Preferred Networks CEO Toru Nishikawa to Give Keynote Speech at CEATEC JAPAN 2018

August 2, 2018

The CEATEC JAPAN Executive Board – consisting of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, the Communications and Information Network Association of Japan, and the Computer Software Association of Japan – has announced that CEATEC JAPAN 2018 will feature a keynote speech given by Preferred Networks CEO Toru Nishikawa on October 16. The topic will be “Robots for Everyone”. CEATEC JAPAN 2018 is a comprehensive exhibition bringing together innovative CPS/IoT technologies from a wide range of businesses and industries. It will be held from October 16 (Tuesday) to 19 (Friday) at Makuhari Messe in Mihama-ku, Chiba-city.

As CEATEC JAPAN continues to evolve from a consumer electronics trade fair to a comprehensive CPS/IoT exhibition, 2018 will see sweeping improvements to the conference sessions. These feature the new “CEATEC Keynote Future” series in which young entrepreneurs like Mr. Nishikawa make keynote speeches that project a vision of the future.

Regarding his keynote speech, Mr. Nishikawa has said “With advances in machine learning technologies, the potential for robots has dramatically expanded. The convergence of machine-learning technologies and robotics is indispensable if robots are to respond flexibly to a wide range of situations and work closely with people. In the future, we will surely see more people benefitting from what robots can offer. I will discuss how technology will be used in this new era of robotics, discussing current technologies and their future prospects, and announcing our company’s new initiatives.”

Mr. Nishikawa participated in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC) while studying for a master’s degree at the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo. He established Preferred Infrastructure to develop software using technologies such as information searching, natural language processing, machine learning and distributed systems. With the advent of IoT, he established Preferred Networks to accelerate initiatives for deep learning, which is expected to lead to various large-scale data-processing technologies. The company aims at innovations in various fields centered on the 3 crucial areas of transport systems, manufacturing and biotech/healthcare. While further developing its Chainer™ open-source deep learning framework, it works with world-class organizations such as Toyota, Fanuc and the National Cancer Center Japan.

Mr. Nishikawa’s keynote speech will start at 12:30 pm on October 16 (Tuesday) in the Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall. From August 10 (Friday) it will be possible to make reservations online for most of the conferences, including the keynote speeches, held during the exhibition period using the CEATEC JAPAN official website(http://www.ceatec.com/).