As Impact Ecosystem Builder for TOY8, a support activity delivered under our hyumpact ventures service line, we are delighted to announce the publication of the research project report 「Advancing Inclusive Education from the early ages in ASEAN using AI and digital technologies」 realized in collaboration with the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

​The research project report explores inclusive early childhood care and education in Malaysia, with a particular focus on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies into developmental screening and intervention for preschool-aged children.

The research project report available for download at the ERIA Publications centre here is co-authored by Bruno Abrioux Takano, TOY8 Impact Ecosystem Builder, hyumpact ventures at encognize G.K., Chui Yee Chong, TOY8 Child Development Support Manager and Masaki Ishibashi, TOY8 Co-Founder and CEO.

Report Abstract
(source: ERIA Publications Research Project Reports)

This report explores inclusive early childhood care and education in Malaysia, with a particular focus on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies into developmental screening and intervention for preschool-aged children.
While Malaysia has established a strong policy foundation for inclusion, significant challenges remain. Access to screening and intervention services is still limited, fragmented, and uneven, particularly for children aged three to six.
To help address these systemic gaps, TOY8 proposes an Inclusive Education 2.0 model that leverages AI-powered, mobile-based developmental screening tools and a digitalised Individual Education Programme (IEP). This model is designed to enable early identification of developmental delays, streamline individualised intervention, and strengthen collaboration amongst stakeholders.
Initial pilot studies in Sarawak have shown promising results, including improved detection rates, shorter delays in intervention, and strengthened inclusive practices.
The report concludes by calling for strategic policy reforms, cross-sectoral collaboration, and investment in scalable, ethically grounded digital solutions to accelerate the development of inclusive education systems in Malaysia.

【About TOY8】
By leveraging AI, digital tools and structured pathways to facilitate the early identification of developmental delays, provide targeted intervention support, and ensure smooth transitions into inclusive learning environments for preschoolers, TOY8 aims to address critical gaps and challenges that governments often encounter in implementing inclusive education systems for the early ages, starting in Malaysia and now expanding to other countries in the APAC region.

【About ERIA】
ERIA is an international organisation established in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2008 through a formal agreement amongst the leaders of 16 East Asian countries. Its mission is to conduct research and provide policy recommendations to advance economic integration across the region.

【About hyumpact ventures】
hyumpact ventures is the encognize G.K. service line dedicated to helping innovative companies that can make a net positive impact to our world amplify their impact globally through ecosystem building and fractional expansion support services.

As we enter 2025, let me first thank all our business partners: entrepreneurs, startups, scale-ups, Small & Medium Businesses, corporations, innovation service providers and government entities for riding the innovation and impact journey with us in 2024.
More than ever, we are committed to delivering more value to all of you throughout 2025.

2024 Q4 has not been short of activities, guiding and advising many of you directly and in programmatic approaches in defining and achieving your innovation objectives and expansion goals.
Non-exhaustively, here are some activities to which we contributed to in 2024 Q4:

• providing market entry guidance to 15 startups focused on accessibility and technology solutions addressing the needs of impaired, disabled and differently-abled individuals as part of the 2024 Korea-Singapore IR & Business Meeting organized by DEBC (Disabled Enterprise Business Center),
• delivering strategic guidance and feedback to 7 early-stage Austrian FinTech startups seeking to expand into Singapore and the broader Southeast Asia as part of the GIN Austria Go Singapore 2024 program powered by Austria Wirtschafts Service and supported by Advantage Austria, 
• providing practical recommendations for Japan market entry to 12 Asia-HQ'd startups preparing their visit to Fukuoka as part of a Plug and Play Japan initiative,
• advising on Southeast Asia market entry strategies to 15 growth-stage Korean startups participating in SWITCH 2024 as part of KSC IR Day organized by KOSME (Korea SME and Startups Agency),
• acting as selection jury and final jury members for during HACK OSAKA 2024 for both JETRO Global Startup Pitch and GET IN THE RING pitch competition,
• acting as a trusted-advisor and providing actionable recommendations on specific business growth and impact enablement matters to a focused group of Asia-based women-founded ClimateTech startups selected for the UN Women - CLIMATE TECH ACCELERATOR, a program implemented with the support of SHE LOVES TECH and funded by the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Of course, our encognize team will not stop here...
This year, we will continue to support entrepreneurs across the globe, focusing primarily on cross border expansion support and impact enablement support through our 「XBORDR」 and 「hyumpact ventures」 service lines respectively.

Watch out this space for more announcements soon!

Bruno & Brian
encognize G.K., Cross Border Innovation Partners

Aligned with our primary mission to support innovative companies develop and grow their business internationally in a direct approach or through partner initiatives, our encognize G.K. team was involved in the delivery of the following engagements over this summer 2024 (among others):

• IMPACT - through our 「hyumpact ventures」 service line, we have provided direct support to Toy8, a Japanese/Malaysian EdTech・HealthTech startup offering a mobile, AI-based early childhood developmental screening and intervention solution. And we are very proud to share that the Toy8 team has won the ERIA 2024 One ASEAN Startup Award at the 2nd pre-event held in Kuala Lumpur! Congratulations to the Toy8 Team for this achievement that will for sure help increase their impact in ASEAN. Additional impact activities provided by our team also included for instance the contribution to the conceptual design of a Japanese project dedicated to Inaka Revitalization through responsible tourism.
• GROW - as part of our 「synaptik」 service line, we were proud to support SHE LOVES TECH, the world's largest acceleration platform for women and technology,  through the provision of mentoring sessions to four of their East Asia 2024 COMPETIT10N finalist companies offering solutions in sectors as diverse as FemTech, Circular economy, sustainability and Medical/Health DX. We also directly supported in their development journey a Singapore-based Alt. Material startup with a first product positioned at the intersection of textile and sustainability.
• EXPAND - beyond the on-going support to our current 「XBORDR」 portfolio companies, we helped NautilusLog, a German company focused on Maritime DX thanks to a smart data management and automation platform, shape their initial Go-To-Market Strategy for Japan through mentoring sessions organized as part of a Start2 programme. 

Please, do not hesitate to contact us here if you are interested in discovering more about our cross-border innovation activities!