo Academy" for companies and students in Niigata Prefecture, starting June 10th.
The purpose of this program is to solve regional issues faced by companies by incorporating students' learned knowledge and ideas into society. We are recruiting students to participate in this program. Please check the details of the application below.
View Details
Based on the results of the previous (0th) one-off event, the program has been updated and will be implemented as a series of 5 continuous sessions. The biggest feature is a structure that deepens co-creation step by step with regional companies and students, with JR East Niigata Branch providing the issues to be solved and usable assets, acting not as a "venue provider" but as a "stakeholder in the issues."
(Reference *Scenes from the 0th session)
Students and companies challenge idea creation together "InnoLabo Academy" first held – MAGAZINE – InnoLaboNIIGATA ~InnoLabo Niigata~
In this program, from the 1st session "Open" to the 5th session "Question," JR East Niigata Branch, regional companies, and students will gradually form teams and co-create business proposals based on real issues. In the final session, presentations will be made to judges, leading to pilot experiments.
1. Program Overview
The "InnoLabo Academy" 5-session continuous program is a model for co-creating new businesses that could not have been born internally, by opening up the issues faced by JR East Niigata Branch to external parties and combining the knowledge of regional companies with the ideas of students.
2. Details of Each Program
The details of each session are as follows:
Session 1 "Open" — Share JR East Niigata Branch's issues and assets with everyone
JR East Niigata Branch will take the lead, with employees giving lightning talks on "Regional revitalization and issues JR East aims for," sharing their vision with all participants. In the latter half, everyone will conduct an inventory work of JR assets, and finally, JR employees will present 2-3 "challenge themes to be solved."
Session 2 "Know" — Delve into the strengths and resources of regional companies
Regional companies will present "their strengths / points where they can collaborate with JR East Niigata Branch / regional issues they want to solve / what they want to think about together in the latter half of the program." Each company will formulate hypotheses for combining their own resources with JR assets and clarify the possibilities for collaboration through dialogue with students and JR employees.
Session 3 "Form" — Form teams and pose questions
In the first half, there will be a review of sessions 1 and 2 and idea generation, and in the latter half, "teams consisting of themes × regional companies × JR employees × students" will be formed. (Team composition will primarily be "1 regional company + 3-5 students," with JR employees also joining the discussion.) Finally, "question cards" will be created to serve as a starting point for co-creation from session 4 onwards. (Example: How will our team solve the issue of ○○ using ○○ of JR East Niigata Branch and ○○ of ○○ company?)
Session 4 "Create" — Design new business proposals by team
Business proposals will be designed based on four axes: ① issues to solve, ② assets/resources to use, ③ business mechanism, and ④ why only this team can do it. Intermediate progress sharing with other teams will be conducted after unifying the format for the final presentation.
Session 5 "Question" — Presentation & Next Action
Presentations will be made to judges for 10 minutes (7 minutes for presentation + 3 minutes for Q&A). Evaluation criteria are: "① Novelty, ② Sociality, ③ Business viability, ④ JR East Niigata Branch × regional company asset fit, ⑤ Will to realize." After the presentation, a next action session will be held where everyone discusses "the next step," leading to awards.
3. Target Participants and Recruitment
Target: Students enrolled in vocational schools, colleges of technology, universities, and graduate schools (regardless of grade or major)
Team composition: 1 regional company + 3-5 students + JR employees
Participation fee: Free
Participating companies: 3-5 regional partner companies of InnoLabo Niigata will participate
▶︎Student application here
4. Expected Effects of This Program
Through this program, JR East Niigata Branch and S-Innovation Co., Ltd. aim to realize a region where new businesses and leaders continue to emerge from Niigata.
For inquiries about this program, please contact the InnoLabo Academy Secretariat (S-Innovation Co., Ltd.).
About S-Innovation Co., Ltd.
MISSION: Creating new value for regional assets with new technologies.
Representative Director: Yoshinobu Hoshino
Location: 3F, Nishihori 501 Building, 790 Nishihori-dori Sanchome, Chuo-ku, Niigata City
Homepage: https://sinnovation.jp
Business activities:
・Development and operation of regional corporate innovation platform [oO]
・New business development support (including CVC establishment and operation support)
・Regional open innovation
The purpose of this program is to solve regional issues faced by companies by incorporating students' learned knowledge and ideas into society. We are recruiting students to participate in this program. Please check the details of the application below.
View Details
Based on the results of the previous (0th) one-off event, the program has been updated and will be implemented as a series of 5 continuous sessions. The biggest feature is a structure that deepens co-creation step by step with regional companies and students, with JR East Niigata Branch providing the issues to be solved and usable assets, acting not as a "venue provider" but as a "stakeholder in the issues."
(Reference *Scenes from the 0th session)
Students and companies challenge idea creation together "InnoLabo Academy" first held – MAGAZINE – InnoLaboNIIGATA ~InnoLabo Niigata~
In this program, from the 1st session "Open" to the 5th session "Question," JR East Niigata Branch, regional companies, and students will gradually form teams and co-create business proposals based on real issues. In the final session, presentations will be made to judges, leading to pilot experiments.
1. Program Overview
The "InnoLabo Academy" 5-session continuous program is a model for co-creating new businesses that could not have been born internally, by opening up the issues faced by JR East Niigata Branch to external parties and combining the knowledge of regional companies with the ideas of students.
2. Details of Each Program
The details of each session are as follows:
Session 1 "Open" — Share JR East Niigata Branch's issues and assets with everyone
JR East Niigata Branch will take the lead, with employees giving lightning talks on "Regional revitalization and issues JR East aims for," sharing their vision with all participants. In the latter half, everyone will conduct an inventory work of JR assets, and finally, JR employees will present 2-3 "challenge themes to be solved."
Session 2 "Know" — Delve into the strengths and resources of regional companies
Regional companies will present "their strengths / points where they can collaborate with JR East Niigata Branch / regional issues they want to solve / what they want to think about together in the latter half of the program." Each company will formulate hypotheses for combining their own resources with JR assets and clarify the possibilities for collaboration through dialogue with students and JR employees.
Session 3 "Form" — Form teams and pose questions
In the first half, there will be a review of sessions 1 and 2 and idea generation, and in the latter half, "teams consisting of themes × regional companies × JR employees × students" will be formed. (Team composition will primarily be "1 regional company + 3-5 students," with JR employees also joining the discussion.) Finally, "question cards" will be created to serve as a starting point for co-creation from session 4 onwards. (Example: How will our team solve the issue of ○○ using ○○ of JR East Niigata Branch and ○○ of ○○ company?)
Session 4 "Create" — Design new business proposals by team
Business proposals will be designed based on four axes: ① issues to solve, ② assets/resources to use, ③ business mechanism, and ④ why only this team can do it. Intermediate progress sharing with other teams will be conducted after unifying the format for the final presentation.
Session 5 "Question" — Presentation & Next Action
Presentations will be made to judges for 10 minutes (7 minutes for presentation + 3 minutes for Q&A). Evaluation criteria are: "① Novelty, ② Sociality, ③ Business viability, ④ JR East Niigata Branch × regional company asset fit, ⑤ Will to realize." After the presentation, a next action session will be held where everyone discusses "the next step," leading to awards.
3. Target Participants and Recruitment
Target: Students enrolled in vocational schools, colleges of technology, universities, and graduate schools (regardless of grade or major)
Team composition: 1 regional company + 3-5 students + JR employees
Participation fee: Free
Participating companies: 3-5 regional partner companies of InnoLabo Niigata will participate
▶︎Student application here
4. Expected Effects of This Program
Through this program, JR East Niigata Branch and S-Innovation Co., Ltd. aim to realize a region where new businesses and leaders continue to emerge from Niigata.
For inquiries about this program, please contact the InnoLabo Academy Secretariat (S-Innovation Co., Ltd.).
About S-Innovation Co., Ltd.
MISSION: Creating new value for regional assets with new technologies.
Representative Director: Yoshinobu Hoshino
Location: 3F, Nishihori 501 Building, 790 Nishihori-dori Sanchome, Chuo-ku, Niigata City
Homepage: https://sinnovation.jp
Business activities:
・Development and operation of regional corporate innovation platform [oO]
・New business development support (including CVC establishment and operation support)
・Regional open innovation