SO-SMART project kickoff

January 29, 2025

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) held an Ideathon within the frame of a joint research project between Japanese and European universities to create sustainable and accessible public transportation. Dr. Attila Kertész took part in the event on behalf of our university as the European PI.

Sustainable transit is key to both decarbonization and inclusive regional mobility. A new research project, dubbed SO-SMART (a proactive SOcial-based framework for SMART transportation), aims to find sustainable and accessible public transport means through an innovative approach built on citizen participation. To mark the beginning of the project, experts from local municipalities as well as national and international researchers joined residents of the Onna and Ishikawa areas of Okinawa at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) at an ideathon on 5 December 2024.

SO-SMART is a collaboration between the University of Szeged in Hungary, Karabük University in Türkiye, University of Western Brittany in France, and the Kyoto Institute for Technology (KIT), Nara Institute for Science and Technology (NAIST) and OIST in Japan. It is funded by the European Interest Group (EIG) CONCERT-Japan, a joint initiative to promote and support cooperation in science, technology and innovation between the European region and Japan.

You can read more about the ideathon and the project on OIST’s website.

Page last modified: January 29, 2025