Winners of FY2020 Awards Program Promoting Informatization

1. Outline of the awards program

METI will recognize individuals, companies and other entities that have played leading roles or achieved outstanding goals in the fields of: research and development of advanced information processing technologies, development of human resources with advanced IT skills, introduction of IT into companies left behind in IT utilization, securing safety in information processing, and other efforts for informatization.

This awards program has been held continuously since 1972. This fiscal year will be the 49th such occasion.

In the FY2020 program, as METI considers response measures to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as Japan’s highest prioritized issues, it designated the following four themes, which cover such response measures, for the category of important policies.

1. Contributions to measures against COVID-19 by taking advantage of information technologies;
2. Contributions to development of human resources with expertise in information technologies in Japan, e.g., IT and AI;
3. Contributions to related industries through social activities or those to information policies through related organizations, such as councils and committees; and
4. Other themes

2. Five winners of the METI Minister’s Awards under the FY2020 program

Note: For the reasons for selecting the winners, see the Appendix.

The Awards for Individuals

• Dr. Sekijima Masakazu, Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology
  Theme: Contributions to response measures to COVID-19

The Award for Companies

• Cybozu, Inc.
  Themes: Contributions to response measures to COVID-19 and contributions to information policies
• jig.jp Co. Ltd.
  Themes: Contributions to response measures to COVID-19
• SIGNATE Inc.
  Theme: Development of human resources
• Nakanihon-ro Kogyo Co., Ltd.
  Theme: Development of human resources

3. Commendation ceremony

• Date: November 30 (Mon.), 2020; from 16:00 to 16:20
• Venue: Room for the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, METI

Related documents

• The list of winners (in Japanese)

Division in Charge

IT Innovation Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau