Date ： 11-12 December 2025
Venue ： NICT Nihonbashi Innovation Center, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan
Host ： NICT (Japan) and UKRI-EPSRC (UK), with the support of MIC (Japan) and DSIT (UK)
Participants ： Approximately 150 participant attendances over two days
This forum was held to strengthen collaboration between Japan and the UK in the field of information and communications technology and to advance concrete plans for joint research. It was positioned as a venue for matching researchers and narrowing down priority research themes, focusing on three main areas: connectivity through NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks), AI applications and digital network technologies in communication systems, and advanced optical networks. Participants from universities, companies, research institutions, and government bodies in both Japan and the UK engaged in lively discussions. Rather than following a conventional one-way lecture format, the programme was designed to encourage active participation, with a strong emphasis on interaction and exchange of views.
On the first day, following opening remarks by representatives from both countries and introductions by the organising bodies, a networking session with self-introductions helped build mutual understanding among researchers and laid the groundwork for discussion. The invited talks and pitch sessions that followed shared research trends and key challenges in each field and offered concrete insights into the potential for future joint research. A keynote lecture and evening reception also helped strengthen personal networks among researchers and stakeholders from Japan and the UK. On the second day, discussions were deepened mainly through poster sessions, where participants engaged in small-group, face-to-face exchanges on each technical theme. With support from facilitators, participants organised possible directions and keywords for future collaboration and finally shared the outcomes of discussions in each theme. Overall, the forum provided a valuable opportunity to move Japan-UK research cooperation forward in a tangible way.
Please refer to “1st UK-Japan ACT Innovation Forum Report” for the detailed report.
Group Photo of the 1st Japan-UK Forum
Date ： 6 March 2026
Venue ： Whitehall, Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Organisers ： UKRI-EPSRC (UK) and NICT (Japan), with the support of DSIT (UK) and MIC (Japan)
Participants ： Approximately 100 participants
This forum was the second venue for discussion and exchange, held in the United Kingdom following the first forum in Tokyo, with the aim of making joint research between Japan and the UK in the field of information and communications technology more concrete. Building on the research themes shared at the first forum, researchers, related organisations, and government stakeholders from both countries gathered again and deepened discussions toward the implementation of joint research. The main focus remained the same three areas as in the first forum: connectivity through NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks), AI applications and digital network technologies in communication systems, and advanced optical networks. At the opening, remarks were delivered by the organisers and relevant ministries, and the basic policy of strengthening Japan-UK collaboration in information and communications technology was shared.
The programme featured keynote and invited talks introducing, from the Japanese side, disaster-response drones and 6G-related research, and from the UK side, research trends and developments in the communications industry with a focus on AI. These presentations helped both sides share their respective strengths and key concerns. In the panel session that followed, moderated by a UK expert, active exchanges took place among Japanese and UK panellists and participants for each of the three priority themes, leading to concrete discussion on issues and directions to be addressed through joint research. The poster session further deepened understanding of the research and strengthened interaction among stakeholders through small-group, face-to-face thematic discussions. The outcomes of each session were shared at the end and organised as draft themes for joint research. In the closing session, appreciation was expressed to all participants and stakeholders, and it was confirmed that this forum completed the two-part forum series held in Japan and the UK.
Please refer to “2nd UK-Japan ACT Innovation Forum Report” for the detailed report.
Group Photo of the 2nd Japan-UK Forum
