Call for Applicant Municipalities to serve as Host Site of the World Robot Summit

Japan is a country with the world’s largest number of domestically-operating industrial robots. Meanwhile, as shown by a decline in the productive-age population, a growth in labor shortage and social security costs, and aging societal infrastructures, Japan is also a frontrunner in facing many challenges among industrialized nations. To overcome these challenges, robots are expected to be utilized in society.

Against this backdrop, the New Robot Strategy was conceived by the Headquarters for Japan’s Economic Revitalization in February 2015. As one of the goals, the strategy stipulates the holding of an international robot competition in 2020.

• Through this event, METI will create the following opportunities:
  1. Accelerating R&D of robots and implementation of R&D achievements in society
  2. Bringing together worldwide attention-grabbing highly-advanced robotics technologies from inside and outside of Japan and striving to develop such technologies as much as possible
  3. Deepening public understanding of robots by practically overcoming challenges at sites, stimulating proactive discussion on the utilization of robots, and developing concrete methods therefor

METI decided to hold the World Robot Summit as the international robot competition described in the strategy and hereby announces that it calls for applicant municipalities that will provide a host site for this event in 2020.

Applicants should be municipalities in Japan. For details on eligibility, visit the following website.

October 4 (Tue.) to 31 (Mon.), 2016
Note: For details of the call, visit the following website:
http://www.meti.go.jp/information/publicoffer/kobo/k161004001.html (in Japanese)

October 4, 2016

Robotics Policy Office, Industrial Machinery Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau