On Wednesday, August 20, 2025, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as host and Nagaoka University of Technology (NUT) as co-organizer held a TICAD9 side event at the JICA Yokohama Center. The event was titled "KOSEN Open Innovation Challenge — Co-creativity to Shape the Future: Africa x Japan, Solving Development Issues from the Teens."

TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) is an international conference led by the Japanese government since 1993. At this 9th conference, JICA and NUT co-organized this side event to showcase grassroots innovation.

The event featured the winning teams from the KOSEN Open Innovation Challenge KOI pitch contest where KOSEN students across Japan tackle local issues in Africa. They presented field demonstration activities and successful collaborations with universities and local governments. Students who traveled to Africa shared firsthand experiences, inspiring other young people to take personal ownership of global social issues. Participants remarked that they were deeply motivated by seeing their peers take on such challenges, realizing that the issues facing Japan and Africa are interconnected.

Through the KOI project, we will continue to empower young people to solve global challenges and expand the practice of co-creation and reverse innovation.

Related Link

Open Innovation Challenge HP:https://www.kosen-oi.com/blog

Issued by

Head Office for Research Strategy, Nagaoka University of Technology (Saito, Takei)