Turku University of Applied Science (TUAS), Tampere University of Applied Science (TAMK), Miyagi University and Sendai Kosen held a joint event at Sendai Kosen Hirose Campus in Sendai from 20-24 May 2019.

From 20 to 22 May, they organized a hackathon with Finnish and Japanese students. The theme of hackathon was “Healthcare/wellbeing and digitalization”. Students with different background (ICT, Nurse, Finnish, and Japanese) were mixed and divided into groups. Tasks from both Finnish and Japanese companies were given to groups and discussed for two days in order to come up with solutions under supervision of mentors.

One of the tasks was provided by a Sendai-based startup, Funky Jump. The representative of Funky Jump, Mr. Aoki, joined Polar bear pitching event in Oulu in 2019 for the first time as a Japanese. His company provides CRM solutions for co-working space using voice data, and this time his task was to create solutions for early onset dementia patients to be socially included. Students presented an idea of an application on smartphone, which impressed Mr. Aoki.

After the Hackathon, from 22 afternoon to 24 May, professors gathered to discuss about future cooperation and student exchange between each institutions. Presentations from both countries lasted two days for more mutual understanding. For this event, FWBC supported to introduce local company (Funky Jump) and gave presentation prior to the Hackathon (Title: Digitalization in Healthcare Industry) and during the seminar for introduction of FWBC activities.