Dr. Toru Kuroda received the B.S., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1980, 1982 and 1997 respectively. He joined Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) in 1982 and became a senior researcher at Science & Technology Research Laboratories (NHK STRL) in 1997. From 2012, he served as Deputy Director, and from 2014 to 2018, Director of NHK STRL.

He has promoted the digitization of broadcasting, and 4K8K systems, etc. for many years and has contributed significantly to the technological development of the broadcasting field. In particular, regarding the digitization of terrestrial television broadcasting, he has played a central role from the fundamental research to the practical application of digital broadcasting and has achieved remarkable works.

He proposed the ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting - Terrestrial) system, a digital terrestrial television broadcasting system that enable the simultaneous transmission of high-definition and one-segment contents within a 6 MHz channel bandwidth which is the same as that of analog broadcasting. In addition, he promoted the standardization of the ISDB-T system at the Telecommunications Technology Council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and the R&D group on Digital Broadcasting Systems of the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB). This system was approved in 1999 as the standard of Japanese digital terrestrial television broadcasting. He also promoted standardization activities at the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) internationally. This system was recommended as one of the global standard systems by the ITU-R in 2000 and has been widely put into practical use in Brazil and other countries.

He has served as Chief of the Working Group of the ARIB R&D group on Digital Broadcasting Systems and Chief of Operation Regulations of the Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting (D-pa), and he took the lead in coordinating with commercial broadcasters and receiver manufacturers. As a result, Japanese commercial digital terrestrial television broadcasting began in December 2003. After that, he served as chair of the ARIB R&D group on Digital Broadcasting Systems until November 2014. He continued to formulate and revise standards related to digital broadcasting, contributing to the spread and promotion of digital terrestrial broadcasting. His contribution has been highly praised in the improvement of broadcasting culture and the industrial field through the spread of TV receivers. In addition to digital terrestrial broadcasting, he also led pioneering research in the entire broadcasting field, including R&D and the standardization of FM multiplex broadcasting, promotion of 4K8K satellite broadcasting, internet utilization technology, and advanced program production technology.

For the above achievements, he has received numerous awards, including the Radio Achievement Award (the Award of the Chairman of the Board of ARIB), the ICT Business Promotion Special Award of the Telecommunications Association, the Japan Patent Attorneys Association Chairman's Award of the National Invention Award of Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation, the Funai Innovation Award of the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers (ITE), and the Achievement Award of IEICE. In addition, his leadership and high level of expertise are also recognized by his holding of important positions such as an associate member of the Science Council of Japan, an expert member of the Subcommittee on Technology Strategy of the Information and Communications Council of MIC, a visiting professor of the Research and Development Collaboration Headquarters of the National Institute of Informatics and a vice president of the ITE.

As mentioned above, Dr. Kuroda's contribution to technological innovation, mainly in the field of broadcasting and extending to the area of information communication, is highly remarkable, and we are convinced that Dr. Kuroda is a person who deserves the title of Honorary Member of the IEICE.