NICT Diversity Day 2026 was held on January 23.
2026/3/17
On January 23, 2026, NICT Diversity Promotion Office hosted “NICT Diversity Day 2026” in a hybrid format, with both onsite at NICT Headquarters (Koganei-shi) and online, for all NICT officers and employees. This year marked the third time the event has been held.
With the theme “Diversity is power - NICT Diversity Future Conference –“, this year’s event aimed to encourage more employees to see NICT’s envisioned future as their own concern and foster an environment where they can participate proactively.
A total of 149 participants attended the event: 44 onsite and 105 online. To create an inclusive environment for participants with diverse backgrounds, the venue offered simultaneous Japanese–English and English–Japanese subtitles, along with multilingual speech translation using SI-Chat for both onsite and online attendees.
Following President Tokuda’s opening remarks and Diversity Promotion Office’s annual activity report, Professor Shintaro Yamaguchi of the Graduate School of Economics at the University of Tokyo delivered a special lecture. Using the latest research data, he spoke about the positive impact diversity brings to organizations.
Key points included:
•Bringing together diverse talent enhances creativity and problem-solving skills, leading to research achievements and innovation.
•Diversity does not naturally emerge; behind its absence lies unconscious bias.
•To translate diversity into tangible results, not only mindset reform but also “structural frameworks” are essential.
These insights provided an opportunity to consider concrete directions for organizational initiatives.
In the subsequent panel discussion, the panelist included President Tokuda; Nakagawa, Director General, Radio Research Institute; Mabuchi, Director of General Planning Office, Cybersecurity Research Institute; and Hosoda, Group Leader, Labor Affairs Group, Personnel Affairs Office, General Affairs Department, who joined Professor Yamaguchi on stage. The session was moderated by Itaya, Dierector of the Diversity Promotion Office. Building on the special lecture, the panelists exchanged multifaceted, practical perspectives on ensuring that diversity promotion does not end as a temporary initiative but becomes embedded as part of the organizational culture, including the need for alignment with evaluation systems and institutional frameworks. Many questions were raised by participants, reflecting the high level of interest.
After the program concluded, free networking time was provided, during which participants exchanged opinions while viewing videos and materials exhibited at the venue.
Through this event, the importance of promoting diversity as a key initiative for the entire NICT organization was reaffirmed, offering an opportunity for each officer and staff member to become actively involved. Based on the insights and suggestions gained from the event, NICT will continue to advance more effective initiatives and environmental improvements to further accelerate diversity promotion within the organization.
◆Program◆
- Opening Remarks: TOKUDA Hideyuki, President
- Report on the Activities of the Diversity Promotion Office: ITAYA Satoko, Director of Diversity Promotion Office
- Special Lecture
Speaker: YAMAGUCHI Shintaro, Professor, Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo
Lecture Title: Evidence-Based Approaches to Workplace Diversity: From Awareness to System Design- Seat Transfer - - Panel discussion
Moderator: ITAYA Satoko, Director of Diversity Promotion Office
Expert: YAMAGUCHI Shintaro, Professor, Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo
Panelist：
TOKUDA Hideyuki, President
NAKAGAWA Katsuhiro, Director General, Radio Research Institute
MABUCHI Naoko, Director of General Planning Office, Cybersecurity Research Institute
HOSODA Yuriko, Group Leader, Labor Affairs Group, Personnel Affairs Office, General Affairs Department
- Closing Remarks: MORIAI Shiho, Senior Executive Director
＊Affiliations/titles reflect those held at the time of the event.