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The University of Osaka won the Grand Prize in the Business Transformation Category of the Japan DX Awards 2025!
The University of Osaka won the Grand Prize, the highest award in the Business Transformation Category, at the Japan DX Awards 2025 ceremony (hosted by the Japan DX Awards Executive Committee) held on July 17, 2025.
The University of Osaka is promoting DX in education, research, and management based on its medium- to long-term plan, “OU Master Plan 2027.” Specific initiatives include building a university-wide common ID and human resources data platform, developing on- and off-campus services utilizing facial recognition and digital student/faculty and staff ID cards, and administrative innovations through the introduction of generative AI and implementing RPA for all staff members.
Such wide-ranging digital transformation initiatives under the title “OUDX: Towards a new Japanese university through university-wide DX," were highly praised, and led to this award winning. This is the first time ever that a university has won the Grand Prize in the same category of the award.
Evaluation points
The university was highly praised for its ability to execute university-wide DX across education, research, and management in such a huge organization. Not only has the university been successful in its own right, but it has also expanded its developed systems to other universities, with the strong will to improve the overall standard of higher education in Japan, which led to the Grand Prize.
The Japan DX Awards ceremony (The second from the left is Toru Yarimizu, Deputy Director of the OUDX Promotion Unit and Professor of the DX Research Division at the D3 Center, the second from the right is Futoshi Nakamura, Head of Office for Digital Strategy Advancement at Department of Information and Communications Technology Services, and the far right is Shinichi Kita, a Specialist of the same office)
Overview of the award-winning DX initiatives at The University of Osaka
Based on its medium- to long-term plan, the “OU Master Plan 2027," The University of Osaka is working to realize its slogan “A new form of Japanese university that supports each individual's life” through DX in education, research, and management.
The core of this is the "OUID (A university-wide common ID)/OU human resources data platform" project.
The purpose of this project is to build a data platform that collects, shares, collaborates, and co-creates information on the knowledge, experience, roles, and connections of all human resources (human capital) related to the university's research in a wide range of academic fields. By enhancing education, research, and management, and realizing lifelong exchange with the university's human resources, the university’s DX and global competitiveness will be strengthened. This has enabled the university to achieve both "strategic partnership" and "vibrant frontlines" by building an integrated ID and data utilization platform for all personnel related to the university, from pre-enrollment high school students to alumni, parents, and local residents. It also has utilized the facial recognition technology and collecting and deploying on-and off-campus services using digital student /faculty staff ID card as a super app. These are world-first achievements that leverage Japan's strengths in facial recognition technology, which boasts world-class accuracy, and the university is working to implement them in society together with central government offices and private companies.
The OUID (A university-wide common ID)/OU human resources data platform
Moreover, as DX needs organizational transformation through digital technology, the university believes that development of human resources is critical to promote it. The university has not only implemented a generative AI environment and bottom-up RPA for all administrative staff (approx. 1,600 people), the largest scale of any university in Japan, but also launched a completely in-house produced human resource development program with members of Department of Information and Communications Technology Services as instructors. By doing so, the number of staff who are practicing IT has become larger and greatly contributed to enhance the university's DX promotion system.
There are approximately 800 universities in Japan and each of them is building a similar system with a limited budget. By providing the systems it has built to other universities and research institutions, the University of Osaka will contribute to strengthening the global competitiveness of such institutions with the idea of "Education and research content will compete" but "Systems will be co-created".
Going forward, the university will continue to create services that will please the students, faculty, staff, and alumni who belong to its community, while also accelerating the efforts to monitor global standards and advanced universities worldwide, implement cutting-edge university DX as an internationally outstanding research university in order to lead Japanese universities.
About the Japan DX Awards
The Japan DX Awards recognizes initiatives that solve social and business issues and realize sustainable growth and well-being through DX.
The essence of DX is not simply introducing digital technology, but transforming the organizations and society. This award aims to uncover and widely disseminate excellent DX case studies, thereby accelerating the DX promotion throughout Japan. (Cited from the Japan DX Awards Website)
There were 158 applications, the highest number ever, and total of 24 finalists including The University of Osaka, were selected.