Fujitsu Japan and Kanazawa Institute of Technology Collaborate in Local Revitalization Initiatives Using Digital Technology

Fujitsu Japan and Kanazawa Institute of Technology collaborate in local revitalization initiatives using digital technology

 Fujitsu Japan announced the start of a collaboration with Kanazawa Institute of Technology  through Kanazawa Institute of Technology’s Izuhara Laboratory  to promote the practical application of technology through industry-academia collaboration for local revitalization. Fujitsu and Kanazawa Institute of Technology will launch an initiative to issue NFTs  utilizing the “Fujitsu Web3 Acceleration Platform”  to visitors of the “Kanazawa Tsukimikoro”  illumination event that will be hosted by the Kanazawa Institute of Technology. As part of their collaboration, Fujitsu and Kanazawa Institute of Technology will display NFTs through a dedicated AR application “Connect Kanazawa 2,” during　the “Kanazawa Tsukimikoro” event which aims to connect the real and virtual world.

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Through this initiative, Fujitsu Japan and Kanazawa Institute of Technology aim to raise positive awareness around NFTs and also offer participants a new local experience that links advanced technologies with cultural events at the traditional town of Kanazawa. Moving forward, Fujitsu and Kanazawa Institute of Technology will test application of NFTs in the development of various local services. Fujitsu Japan will further promote initiatives leveraging digital technologies to contribute to the solution of societal issues in communities with declining birthrates and aging populations.

Professor Ritsuko Izuhara, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Department of Media Informatics, College of Informatics and Human Communication, comments:

“At the Kanazawa Institute of Technology we aim to solve societal issues through industry-academia-government collaboration. We are excited to collaborate with the Fujitsu Group in the “Connect Kanazawa 2” project to publish a one-of-a-kind NFT. In this way we hope to provide visitors with a special experience that will attract new interest in the Kanazawa region. Kanazawa Institute of Technology will continue to collaborate and co-create with the Fujitsu Group to realize a sustainable future society and contribute to the promotion of Society5.0 and the SDGs in Japan.”

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Background

Declining birthrates and an aging population represent an ongoing challenge for many local communities. In addition to “re-settlers” and tourists, the growing importance of nonresident population – population that does not permanently live in a certain region but has a strong relationship with it – has been gaining increasing attention within initiatives to drive the revitalization of local communities.

Kanazawa Institute of Technology is promoting practical education to contribute to the solution of societal issues through industry-academia collaboration, with Kanazawa Institute of Technology’s Izuhara Laboratory putting special focus on the use of digital technology in local communities.

In March 2023, the Fujitsu Group launched its “Fujitsu Web3 Acceleration Platform,” Fujitsu’s platform to co-create transformational, value-added solutions to a variety of issues facing society, offering access free of charge to select participants of its global partner program, “Fujitsu Accelerator Program for CaaS”. To further strengthen the relation of nonresident population with local communities and ultimately contribute to local revitalization, Fujitsu Japan and Kanazawa Institute of Technology’s Izuhara Laboratory started a joint project to issue NFTs using Web3 technology.

Outline of the initiative

As part of their collaboration, Fujitsu Japan and Kanazawa Institute of Technology will combine Fujitsu’s Web3 technology with an AR application created by Kanazawa Institute of Technology to issue an NFT to visitors of the “Kanazawa Tsukimikoro” event.

To offer visitors an experience that links the real and digital world, Kanazawa Institute of Technology will present an event combing projection mapping with a live piano performance to both visitors of the event venue and participants in a simultaneous virtual event. The event will also include an augmented reality (AR) experience in combination with projection mapping. Participants who look at the event site using a dedicated web application on their smartphone will see the image of a rabbit on their smartphone. When tapping on the rabbit, visitors will receive an NFT of the rabbit with the projection mapping as a background.

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