Collaboration to Wakayama’s agricultural challenges through workation

Splashtop Inc. has partnered with Wakayama Prefecture to launch the “Wakayama Regional Issue-Solving Workation Project.”

The first project of this collaboration is focused on solving agricultural issues through “Agriculture DX.” This project, which aims to expand local businesses and create new businesses in the field of agriculture DX, will be developed in collaboration with Splashtop Inc., Wakayama Prefecture, Shirahama Town in Wakayama Prefecture, and Nanki Shirahama Airport Co., Ltd. Five participating companies will be recruited from March 8th to April 30th, 2023, to collaborate with farmers in Shirahama Town, Wakayama Prefecture, and propose advice and support for solving agricultural issues through Agriculture DX.

Wakayama Prefecture is known for having a high percentage of primary industry workers at 8.1%, which ranks 10th in Japan and is particularly outstanding in the Kinki region comprising two metropolitan areas and four prefectures. According to the Wakayama Prefecture Statistics Division, the agricultural output value in Wakayama Prefecture was 110.4 billion yen in 2020, of which 75.9 billion yen was in the fruit sector, followed by 14.1 billion yen in vegetables and 7.8 billion yen in rice. Wakayama Prefecture is particularly strong in fruit cultivation, including mandarins, plums, and persimmons, with the highest share in the country (20% for mandarins, 65% for plums, and 21% for persimmons), as well as peaches ranking 5th in the country and Japanese apricots and kiwifruits ranking 3rd in the country.

On the other hand, one of the challenges facing Wakayama Prefecture’s agriculture is the shortage of successors. Wakayama Prefecture’s long-term comprehensive plan formulated in 2017 advocates the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and human resource development. Through this collaboration with Splashtop, which has extensive experience and knowledge in remote access technology in the Japanese market, Wakayama Prefecture aims to acquire knowledge of Agriculture DX from various companies outside the prefecture to improve the profitability and attractiveness of agriculture and to solve the issue of acquiring young successors in Wakayama Prefecture’s agriculture.

Wakayama Prefecture has been promoting workation since 2017, ahead of other municipalities in Japan, and is now known as the “Holy Land of Workation.” It is developing various initiatives such as forums, tours, and information dissemination to promote workation throughout society. From 2017 to 2021, a total of 159 companies and 1,373 people experienced workation in Wakayama Prefecture.

Splashtop proposes a new way of working that allows people to work anytime and anywhere without being constrained by location. As a top-class provider of remote access solutions in the Japanese market, it has a wealth of experience and knowledge in remote access technology. By collaborating with Wakayama Prefecture, which has a track record of promoting workation with many companies and promoting workation projects in various business areas, Splashtop aims to contribute to solving issues and creating new businesses in various areas, including “Agriculture DX.”

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