Participation in the "ICT Startup Competition 2025" hosted by the International College of Technology
-Panel discussion and pitch by 11 teams from four Asian countries-

On Friday, February 21, the Startup Competition 2025 hosted by the International College of Technology (ICT) was held at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology Ohgigaoka Campus. Professor Uchida, the program representative (Director of the JAIST Startup Promotion Office) from TeSH (Tech Startup HOKURIKU), participated in the panel discussion and pitching competition as a judge and exchanged opinions on the internationalization of startups.

The theme of the panel discussion was "Startup situation in Japan, outlook, opportunity." The moderator was Professor MEBUSAYA of ICT, and the panelists were President Shikada of ICT, Program Representative Uchida, two overseas entrepreneur and investor, and an ICT graduate (entrepreneur), for a total of five.

The overseas panelists raised the issue "Why is Japan stagnating after the war, when innovative companies such as Sony were born and drove the global economy? And why is it lagging in startups?" The moderator and domestic panelist responded, "Culturally, Japan has been good at improvement, not change. However, if things continue like this, there will be no development, and a startup-like mindset is necessary. Japan has been lagging until now, and the government has finally launched a "5-year startup plan." Program Representative Uchida said, "Tech Startup HOKURIKU, which is responsible for this policy, was launched in February 2024. In the past year, we have discovered over 140 seeds from the academia of the Hokuriku region. The Hokuriku region has great potential."

Eleven teams of students from the ICT and its overseas partner schools participated in the startup competition. The breakdown was three from Japan, three from Vietnam, three from Thailand, and two from Malaysia, of which three were presented at the venue and eight were online. All presentations were idea-based, but one of the characteristics of this global competition is that nearly half of the projects aimed at solving social issues in their own countries.
The grand prize went to two female students from ICT, who received high marks from all the judges for their brilliant presentations. The two students are in their first year at the technical college, meaning they are first-year high school students, and it was amazing to see them give presentations that were as good as native speakers.

International College of Technology is a school that has taken 10 years to make English its official language, adding international and social education to the technical education provided by technical colleges.
It is encouraging that there is a technical college in the Hokuriku region that has such an advanced concept. Academia in the Hokuriku region is also working to improve the skills of its staff and others so that pitches in English will become the norm.