■ Akita Prefecture

October 2021 – February 2022

We were commissioned to conduct online training targeting employees of small and medium-sized enterprises in Akita Prefecture, aiming to improve corporate productivity and secure and develop in-house ICT personnel.
Our training theme was set as “DX Training Starting from 10,000 Yen — Bring Back Practical Ideas for Business Improvement from Tomorrow,” and practical lectures were conducted over a total of five days.

[Challenges]

・Labor shortage is severe (rising job openings-to-applicants ratio) (July): Nationwide 1.15, Akita Prefecture 1.62
・Low labor productivity: Secondary industry labor productivity in Akita is 74.6% of the national average
・Concentration of human resources in information-related companies: 82.0% of companies have no dedicated ICT department (FY2019 DI Office)
・Low national share of the information industry: Sales per employee 17 million yen (69.6% of national average)

[Support Details]

Creation of a 5-day training curriculum and delivery of lectures covering ICT, RPA, AI knowledge, information security measures, etc.
Training theme: “DX Training Starting from 10,000 Yen — Bring Back Practical Ideas for Business Improvement from Tomorrow”

　①Basic ICT Knowledge
Starting from “What is DX?” the course included lectures on ICT, RPA, AI, etc., plus demonstrations for checking the company’s DX/digitalization progress and considering action plans.

　②Industry-specific DX
Divided into three sessions focusing on major industries in Akita Prefecture: manufacturing, service, and wholesale industries, including case studies addressing industry-specific challenges.

　③Data Utilization
Introduction to common data analysis methods, case studies of companies innovating business through data use, explanation of business process and workload analysis techniques, and a workshop on business improvement using sample data and workflow.

　④Special Lectures
Based on requests from participants of previous sessions, lectures included introductions to data utilization cases, concrete steps for DX promotion and digital technology adoption, and challenges faced in practical implementation.

・Creation of recruitment flyers necessary for implementation
・Post-training after-support such as preparing discussion papers focused on individual business improvements

[Results]

A total of 104 participants attended the training. Survey results showed zero responses indicating “did not understand” or “questions were not resolved,” demonstrating that the training provided participants with opportunities to recognize ideas and challenges related to business improvement in their own companies.
The lecture videos recorded during the training were published on YouTube and viewed a total of 853 times as of February 2021.