Skip to main content
All News
CEO Oba to Speak at "HITACHI IGNITE 2026 (TSUKUBA CONNÉCT #90)" — Sharing the Perspective of Trst, Supporting Manufacturers' Global Expansion

CEO Oba to Speak at "HITACHI IGNITE 2026 (TSUKUBA CONNÉCT #90)" — Sharing the Perspective of Trst, Supporting Manufacturers' Global Expansion

~October 30 in Hitachi City: Manufacturing's Global Expansion and Industry-Academia Co-Creation~

KiAI Inc. (Headquarters: Hitachi, Ibaraki; CEO: Kazumasa Oba) is pleased to announce that CEO Kazumasa Oba will speak at “HITACHI IGNITE 2026 (TSUKUBA CONNÉCT #90),” to be held on Friday, October 30, 2026, at the Hitachi Regional Industry Support Center in Hitachi City, Ibaraki.

The event is part of “TSUKUBA CONNÉCT,” operated by Venture Café Tokyo, under the theme “Technologies that connect, workplaces that change, industries that emerge.” Set in Hitachi and the northern Ibaraki region, a long-standing hub for machinery, electrical, and metal manufacturing, it explores the changes that come from partnering beyond company walls, through voices of practitioners.

The program also includes a session titled “Northern Ibaraki Manufacturing Ventures Take on the World — From Hitachi to the Globe,” in which manufacturers from northern Ibaraki and Tokyo’s Ota Ward share cases of collaboration, including overseas partnerships. This puts the global expansion of regional manufacturers in the spotlight. KiAI provides “Trst,” an AI platform supporting SME manufacturers’ overseas expansion, and is working on exactly this theme: supporting manufacturers taking on the world from Hitachi.

Oba will speak in Session 3, “How ‘Co-Creation Innovation’ at Ibaraki University’s ‘SAKURA BLOOM PARK’ Will Change the Future of Northern Ibaraki,” alongside Professor Munehisa Sakai and Specially Appointed Professor Kenichi Manie of Ibaraki University. The session will discuss new business creation through industry-academia collaboration and the region’s future from the perspective of a university-originated startup, and will also introduce Trst’s efforts to support manufacturers’ overseas expansion.

■ Event Overview

  • Event: HITACHI IGNITE 2026 (TSUKUBA CONNÉCT #90)
  • Date & Time: Friday, October 30, 2026, 15:30–19:00 (JST)
  • Venue: Hitachi Regional Industry Support Center (2-20-1 Nishinarusawa-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki)
  • KiAI Session: Session 3 (17:50–18:30)
  • Registration: Please register via the event details page linked above.