NICT Diversity Day 2025 was held on January 24.

On January 24, the NICT Diversity Promotion Office hosted "NICT Diversity Day 2025" for NICT officers and employees, in a hybrid format, with both in-person participation at the headquarters （Koganei-shi) and remote participation online. A total of 154 participants joined from across the institute (78 in person and 76 online), along with five external experts.

This year, with the theme "Thinking of Diversity as a Personal Matter – Each Individual is a Minority," we aimed to provide an opportunity for NICT’s officers and employees to reflect on diversity and held discussions towards achieving the diversity that NICT strives for.

In the morning, following the President's greeting and a report on the activities of the Diversity Promotion Office, two sessions were held: an open discussion and an invited lecture. The open discussion featured three external experts and three employee panelists, who engaged in lively discussions while leveraging their respective areas of expertise. In Session 1, simultaneous interpretation audio output and subtitle broadcasting were provided using NICT's multilingual speech translation technology.

Following the open discussion, we were honored to invite Yoko Komiyama, former NHK commentator and announcer, who also served as Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs, to deliver a special lecture. The lecture, titled "Diversity for Both Companies and Individuals: From the Experience of Balancing Work and Childcare," offered valuable insights and personal experiences she shared.

In the afternoon, a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training using VR was conducted by Silverwood Co., Ltd. Based on a prior survey conducted within the institute, three themes—"dementia," "developmental disorders," and "LGBTQ"—were selected. Participants experienced these topics through VR from the perspective of those directly affected, and then shared their thoughts and opinions in smaller groups of three to four.

The program offered officers and employees an opportunity to reflect on diversity as a personal matter.

◆Program◆

Morning Session
・President's Opening Remarks ：TOKUDA Hideyuki, President, NICT
・Report on the Activities of the Diversity Promotion Office: MORIAI Shiho, Senior Executive Director / Executive Director of Strategic Planning Department / Director of Diversity Promotion Office, NICT

・Session 1: Open Discussion
　Moderator:
　ISHI Kensuke, Chief of Advanced Speech Technology Laboratory, Advanced Speech Translation Research and Development Promotion Center, Universal Communication Research Institute, NICT
　Panelist:
　IMAI Tomohiro, Executive officer, IBM Japan, Ltd.
　Dr. SASAKI Narie, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo
　YOSHIDA Shinichi, Japan Para Table Tennis Association National Team Coach
　MORIAI Shiho, Senior Executive Director / Executive Director of Strategic Planning Department / Director of Diversity Promotion Office, NICT
　Ved Prasad Kafle, Research Manager of Network Architecture Laboratory, Network Research Institute, NICT
　Perwitasari Septi, Senior Researcher of Space Environment Laboratory, Radio Propagation Research Center, Radio Research Institute, NICT

・Session 2: Invited lecture
Speaker: KOMIYAMA Yoko, former NHK commentator and announcer, former Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, former Minister of State for Gender Equality and Social Affairs.
Lecture Title: "Diversity for Both Companies and Individuals: From the Experience of Balancing Work and Childcare,"

Afternoon Session
・Session 3: VR DE&I Training + Group Discussion
　Instructor: KURODA Maiko, Silverwood Co., Ltd
　Theme: ”DE&I VR Workshop: Turning Awareness into Personal Understanding Through First-Hand Experiences：’dementia,’ ‘developmental disorders,’ and ‘LGBTQ’”
Closing Remarks:DOI Miwako, Auditor, NICT

＊Affiliations/titles reflect those held at the time of the event.