Center for Collaborative Research and Outreach: CCRO

While inheriting the functions of the former IASRC (Institute for Asian Studies and Regional Collaboration), the Center for Collaborative Research and Outreach: CCRO deepens collaboration within the school and with various entities in the region and overseas, aiming to enhance education, research, and community contributions.

Activities

AIU Design Lab

AIU Design Lab is an industry-academia collaborative program in which students and companies work together to solve various issues faced by universities and companies in Akita Prefecture. In the basic workshop, students learn design thinking as an effective method for problem solving, and then apply the ideas they gain in the basic workshop to actual activities in the applied section on design thinking practice. The goal of the program is to design a better Akita by solving local issues.

Overseas Promotion Project of Akita Prefecture Products

This is a project aiming to expand the export of products produced in Akita Prefecture. In AY2022, we conducted marketing research in Paris to explore how Akita’s Iburigakko and Inaniwa Udon would be accepted in France.

Akita Transport Info Project

The Akita Transport Info project started in June 2017 and created a complete set of data files for bus services in Akita prefecture by September 2018, making them visible on Google Maps. The data included that from 3 private bus companies, 17 community bus services, and the Akita Airport Liners. In 2022, the Akita Prefectural Bus Association set up an open data site, to which Akita Chuo Kotsu and several other bus service entities have uploaded their latest data sets. For the other bus service entities, including Ugo Kotsu and Akita Airport Liners, the Akita Transport Info project continues to create data sets for Google Maps in order to maintain the full visibility of these public transport services in Akita.

Corporate Collaboration

AIU collaborates with businesses and organizations to address local challenges, striving for advanced societal contributions.