AY2023 SoftBank R&D × AIC Ideathon

On March 4, 6, and 8, 2024, SoftBank R&D and Keio AIC collaborated to host the event, “Ideathon for Solving Problems 10 Years in the Future － New Gen Tech x Next Gen Biz x Your Vision = Mirai (Future).”
Students from across a wide range of faculties attended the ideathon, mainly from the Faculty of Science and Technology, but also including those from the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Business and Commerce, the Faculty of Letters, the School of Medicine, the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, and others. A total of 33 participants organized into 11 teams participated in discussions to share their respective expertise.

During the event

Day 1
Koji Kusunoki from SoftBank R&D explained about SoftBank R&D’s efforts and initiatives.
He spoke passionately about the future vision of SoftBank R&D, including working with super-distributed computing that supports real-world implementation of AI, quantum computers that could serve as a new infrastructure for calculations, the HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station), a telecommunication platform located in the stratosphere, Beyond 5G/6G, and other initiatives.
For group work, students were organized into teams regardless of faculty or student year, where they discussed the challenges of the future we will face in 10 years’ time.

Day 2
Group work was held in continuation from Day 1. Snacks and drinks were provided by SoftBank R&D while participants continued discussions in a relaxed atmosphere.
Not only did students discuss ideas among themselves, but they also bounced them off SoftBank R&D staff and received feedback accordingly, which in turn helped students to brush up their ideas.
Students also started working on preparing materials for the final presentation.

Day 3
The final presentation was held based on the discussions on Day 1 and Day 2. Each team put together cogent and easy-to-understand materials, delivering elaborate presentations. The evaluation and review of the presentations was conducted by Shima, Komiyama, and Machida from SoftBank R&D, and Professor Ishikawa and Professor Kobayashi from AIC. In order from first place, winning teams were presented with a MacBook Air, Apple Watch, and GoPro respectively. Winners of the CEO Prize, COO Prize, and CTO Prize were each presented with a pair of cruise tickets.
The results of their review are as follows.

Results of presentation review

First place: Bardock
CEO: Kotaro Hashimoto, COO: Kenichiro Wada, CTO: Riku Ikeda
Second place: SAMPO
CEO: Kotaro Seki, COO: Hiroyuki Kawai, CTO: Masayuki Tsuchiai
Third place: Slovenia
CEO: Shunta Sato, COO: Kohei Shinozaki, CTO: Hayato Nakamura

CEO Prize: Akie Honda
COO Prize: Mika Oiwa
CTO Prize: Kosei Nakada

Comments from participants:

• The feedback was very thorough and tailored to each individual team. It was very helpful. The content was also interesting, and we were able to have a frank and candid exchange. On the other hand, I thought it would have been more beneficial if there had been also feedback on areas for improvement for each team.
• It was my first time participating in a contest-type event and there were many things I didn’t understand beforehand. However, thanks to the warm and kind support from the event administrators, I was able to enjoy the event greatly. Thank you very much.
• We received appropriate advice when bouncing ideas off the SoftBank staff and it helped a lot.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Koji Kusunoki, Shoichi Sudo, Shun Seo, and many others at SoftBank R&D for their tremendous support.
◆ Keio AIC representatives, faculty members, and administration
　 Takahiro Yakoh, Shigeki Ishikawa, Mari Kobayashi, Fumio Kawano
◆ Student administrators
　 Takeru Kaji, Koki Obayashi, Riku Ikeda, Shunpei Hatanaka