Toshifumi Sato
[Inaugural address of the ISJ President]
（from Journal of imaging Society of Japan, Vol.61, No.4. 2022）
Thank you very much for your continued support for the activities of the Imaging Society of Japan.
At the 2022 Annual Assembly of the Imaging Society of Japan, which was held online on the first day of the ICJ 2022 Annual Meeting held from June 22 to 24, this year’s officers were approved. As reported at the general meeting, I will continue to serve as ISJ President. For the next two years, I will do my best to manage the society together with two vice-presidents, Prof. Norihisa Kobayashi (Chiba University) and Dr. Masahiko Fujii (Keio University). We look forward to your cooperation.
At the commendation ceremony after the annual general meeting, Distinguished Service Award, Paper Award, Technology Award (2), Research Encouragement Award (3), ISJ President’s Special Award, Fellow Membership Certification, Konica Minolta Science and Technology Foundation Research Grant was awarded. In addition, the 3rd certification ceremony (3 cases) of “Copying machine Heritage”,established to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Imaging Society of Japan in 2018, was held. Congratulations to all the award winners. All of them are due to remarkable achievements, and I would like to express my gratitude and congratulations for their activities so far.
Since 2020, our activities have been restricted because of the COVID-19. During this, web conferencing, which had been a special thing until now, became commonplace. The use of tools that enable online communication equivalent to face-to-face communication is progressing. This year’s ICJ2022 Annual Conference was held online using the virtual space “oVice” and Zoom. The way the participants’ avatars move in the virtual space is as if they were looking down at the real venue, participating in author’s interviews, exhibitions, and talking in the venue. I believe that we were able to promote mutual communication. Over the past two years, we have set up an online WG, and based on our achievements in supporting various participatory events, we will re-recognize the advantages and disadvantages of online that have emerged so far and share information. We believe that it is necessary to reflect it in the future management of the society and utilize the online tools that continue to evolve day by day to ultimately contribute to the benefits of the members. In addition, I believe that online meetings without physical movement restrictions will become established as the new normal in the “with” and “after” times of COVID-19 as the technology advances.
In June of this year, the Cabinet Office announced the 2022 Priority Policy for Women’s Participation and Gender Equality (Women’s Edition Basic Policy 2022). In the achievement of this IV female appointment target (4) Science and Technology/Academic Fields, they wrote “Promoting gender equality in science, technology and academia and incorporating diverse perspectives into research and technology development are important because they lead to the creation of gendered innovation”. The contents are centered on measures to promote women in academia such as universities and to attract female students in science and engineering departments at universities. It refers to “promoting the appointment of women in science, technology and academia”.
Over the past few years, the Society has been working to revitalize its activities from a perspective unique to women. In addition to the excellent female members of the company who have been active in each subcommittee of the technical committee, a female director will be appointed to manage the society from 2021. We will continue to work on this as an academic organization.
It is well-known that society is changing faster than we can imagine, and that the image-related field is undergoing a remarkable transformation. We must make use of the core technical area of our society, and work on new technological areas, including interdisciplinary areas. To realize it, human resource development and utilization of human resources are essential. We would like many members, regardless of gender, to be actively involved in the society, and we will develop various projects to revitalize the society. Furthermore, we will contribute to the development of imaging technology through cooperation with related academic societies in Japan and overseas, and efforts by the Federation of Imaging Societies. Preparations are going for our fall conference, with hybrid style for both face-to-face and online conference in the Tokai or Kansai regions. We will inform you details through the home page.
The Imaging Society of Japan hopes to develop together with its members. We would like to receive your candid opinions, advice, and suggestions regarding the activities of the society. We appreciate your continued support.