Recherka and Ibaraki Prefectural Government Begin PoC for Next-Gen AI-OCR Project

Introduction

Recherka Inc., based in Minato-ku, Tokyo, has embarked on an exciting partnership with the Ibaraki Prefectural Government to conduct a Proof of Concept (PoC) for their advanced AI-OCR technology called RECERQA Scan. This initiative represents a significant step towards digitizing operations within local governance by addressing challenges faced with reading non-standard documents.

Background of PoC Implementation

Since the inauguration of Governor Kazuhiko Oikawa, Ibaraki Prefecture has been on a steadfast journey to realize digital transformation (DX). Within four months of taking office, the governor successfully elevated the usage of the electronic decision-making system from 13% to nearly 100%, demonstrating a strong commitment to reduce paper usage in administrative processes. The government has also implemented Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to cut down 75,000 hours of annual work and aims to integrate ChatGPT for further innovations in the upcoming year, achieving a time savings of 127 minutes monthly per employee.

However, despite these advancements, the manual input and visual checks of various paper documents such as payment slips and travel expense receipts remained a pressing issue. Traditional AI-OCR systems require tailored configurations and additional training for each document type, making them inadequate for the frequently changing formats in local government operations. Thus, the introduction of RECERQA Scan, capable of high-accuracy reading of unstructured documents without the need for extensive learning, was seen as a viable solution that led to the current PoC.

Reasons for Adopting RECERQA Scan

In considering future applications across different departments and document types, Recherka opted for RECERQA Scan due to its superior accuracy and ease-of-use.

Challenge	Traditional AI-OCR	Next-Gen AI-OCR: RECERQA Scan
------	-------------	-------------
Accuracy	Limited adaptability to non-standard formats, often reducing reading precision.	Maintains high accuracy across various formats, being a native AI solution.
Usability	Requires specifying coordinates for each document layout, leading to a cumbersome process.	No prior format learning needed; simply instruct it on the desired data points in Japanese to adapt to any format.

Recherka aims to validate the effectiveness of RECERQA Scan in the Ibaraki PoC, utilizing it as a case study to promote efficiency in municipalities nationwide.

Overview of the PoC

Duration: July to September 2025 (approximately three months)
Departments Involved: Accounting Bureau (Expenditure Management) / General Affairs Department (Travel Expense Settlement)
Documents for Verification:

- Accounting Bureau: Automating the categorization and data entry of invoices received from multiple suppliers during expenditure checks.
- General Affairs Department: Automating the input of various information such as accommodation details and meal inclusion extracted from diverse receipts needed for travel expense applications.

Main Verification Metrics: Document auto-detection, item extraction accuracy, and reduction in manual labor hours.

If effective results are achieved, Façade examines extending this solution to more operational flows or additional departments.

Comments

Inagaki, in charge of DX promotion at the Ibaraki Prefectural Government, noted, "The verification of payment slips and travel expenses under traditional OCR systems was challenging due to the need for template creation. With RECERQA Scan, seeing high-precision data extraction without worrying about formats was a revelation. We hope to validate its effectiveness during the PoC and accelerate our move away from paper dependencies as we consider its deployment across other departments."

Recherka's CEO, Shotaro Umeda, expressed, "RECERQA Scan was born from the need at my trading company to automate the manual data checking and entry of varied invoices and delivery slips. It stands out in its capacity to deliver high-accuracy results without format-specific configurations, thereby fitting seamlessly into document-heavy sectors like municipal operations. We are committed to thoroughly supporting the PoC at Ibaraki Prefecture to prove its efficacy and to assist in resolving similar challenges faced by municipalities across the nation."

About Recherka

Recherka's mission is to resolve previous challenges through the social implementation of AI. Their flagship solution, RECERQA, primarily focuses on supply chain management while integrating essential technologies such as Master Data Management (MDM), business automation (AI-RPA), and digitalizing analog data (AI-OCR). The company works diligently to leverage technology to solve persistent operational challenges faced by its clients.

Company: Recherka Inc.
CEO: Shotaro Umeda
Established: April 2022
Location: 6F Nakano Spring Building, 4-11-17 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Philosophy: Purpose: To turn everyone into a creative worker.
Mission: To address the "impossible" through practical AI implementations.
Website: Recherka Information
Details on RECERQA Scan: RECERQA Scan Details