Agricultural High School Students to Learn Smart Agriculture Utilizing Drones and AI; Hokuto City, Oono Agriculture High School, and DIT Sign Partnership Agreement

Digital Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Satoshi Ichikawa; TSE Prime Market: 3916; hereinafter referred to as DIT), an independent system integrator, announced that on July 7, 2026, Hokuto City (Mayor: Tatsuo Ikeda) and Hokkaido Oono Agricultural High School (Principal: Yuta Haga; hereinafter referred to as Oono Agriculture High School) signed a partnership agreement aimed at fostering next-generation human resources responsible for smart agriculture and regional DX.

Amidst the aging of agricultural workers and a shortage of successors, this agreement will implement an educational program for high school students to practically learn smart agriculture technologies such as drones, AI, and data utilization. The initiative will promote integrated efforts by local governments, agricultural high schools, and IT companies to solve regional issues and develop human resources.

(From left, titles omitted: Yuta Haga, Principal of Hokkaido Oono Agricultural High School; Tatsuo Ikeda, Mayor of Hokuto City; Yuichi Narita, Executive Officer of DIT)

Scenes from the Agreement Signing Ceremony

The agreement signing ceremony was attended by stakeholders including Mayor Tatsuo Ikeda from Hokuto City, Principal Yuta Haga from Hokkaido Oono Agricultural High School, and Satoshi Ichikawa, representative of DIT, among others. The three parties signed the agreement.

Comments

◆ Tatsuo Ikeda, Mayor of Hokuto City

As a city whose core industry is agriculture, Hokuto City believes that utilizing digital technologies, including drones and AI, is crucial for addressing challenges such as a shortage of successors and an aging population, and for building sustainable agriculture.

We hope that this agreement will serve as an opportunity for the students of Oono Agriculture High School to cultivate perspectives and new ideas that connect regional agriculture with digital technology. We expect them not only to play active roles in supporting regional agriculture in the future but also for the experience gained through this initiative to become a great asset for their success in their respective career paths and in society.

◆ Yuta Haga, Principal of Hokkaido Oono Agricultural High School

We express our gratitude for the understanding and support of all involved parties. We hope that this partnership agreement will lead to meaningful activities that enable our students, who are studying agriculture, to contribute to the region and industry in the future.

◆ Digital Information Technology Co., Ltd.

Yuichi Narita, Executive Officer and General Manager of Hakodate Branch

We will face the challenges of regional agriculture together with the high school students and contribute to the development of next-generation human resources for smart agriculture and the future of agriculture in the southern Hokkaido region through practical learning utilizing digital technologies such as drones and AI.

Background and Objectives of the Agreement

Hokkaido is one of Japan's leading agricultural production areas. However, the aging of agricultural workers and a shortage of successors are progressing, making the development of human resources capable of utilizing smart agriculture technologies a challenge.

Oono Agriculture High School is engaged in fostering human resources to support regional agriculture, while Hokuto City is promoting regional revitalization through the advancement of regional DX. Furthermore, DIT, based at its "DX Business Lab Hakodate Branch" in Hakodate City and its "Hokuto AI Satellite" in Hokuto City, is involved in local digital human resource development and industry-academia-government collaboration.

Hokuto City and DIT signed a comprehensive partnership agreement on DX promotion in February 2024, and have been advancing initiatives for digital human resource development and regional revitalization. This new agreement builds upon those efforts, adding Hokkaido Oono Agricultural High School to foster next-generation human resources for smart agriculture through industry-academia-government collaboration.

Objectives

This agreement aims to foster next-generation human resources responsible for regional DX by having Hokuto City, Hokkaido Oono Agricultural High School, and DIT collaborate to provide smart agriculture education utilizing digital technologies such as drones and AI. Beyond mere educational support or social contribution, it seeks to create practical learning opportunities that lead to the resolution of regional issues and promote the development of new regional DX models through industry-academia-government collaboration. Furthermore, by leveraging the educational programs and operational know-how accumulated through this initiative, the aim is to expand it to other municipalities and educational institutions in the future, and to connect it to business development in the fields of smart agriculture and education DX.

We will build a system that nurtures the next generation of successors for the entire region by bringing together the strengths of industry, government, and academia.

Collaboration Items

Based on this agreement, the three parties will promote the following initiatives for the development of human resources responsible for smart agriculture and regional DX:

(1) Implementation of educational programs, courses, and training utilizing digital technologies such as drones and AI

Practical learning opportunities will be provided to students of Oono Agriculture High School, allowing them to experience drone operation, aerial photography of fields, and analysis of acquired data.

(2) Planning and implementation of joint demonstration experiments for the utilization of digital technologies in the agricultural sector

In collaboration with educational sites and the region, we will verify the potential applications of smart agriculture technologies and advance initiatives that lead to the resolution of regional issues.

(3) Initiatives for resolving regional issues and fostering next-generation human resources utilizing digital technologies

We will work to develop human resources who support the digitalization of the regional society and industry by leveraging the knowledge and resources of industry, government, and academia.

Digital Information Technology Co., Ltd.

As an independent IT company, it develops system development and DX support services. Based at its "DX Business Lab Hakodate Branch" in Hakodate City and "Hokuto AI Satellite" in Hokuto City, it also engages in regional DX and digital human resource development through industry-academia-government collaboration.

(1) Capital Stock: 453 million yen (as of the end of June 2025) (2) Sales: 24.15 billion yen (Fiscal Year ending June 2025) (3) Establishment: January 4, 2002 (4) Location: FORECAST Sakurabashi 5F, 4-5-4 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (5) Representative: Satoshi Ichikawa, Representative Director, President and CEO (6) Number of Employees: 1,630 (consolidated) (as of the end of December 2025) (7) Homepage: https://www.ditgroup.jp/