Japan–Ukraine Two-Day Online Seminar on Advanced IT Technologies Attracts Over 400 Participants

Kyiv, October 29, 2025 — A two-day international online seminar ‘Advanced IT Technologies and Their Industrial Applications – Towards International Collaboration with Ukrainian IT Professionals’ brought together experts, scientists and students from Japan, Poland and Ukraine on 28-29 October in Kyiv with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine. More than 400 participants took part, including representatives of Ukrainian universities and the IT community. This is one of the key activities under the Ukrainian IT Human Resource Development Support Project, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in partnership with the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology (PJAIT).

The event was organized by JDS — Japan Development Service, Ltd., and in partnership with BDO in Ukraine as the local coordinator. The seminar was opened by Vitaliy Nosok, Head of the Expert Group on Technological Development at the Ministry of Education and Science.
“The Ministry of Education and Science supports such initiatives because we need not abstract lectures, but joint projects between universities and businesses that produce results in production. We support the introduction of PBL/COIL and the development of dual education as a standard for IT training: international cooperation should directly translate into student competencies and the competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy,” Vitalii Nosok said.

The first day featured two thematic tracks — Technical Track and Industry and Society Track — focused on innovation in IT and its integration into real-world contexts.

Speakers included:

• Assoc. prof. Dr. Taro Kanao (Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan) — “Quantum Technologies and Their Industrial Applications.”
• Prof. Dr. Kiyoko F. Aoki-Kinoshita (Soka University, Japan) — “Applying informatics and AI to biology and the extended central dogma.”
• Mr. Hiroyuki Kanzaki (JDS, Japan) — “JICA Project Webinar: PBL/COIL — International Online Training for IT Academics at Ukrainian Universities.”
• Mr. Masato Takemura (Executive Director, Factory Scientist Association, Japan) — “Local FabLab × Local Factory: Bridging Creativity, IoT, and Data Science.”
• Mr. Toru Shibuya (Representative, Virtual Matsumoto Promotion Project, Japan) — “The Challenge of “Virtual Matsumoto.”

The second day focused on Business Collaboration and International Collaborative Education, demonstrating how technological expertise and academic cooperation can jointly support Ukraine’s reconstruction and digital transformation.

Business Collaboration Track:

• Prof. Dr. Akihiro Imura (CEO, COGNANO, Inc., Japan) — “Accelerating LLM Driven Drug Discovery with a Large Scale VHH Data Set.”
• Mr. Yuta Arai (President and CEO, simpleasy, Inc., Japan) — “From Ideas to Impact: The Simpleasy Way.”
• Mr. Koji Terajima (Director, Panasonic Ukraine Ltd., Ukraine) — “Panasonic Contribution for Reconstruction in Ukraine.”
• Mr. Kevin Nasukawa Koki Abe (Founder & CEO, GlobalDeal, Japan) — “Bridging Borders through Technology and Talent.”

International Collaborative Education Track:

• Prof. Dr. Keiko Ikeda (Kansai University, Vice-Director of the Institute for Innovative Global Education (IIGE), Japan) — “Beyond Mobility: How COIL Builds International Learning Opportunities.”
• Prof. Dr. Jan Piechota, Dr. Olga Kulish (Polish–Japanese Academy of Information Technology, Poland) — “International Collaboration in New Media Art.”
• Mr. Radosław Podgrudny (Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange(NAWA), Poland) — “NAWA’s International Programmes.”

At the end of the event, the announcement was made regarding the upcoming training program for university lecturers —“Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) within the JICA Initiative”.

The webinar series reaffirmed a shared commitment to innovation, education, and post-war recovery through international collaboration — proving that technology continues to unite professionals across borders, even in challenging times.