Inter-university information systems design retreat

Fifty 3rd and 4th-year bachelor-level students from ten universities around Japan gathered at the Education Network for Practical Information Technologies (enPiT) summer retreat on September 11 and 12 in Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture to share and develop ideas in new information systems design. Jointly organized by Tokyo Tech's Department of Computer Science and other universities, this event focused particularly on the use of big data and artificial intelligence.

Summer retreat

Ten professionals from six different companies around the metropolitan area joined students near the tip of the Miura peninsula, approximately 40 miles south of Tokyo. After learning about design thinking and requirements development methods, student groups attempted to design high-value information systems and pitch their services to actual corporate counterparts.

The overarching theme this year was “attracting the young back to Miura.” After team building activities on the morning of the first day, the participants headed out into the local community to gather information. Group work continued at a nearby resort hotel, where teams continued with their research-analysis-hypothesis-verification process.

At the final presentation session, a team offering a combination of morning fishing and food ingredients data took first place, earning the enPiT Award. Other popular proposals included a geographical data-based service offering date options in the area, and a hotel information service utilizing customer reservation data.

• Tokyo Tech (4 students)
• Ochanomizu University (14 students)
• The University of Electro-Communications (13 students)
• Chiba University (12 students)
• Suwa University of Science (4 students)
• Waseda University (3 students)
• Kagawa University (1 student)
• University of Tsukuba (1 student)
• Tokyo University of Technology (1 student)
• Future University Hakodate (1 student)

What is enPiT?

enPiT is a Japanese government-supported initiative that aims to increase the number of professionals capable of solving real-world Society 5.0 issues by making full use of information technology. The nationwide network utilizes collaborative ties between universities and businesses to nurture specialists in four specific fields – big data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, embedded systems, and business systems design. Tokyo Tech mainly contributes to the first of these by utilizing expertise in big data processing, artificial intelligence, and cloud technology.

• Education Program for Information Technology Specialists