Challenging the Digital Divide Loss of Up to 18 Trillion Yen with 'Learning Dissemination': 'Shine! Japan University Student Championship 2026' Opens for Entry

AI and digital technology have permeated daily life, with electronic tickets, reservation apps, cashless payments, and administrative procedures significantly transforming our society. However, in everyday situations, small sighs and stumbling blocks like 'Another app...?' are also emerging.

Against this social backdrop, Smart Life University Inc. will hold a social issue-solving project, 'Shine! Japan University Student Championship 2026,' aimed at creating human resources who support consumers' Smart Life® for a sustainable society. Entry acceptance begins June 7, 2026.

The target is teams of 5 to 20 university students nationwide, regardless of faculty or year. One person can also declare an intention to participate (entry). Winning teams will receive activity funding of up to 10 million yen per team (*1).

This championship addresses not just app inconvenience or operational issues, but the lack of opportunities and places in society to systematically and sustainably learn how to incorporate, utilize, and engage with AI and digitalization in daily life, communities, work, and education. This learning gap creates anxiety and confusion among consumers, widens the digital divide, and leads to social and economic losses.

The championship is a social issue-solving project where university teams tackle the economic loss of up to 18 trillion yen (*2) through the power of 'learning dissemination' and social implementation, aiming to create human resources who support consumers' Smart Life®.

*1 This activity funding will be provided to winning applicants through their affiliated educational institutions. Due to tax processing and the discretion of the educational institution, it is not guaranteed that winning applicants will receive the full amount of funding provided by the organizer. The funding is intended to be treated as a donation to the educational institution (special donation income from educational activities).

*2 The '18 trillion yen' is the maximum annual economic loss of 12 to 18 trillion yen independently calculated based on government statistics, covering losses in multiple areas attributable to the digital divide, including crime/fraud, educational disparities, administrative/healthcare access, labor productivity, and citizen living costs.

'Signs' lurking in daily life

The digitalization of society has greatly changed our lives.

Event tickets have become electronic, transportation and tourism information can be checked via smartphone. Administrative procedures, reservations, payments, shopping, and communications at school and work are also shifting to digital-based systems.

On the other hand, challenges have emerged in daily life.

App registration takes time. You don't know where to look on the screen. Convenient pathways cause bottlenecks in human traffic. Explanations are insufficient, forcing someone to supplement on the spot. Systems exist but are not used effectively.

This championship aims to have university students, who grew up in the digital society, discover everyday 'sighs' and 'stumbling blocks' and spread sustainable learning models within their universities, regions, and society.

'Learning' becomes a GAME CHANGER

The PC Depot Smart Life Group, which co-organizes and supports this championship, has continued efforts to support consumers' digital lives as a digital support for regional households.

What has become apparent is that much of the digital divide stems not only from a lack of devices and services but from a lack of human support, learning opportunities, and mechanisms to continuously accompany and integrate them into daily life.

'Shine! Japan University Student Championship 2026' connects students' wisdom and action to social implementation. Students listen to consumers' voices, identify issues, design learning mechanisms, and practice starting from regions and universities. This cycle is believed to be the GAME CHANGER that transforms losses from the digital divide into value.

'Don't rewind society. Evolve it.'

Aiming to make young people's power the driving force for social change and to build a society where 'even with digitalization, everyone is okay because there are young people,' entries from university students nationwide are accepted.

One person can declare participation

This championship does not require fully formed teams or plans from the start.

First, one person can declare participation. Even if a team is not yet formed or you are about to gather members, you can submit a declaration video if you have the will to 'challenge'.

For official participation, a team of 5 to 20 members is required. Please form a team that meets the conditions after passing the selection process.

Overview of 'Shine! Japan University Student Championship 2026'

Entry acceptance start: June 7, 2026 Target: University students enrolled in four-year universities in Japan (faculty and year: no restrictions) Participation unit: One person can declare participation (official participation requires a team of 5 to 20 members) Activity funding: Up to 10 million yen per team (*) Official website: https://unv.smartlife.co.jp/kagayake2026/go/prtimes/

* This activity funding will be provided to winning applicants through their affiliated educational institutions. Due to tax processing and the discretion of the educational institution, it is not guaranteed that winning applicants will receive the full amount of funding provided by the organizer. The funding is intended to be treated as a donation to the educational institution (special donation income from educational activities).

About this project

With the rapid progress of digitalization in society, movements toward the realization of the super-smart society 'Society 5.0' are becoming active. Now is the time to cultivate human resources who support consumers' Smart Life®.

This activity (Sustainable Development for SmartLife (SDSL) activity) aims to expand the circle of those who agree with the purpose of 'creating human resources who support consumers' Smart Life®' and advocate for activities across industry, government, academia, and the public nationwide.

The SDSL Project 20K aims to create 20,000 human resources who fit the purpose of SDSL activities by providing training systems, creating opportunities for growth and challenge, and providing economic support to spread SDSL activities in regions.

This project is led by Takahisa Nojima, the founder of PC Depot Corporation, the originator of SDSL activities and advocate for 'realizing consumers' Smart Life® in a digitalizing society,' and representative director of the Smart Life Education Research Institute. It opens up the company's long-accumulated know-how in human resource development and activities as an open platform, promoting the creation of 20,000 human resources through participation and project launches by those who agree with SDSL activities, regardless of scale.