Microbase CEO Sengoku Wins Grand Prix at Public-Private Partnership Event 'Publink Summit 2026'

Microbase Inc., a company specializing in AI technology development and data science, has received the 'Grand Prix' at the 'Publink Summit 2026,' an award event promoting open innovation through public-private partnerships.

CEO Sengoku presented the company’s joint initiative with Toyota City using 'MiraiE.ai,' an AI system that predicts house vacancies based on water usage. The project was recognized for its high effectiveness in addressing social issues and its scalability for future city management.

Presentation Summary: Tackling Japan's 'Vacant House Problem' with Water Big Data There are approximately 9 million vacant houses in Japan. The root cause of this problem has been the inability to predict vacancies in advance. As a data scientist, Sengoku focused on widely available 'water data.' By training AI on patterns of usage changes, he developed 'MiraiE.ai' to predict vacancies before they occur.

Joint Project with Toyota City Despite initial rejections due to a lack of a track record, a joint project was launched with Toyota City. Facing 'administrative barriers' such as data silos, security concerns, and legal constraints, the team worked closely with municipal staff to implement the prediction model.

Results and Future Outlook Field tests in Toyota City successfully detected water pipe freezing incidents early. The system is now used by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and has evolved into a 'City Management OS' that incorporates public facility demand and population forecasting. It is now becoming accessible via no-code solutions. Furthermore, the company is accelerating global expansion, including interest from the Dubai government and receiving a patent in South Korea.