Greetings from the New President

I am honored to have been appointed President of the Communications Society for the 2025 fiscal year. Having attended the Board of Directors meetings over the past year as President-Elect, I now feel the full weight of responsibility as I take office. Building on the achievements of the previous Executive Committees and adapting to changing circumstances, I am committed to further revitalizing the Communications Society. I sincerely ask for your support throughout my one-year term.

The year 2025 is expected to be one of changes both for the IEICE as a whole and for the Communications Society. The recent surge in prices has placed increasing pressure on the Society’s operations. While technical meetings have been recovering and regaining vitality since the pandemic, the financial burden of supporting these activities is becoming a significant challenge for both the Communications Society and the entire IEICE. This year will be an important one for discussing and determining how the Communications Society should continue to support technical meetings in a sustainable manner.

On the internationalization front, our flagship international conference, ICETC, will be held jointly with APCC in Osaka this November. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Organizing Committees, all accepted papers will be published in IEEE Xplore, which is expected to further enhance ICETC’s international recognition. Building on this success, ICETC 2026 is being considered for its first-ever overseas hosting. In recent years, we have moved the publication platforms of the IEICE Transactions on Communications and the IEICE Communication Express to IEEE Xplore, with accepted papers made openly accessible. Moving forward, we will continue implementing measures to further strengthen the international presence of both the Communications Society and the IEICE.

Regarding services for our members, we are entering the implementation phase of initiatives for industry–academia collaboration, a project launched under the strong leadership of Past President, Prof. Nakao, and discussed extensively in recent years. While the specific implementation format is still under consideration, we plan to introduce new activities that will directly benefit our members. Along with reviewing existing measures, we will strive to improve member services to ensure that Society activities are meaningful and valuable. We also aim to provide attractive activities for non-members, thereby addressing the issue of declining membership.

The successful implementation of these initiatives would not be possible without the understanding and cooperation of all members involved in the technical committees, the editorial board, and the planning and member activities committee. I humbly ask for your continued support and collaboration in advancing the activities of the Communications Society in the coming year.