NEC Unveils Speaker Roster for Visionary Week 2021

NEC has unveiled the speaker lineup for this year’s Visionary Week conference. The virtual event is scheduled for September 16 and 17, though all of the sessions will be available on demand until October 30.

Visionary Week 2021 began with an opening keynote from NEC President and CEO Takayuki Morita, who took the stage from 15:00-15:20 (JST) on September 16. Other presenters include Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh and Gavi Deputy CEO Anuradha Gupta. Gavi is the Vaccine Alliance, and has worked with NEC to use biometric identification to improve vaccination rates for children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Star Alliance, meanwhile, has partnered with NEC to enable biometric screening at airports all over the world.

Mihoko Kashiwakura, Naoki Tani, and Hans Jayatissa are some of the other executives that will be taking the stage during the two-day event. Kashiwakura is the Head of East Asia Relations for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while Tani is the CTO, EVP, and Executive GM of the R&D Division at NTT DOCOMO and Jayatissa is the CTO of KMD.

The theme for Visionary Week 2021 is “Seize the Future Together.” In plain terms, that means that the speakers will be trying to explain how breakthroughs in fields like 5G and AI can create tangible benefits for society at large, and how those technologies can fuel a more sustainable and collaborative environment. The goal is to present a shared vision of the future, with solutions and case studies that show organizations how to tackle digital transformation and address pressing challenges like COVID-19.

“NEC Visionary Week is the most important event of the year for NEC to present a shared vision of the future and showcase key initiatives that contribute to achieving this goal,” said NEC CMO Makoto Enomoto. “Through the NEC Visionary Week, we look forward to meeting and engaging with our global guests, building further trust in our brand, and exploring how we can co-create a brighter and more sustainable future.”

Last year’s Visionary Week ran from December 1-4. Contactless biometrics was one of the main topics of conversation at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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August 16, 2021 – by Eric Weiss