JichiTIME Meetup: Extended Edition

JichiTIME Meet Up is a recurring meetup that creates openings for local governments and startups to meet. This special extended edition combines a local government innovation short pitch session with the usual MEETUP, and runs longer than normal, from 15:00 to 17:30. It is aimed at entrepreneurs who want to build government-linked projects and at public officials looking for startup partners. The program has three parts. First, a co-creation pitch session presents concrete collaborations between local governments and startups, with the presenting startups also hosting booths in the networking area. Next, a run of short regional innovation pitches lets many municipalities and partner organizations lay out their regional challenges, open themes, and collaboration needs in quick succession. The event closes with booth exhibitions and open networking. Presenting bodies include Tochigi, Wakayama, Gunma, Aomori, Miyagi and Hiroshima prefectures, the cities of Sendai, Kumamoto, Nagoya, Utsunomiya, Hamamatsu, Okayama, Sakai, Miyazaki, Komatsu, Takamatsu, Kobe, Toyota and Toyohashi, the Miyazaki Open City Promotion Council, and Joyo Bank in the regional bank slot. Cooperation is provided by 01Booster. The venue is Square 1 on the first floor of TIB (Tokyo Innovation Base). There is no capacity limit and attendees may come and go freely, with reception opening at 14:30. Entry requires membership registration in the TIB app and presentation of a QR code, so signing up in advance is recommended.