〜Toshiharu Aoki (NTT Data)〜

    It is a great honor for me to serve as Chair of the IEEE Tokyo Section for the two-year term beginning January 2007.
    I am encouraged by the way members of the Tokyo Section actively participate in various engineering society activities both in Japan and abroad, as members of the IEEE. In the short time since I began to serve as Chair and became more directly involved in the Section’s activities, I have been pleasantly surprised at the high level of these activities and have developed a deep respect for the members.
    While most other engineering societies in Japan are suffering from a decline in their membership, it is outstanding that Japanese membership of the IEEE is increasing. Of course, this increase is largely due to the energetic activities of the members. It is also a fact that the IEEE has certain attractive aspects that are absent in domestic societies. By building on, and developing, these appealing features, I hope to contribute to enhancing the research activities of members through the further development of the IEEE.
    The range of fields covered by the IEEE is extremely wide, and over the years since its inception, the IEEE has contributed to the development of industry and the economy through stimulating the production of research results. Recently the progress in technology in the field of IT or ICT, has given birth to various products and businesses, which are now widely accepted. These are having a great influence in changing people’s lifestyles and sense of values. These changes are, in turn, spawning further new industries, and accelerating a change in the industrial structure. In other words, the mission of the technologies covered by the IEEE has changed from one of mainly contributing to the development of the associated individual industries to one of applying technologies to create new industries, while changing the sense of values and demands of consumers along the way. Innovation is taking place in almost all fields of business, such as finance, physical distribution, content provision, and manufacturing, but I would say that this innovation has been driven not so much by the desire to produce useful and interesting things as by the need to respond to changes in the sense of values of consumers and to modify the industries themselves to adapt to such changes. This means that it is more important than ever before to recognize that our research results have a serious influence on society, and, to capture the demands and requirements from society carefully and accurately when undertaking research and development.
    It is a pleasure to work with the members to further enhance the activities of the IEEE Tokyo Section.

2007/2008年IEEE Tokyo Section Offficers and Excutive Commitee
2007/2008年IEEE Tokyo Section Standing Commitees