Okinawa Churaumi Foundation overcomes digital transformation bottlenecks

Nao Kamizato, an assistant manager at the Okinawa Churaumi Foundation, shared a case study at kintone hive 2026 fukuoka regarding the challenges of digital transformation. The foundation, which manages sites like the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium and Shuri Castle Park, faced four primary issues: analog paper-based workflows, data silos in Excel, person-dependent processes, and structural barriers in existing SaaS solutions.

To address these, the foundation implemented kintone. Kamizato initially used JavaScript to customize applications to replicate complex existing workflows, which successfully gained staff approval. However, this led to a new problem: extreme person-dependency, where Kamizato became the sole individual capable of maintaining and fixing the systems. To overcome this “single-person IT department” bottleneck, the foundation implemented intensive training sessions to increase the number of app creators and IT staff within the organization.