I am honored to serve as IEEE Kansai Section Chair for two years starting in 2023. I served as Chair of the Student Activities Committee (SAC) for four years from 2011 to 2014, as Chair of the Chapter Operations Committee (COC) for four years from 2015 to 2018, and as Past Chair of the COC for two years from 2019 to 2020. I am honored to have this opportunity to support the activities of the Kansai Section as the Section Chair. As the 13th Section Chair since the establishment of the Kansai Section, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the past Section Chairs, Officers, and Board Members who have supported the development of the Kansai Section and thank them for their great contribution to the Kansai Section.

IEEE stands for IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a U.S.-based international association of electrical, electronic, and information engineers, which publishes journals in the field of electrical and electronic technology, organizes international conferences, and promotes the development of standards. IEEE's organization includes the Technical Activities Board (TAB), which supports these technical activities, and the Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) Board, which supports member services and regional activities. Regional activities organizations include, for example, Region 10 in the Asia-Pacific region, the Japan Council, in which all members residing in Japan participate, and the IEEE Kansai Section, which is the organization most familiar to members residing in the Kansai region.

IEEE activities in Japan initially covered all of Japan under the name "Tokyo Section". Later, in order to better serve the increasing number of members, the Section shifted to a structure of eight Sections in November 1998 and nine Sections in 2006. One of these eight sections, the Kansai Section, has been working to improve services to IEEE members in the Kansai area for 25 years to date. From approximately 1,300 members at the time of its establishment, the number of members has increased by approximately 800 and now stands at approximately 2,100. During this period, through the efforts of past officers, the Chapters have been enhanced to provide services to members in various technical fields, various award programs have been established to encourage young researchers to participate in IEEE activities actively, and the Student Branchs (SB) have been established to provide services to student members. The Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group supports the activities of female members, the Young Professional (YP) Affinity Group supports and fosters the activities of younger members, and the Life Member Affinity Group (LMAG) was established to enhance the skills of experienced life members further, contribute to the local community, and promote interaction among members.

The Kansai Section was established in 1998; this year (2023) will mark its 25th anniversary. Over the past 25 years, the scope of our activities has greatly expanded, the age range of our members has considerably broadened, and we believe that we have become firmly established as an academic organization in the Kansai region. We would like to continue our efforts to provide a fruitful forum where Kansai Section members can exchange not only academic information but also a variety of other information on a daily basis and make many acquaintances. In particular, we would like to devise ways to nurture our younger members so that they can have opportunities to meet communities outside of their workplaces and universities. The officers and board members of the Kansai Section will continue to work together to provide opportunities for members to exchange information with each other, and we hope that you will actively participate in the activities of the Kansai Section. We also as! k for the cooperation of our members in developing vibrant Kansai Section activities.

Yoshinobu Kajikawa
IEEE Kansai Section Chair