On May 17, 2012, ITU-AJ held the 44th Celebration for WTISD Gathering at Keio Plaza Hotel (Tokyo, Japan).
At the gathering, the “MIC Minister’s Award” and “ITU-AJ Awards” were presented to winners in recognition of their remarkable achievements.
     The most honorable award, the MIC Minister’s Award, was given to Mr. Kawasumi, while ICT Accomplishment Awards were given to ten winners, and International Cooperation Awards to eight persons. Sixteen Encouragement Awards (ICT Accomplishment Field) and six Encouragement Awards (International Cooperation Field) were given to people in expectation of their on-going contribution in their respective fields.
     After the award ceremony Mr. Waichi Sekiguchi, Editorial Writer for the Nikkei Newspaper, gave an address on the theme of “Global ICT Trends in the Cloud Computing Era.”
     Mr. Sekiguchi raised three issues: the Galapagos effect with mobile phones (in which the mobile phone operators and manufacturers in Japan have developed in isolation from the rest of the world), the backlash against measures to protect personal information, and the tendency to over-protect copyrights. He pointed out how Japan has lagged the world in utilizing ICT and needs to be aware of global ICT trends and to promote the use of “Big Data.” Further, that this will require data management for the cloud era, construction of ICT infrastructure, and reexamination of the legal system.

List of the winners of the Awards is as follows:
MIC Minister’s Award
Yasuhiko KAWASUMI
Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co., Ltd (retired)
ICT Accomplishment Award
Toshikatsu IZUMI
NTT Advanced Technology Corporation
Katsuhiko KOSAKA
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Mitsuhiro SAKAMOTO
International Telecommunication Union
Tsutomu SHIMIZU
TOKYO BROADCASTING SYSTEM TELEVISION, INC.
Akinori SUGATA
KDDI CORPORATION
Masayuki TAKADA
Japan Broadcasting Corporation
Kenji NAKANISHI
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION
Akira HIROIKE
NTT DOCOMO, INC.
Takahiro MITOME
Hitachi, Ltd.
Naotaka MORITA
NTT Advanced Technology Corporation
 International Cooperation Award
Sachio IIJIMA
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION (retired)
Hideyuki IWATA
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION
Zen-Ichiro OMOMO
KDD ENGINEERING AND CONSULTING, INC. (retired)
Wataru KAMEYAMA
Waseda University
Masahiro SATAKE
Japan Telecommunications Engineering and Consulting Service
Koichiro SHINOHARA
BHN Association (NGO)
Takeshi TAKASHIMA
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION (retired)
Yasuo TAKAHASHI
YTC Planning & Consulting
Encouragement Award (ICT Accomplishment Field)
Kaoru ASAKURA
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION
Masayuki ARIYOSHI
NEC Corporation
Shin-ichi ISOBE
NTT DOCOMO, INC.
Hiroyo OGAWA
Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB)
Toru KATAGIRI
FUJITSU LABORATORIES LTD.
Youki KADOBAYASHI
Nara Institute of Science and Technology
Yoshihisa KISHIYAMA
NTT DOCOMO, INC.
Hajime KOTO
NEC Corporation
Yoshihiro KONDO
NTT Advanced Technology Corporation
Shunichi SEKIGUCHI
Mitsubishi Electric Company
Takeshi TAKAHASHI
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Kazuhide NAKAJIMA
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION
Nobutaka MATSUMOTO
KDDI R&D Laboratories
Hitachi, Ltd.
Kenichi MURAYAMA
Japan Broadcasting Corporation
Hideki YAMAMOTO
Oki Electric Industry Co.,Ltd
Encouragement Award:International Cooperation Field
Junichi OSAWA
KDDI Foundation
Masato KAWAI
NHK Integrated Technology Inc.
James Rodney P. SANTIAGO
Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB)
Akihide TOMODA
BHN Association (NGO)
Usuke NISHI
NTT NEOMEIT CORPORATION
Tomofumi YOSHIMI
Japan Broadcastiong Corporation