Kobe Institute of Computing is an educational organization that is made up of three leading schools that deliver programs at levels spanning vocational ICT & Graphic Design to Masters Level ICT and ICT4D.
What students acquire at our institute are highly versatile skills that enable them to design services and solve problems in all areas such as education, medical care, industry, agriculture, and finance, as well as administrative tasks at companies based on ICT. It is a professional skill and dramatically increases your talented value.
Whom do we train?
Those thinking about skilling-up
We train IT-professionals to become ready to face any challenge in two years.
IT beginners
Graduate students and engineers already in the workforce in various fields.
People of society
Learn the necessary skills and know-how to advance into the future.
International students
To advanced IT engineers active in Japan.
Kobe Institute of Computing (KIC), Graduate School of Information Technology is just a short walk from Sannomiya Station in the center of the beautiful city of Kobe. KIC introduces a program to produce 'work-ready' professional IT personnel who, regardless of their previous field of education or previous work experience, are prepared for professional roles in the IT industry. The program curriculum is progressively structured in a way that proceeds from foundations to application & practice.
We foster highly motivated individuals who can work in various fields, including engineers to develop software, build information & communication networks, create embedded software, construct and design various information systems. KIC graduates are capable of development management as IT architects and project managers and can contribute to international cooperation & social development through information communication technology (ICT).
To develop skilled professionals, our faculty consists of experienced corporate pioneers from companies such as SONY and Panasonic who cooperate with a variety of researchers and education experts, to instill practical capabilities through group work, and simulated projects.
For challenges in the real world, various factors challenge the progress, and for such problems, you need to have the power to discover their essence. In the curriculum of KIC, you develop this power through the “TANKYU Practice” exercises and “Specific Theme Research.”
By taking ICT and social development-related lectures and working on solving actual issues besides government-sponsored students from developing countries, it is possible to learn international cooperation, social development, and social innovation.
KIC is actively developing academic agreements and cooperation with various institutions both in Japan and overseas, to create a productive educational environment that promotes developing advanced ICT human resources, which can be successful internationally.
Kic has come up with the first program in Japan to develop human resources capable of solving social problems in practice, using ICT technology.
Our students study applying ICT to International Cooperation, Social Development, and Social Innovation through attending lectures and exercises in ICT and social development, and participating in group work doing actual problem solving, together with many overseas students from developing countries (Africa, Central, and South Asia), all this while living in Japan.
This course teaches practical ICT and technologies along with real-world know-how related to ICT4D (ICT4D = social development using ICT).
The course is aimed at students from developing countries as well as Japanese students intending to work overseas. After completing the program, students can expect to work not only for NPOs, public institutions and as social entrepreneurs at home and abroad, but can also find employment in global companies, to play an active role in a wide range of fields.
This course consists of classes that aim at preparing students for actual projects. Such courses include system development through group work and of Specific Theme Research (STR) work. Within the STR, and under the guidance of teachers, each student experiences the proactive work of problem discovery, building hypothesis, introducing a solution, and testing it to verify its work. This course allows the development of ICT innovators who can develop a solution that leverages practical ICT technology and can demonstrate leadership of practical problem-solving.
KIC innovator course is a program where you can learn international cooperation using ICT, social development & social innovation while in Japan. In all courses, you can earn credits in English, and you can build a global communications capability. Also, there is the guidance of academic writing in English.
In the IT-based courses, you can also earn credits in Japanese. Also there is support for those who are not confident in English. Even without knowledge of ICT and international cooperation, it is possible to learn from the basics.
KIC has a variety of teachers: not only the teachers who have served on the front line at the field of IT but also the expert on ICT4D, Urban Planning, or International Public Policy with considerable experience based on the actual business at JICA, etc.
We have a genuinely multi-cultural body of students studying at KIC. In addition to Japan, our students currently come from a total of 15 different countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. They bring with them backgrounds at government agencies, international organizations, or as IT engineers in the private sector.
By joining us at KIC, you will meet new friends and add fellow professionals from a diverse range of countries and cultures to your growing professional network.
Students develop their skills through ‘ICT’ based subjects and ‘Social Development and Innovator System’ subjects. Students can combine the knowledge and skills gained through these subjects and apply them to the TANKYU Practice and Specific Themed Research which lie at the heart of the university.
For each of the issues in the Specific Theme Research, students are required to build and verify a hypothesis for providing new value using ICT technology. The students will also perform a thorough investigation and discuss the results and implications.
On top of this, students will confirm the uniqueness of their solution by investigating similar solutions, as well as verifying the possibility of realization by investigating income/expense balance through cost simulation. The student’s findings are completed as an action plan and written up as a master’s thesis.
The following subjects are designed to give students an understanding of the theory of ICT, through lectures from experienced ICT practitioners. They cover practical foundations, finding solutions to various ICT problems, and lectures on specific aspects of ICT.
The following subjects are designed to immerse students in the practical aspects of ICT, through a range of hands-on tasks, experiments and case studies. They include technical projects, as well as group discussions and problem-solving.
An essential part of preparing students to go out and take on challenges in the world is to give them a solid foundation of practical experience. The following subjects are designed to help students identify and respond to real-world problems using ICT.
They will participate in activities to help develop professional skills such as teamwork, delivering presentations and communication.
*Above subjects and structures are subject to change
| Name | Research guidance |
|---|---|
| Professor. Mamoru Ito | ○ |
| Professor. Ryosuke Okuda | ○ |
| Professor. Toshiyuki Yamanaka | ○ |
| Professor. Masayuki Tsuchida | ○ |
| Specially Appointed Professor. Toshiro Takahara | ○ |
| Associate Professor. Nsenda Lukumwena | ○ |
| Associate Professor. Teruhiko Hiraishi | ○ |
| Lecturer. Muhammad Wannous | ○ |
| Assistant Professor. Sun, Yi | ○ |
Other faculty members
The assignment of the supervisor to JDS Fellows will be decided after the entrance;
The above information is as of May.2019, and subject to change by Oct. 2020.
KIC regular schedule of fall entrance student. (Tentative schedule)
Term
A full academic year in KIC consists of 6 terms. The length of the term is approximately 2 month.
Holiday
Entrance and Graduation
Presentation
Lecture Room
It is equipped with facilities which enable distance learning from overseas. There is also a lecture room for group work which suits active learning.
PC Laboratory
This lab is used primarily to study Open Source Software (OSS), programming, and networking classes. To provide ICT education with OSS, we have installed the Linux OS on each PC in the lab.
Library
The library is furnished with hundreds of English books. It has a variety of books on ICT and social development.
Seminar Space
Students can work on their research in a group with other laboratory’s members.
Free Study Space
All the booths are separated by partitions so that students can work on their research and study without distraction.
Foyer and Sonic Hall in the Kitano Building
The Foyer has a capacity of about 100 persons for special lectures and workshops. Sonic Hall can be used for various kinds of events with a capacity of 300 people. Internet broadcasting is also available.
Local area network access
It may be used for activities listed below.
“Moodle” system for the class’s operation aid.
It is a multi-functional application and covers a broad range of class activities such as course registration, class schedule check and submission of assignment.
Why do you learn ICT?
Is it for yourself in order to make your living? That is fine, but we believe you could achieve much more than that. KIC's motto is "Social Innovation by ICT and yourself," which means you come up with ideas for solving issues in your society utilizing ICT, and take leadership in implementing these solutions for your community, for your country for society as a whole. We believe technology should be used for social good, not for evil.
In order to achieve this, every KIC student learn "Tankyu Practice," our original method to find issues, come up with solution ideas, and improve the ideas through verification processes. Students from 64 countries have learned this method and found it very useful.
By learning Tankyu Practice, you are more likely to succeed in your projects.
KIC has more international students than local Japanese students, which is very unique as a Japanese university. Highly motivated and talented students from various countries learn from each other, as well as from our experienced faculty members.
Nasratullah Ghafoori
AFGHANISTAN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC
The ICT demand in international markets is rising every day; the Innovator course at Kobe Institute of Computing (KIC) is an actual and essential course to fulfill the market interest. In spite of having ICT knowledge, I was really interested to be part of the teams that create and manage big ICT projects, because I believe that ICT put the world on the path of the sustainable development; in this vein KIC Innovator course was the only option to achieve my dreams.
During the first academic year in KIC we had colossal opportunities that help us to meliorate our personal and professional ingenuity; In KIC beside the technical parts we studied the social parts as well. For instance, the Tankyu concept in KIC is one of the serviceable methods for an Innovator course student to address the issues, provide the possible hypothesis and find a unique solution. Furthermore, the ability to design an ICT4D project from the scratch and making all the necessary documents to achieve the project goal was a significant achievement as well. Meanwhile, the special lectures which have been offered from the experts of different institutions were very useful and gratifying.
KIC is located in a tourist area of Kobe city where you can find different museums, and meet many foreigners. The international environment in KIC is good fortune for students; It is a great opportunity for cultural and information exchange.
I would like to continue my study in KIC and pursue working as a specialist of ICT4D projects back in my beloved country Afghanistan.
Clifford Otieno Ochieng
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
Participants of the lab come from diverse and culturally rich backgrounds, i.e Asian, Middle Eastern and African as well as academic and professional backgrounds, including Architecture, Urban Planning, Engineering, Civil Engineering and ICT. Consequently, interactions in the lab are rich in perspective of the developing world.
"nILab" conducts discussions through the triangular approach (instructor to students, student to student, students to instructor).
My research intends to examine Streetlights as a cyber-physical social system. A platform, an enabler of Smart Social cities. Through the research, I purpose to re-think the place of the streetlights as part of a continuously evolving and increasingly networked infrastructure that can enable cities to improve the quality of City-zens, and address real needs with effective and long-term quality services.
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