The NEC C&C Foundation

On November 26, 2025, the 2025 C&C Prize Ceremony was held at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo (Minato-ku, Tokyo). A total of 43 people attended the ceremony in person (Photo 1), and 11 people participated online.
The presentation ceremony began at 3:00 p.m. with opening remarks by President Takashi Niino (Photo 2). In his speech, he introduced the foundation's major activities and explained that this year's C&C Prize marks the 41st presentation since its inception in 1985, with a total of 81 groups and 128 individuals, plus one group, having been recognized to date.

(Photo 1) Award Ceremony Venue	(Photo 2) Chairman Niino	(Photo 3) Chief Judge Tokuda

process for the C&C Prize and introduced the two recipient groups. Group A was awarded for "For the invention, practical implementation, and global spread of QR Code," with the QR Code Team composed of four members: Masahiro Hara, Motoaki Watabe, Takahiro Kurobe, and Hiromitsu Takai. Group B was awarded “For Contributions to High-Performance Scientific Computing and Its Applications,” with Jack Dongarra recognized for his achievements. The accomplishments of each recipient were introduced. The C&C Prize presentation followed, with President Niino presenting certificates to the four QR Code Team members in Group A, and, on behalf of the team, a plaque and a prize money certificate to Mr. Hara. Next, certificates, a plaque, and a prize money certificate were presented to Prof. Dongarra of Group B (Photos 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

(Photo 4) Mr. Hara (on the right)	(Photo 5) Mr. Watanabe (on the right)	(Photo 6) Mr. Kurobe (on the right)
(Photo 7) Mr. Takai (on the right)	(Photo 8) QR Code Team (4 people on the right)	(Photo 9) Prof. Dongarra (on the right)
(Photo 10) Prof. Dongarra (on the right)

Following the presentation, congratulatory addresses were given by distinguished guests. Satoru Nohara, Director-General of the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Photo 11), praised the QR Code as a remarkable technology that has brought convenience to daily life, and recognized Prof. Dongarra as a leader in both the mathematical and implementation aspects of high-performance computing. He also expressed the government's commitment to continued investment in support of 17 strategic areas, including AI and semiconductors. Tomohiko Uematsu, President of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (Photo 12), highlighted the significant contributions of the QR Code to society and the advances in scientific computing from LINPACK and TOP500, praised both recipients' achievements, emphasized that ICT and computational science are core areas of the institute, and, sharing personal anecdotes about technological progress, concluded his remarks by wishing the awardees further success.

(Photo 11) Mr. Nohara, Director-General, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry	(Photo 12) Prof. Uematsu, President, The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers

After the award ceremony, the event moved on to the awardees' acceptance speeches. Group A made a speech titled "The QR Code That Changed the World," with Mr. Hara speaking on behalf of the team (Photos 13, 14). He explained that the background to the development of the QR code included issues such as improving factory management efficiency, overcoming the limitations of barcodes, and addressing environmental and multilingual needs. The team focused on fast, highly reliable, and low-cost scanning, and promoted the spread of QR codes through technology disclosure, application development, and standardization. Today, QR codes are utilized in a wide range of fields and international standards, and Mr. Hara stated that QR codes will continue to evolve through integration with AI and security, bringing significant value to society. Group B's Prof. Dongarra (Photos 15, 16) made a speech titled "High Performance Computing Changing the World." He explained the history and technological evolution of supercomputers and high-performance computing, as well as their social impact. In particular, he introduced the trends of Moore's Law, parallel processing, the role of accelerators such as GPUs, and the flow of the TOP500 ranking. He emphasized the differences between supercomputer use for AI/machine learning and traditional applications, highlighting the shift from high-precision to low-precision computation. Finally, Prof. Dongarra discussed the importance of such technological innovations in driving transformation in science, industry, and society, concluding that this is a field with ever-increasing expectations for future development.

(Photo 13) Lecture by Mr. Hara of the QR Code Team (1)	(Photo 14) Lecture by Mr. Hara of the QR Code Team (2)	(Photo 15) Lecture by Prof. Dongarra (1)	(Photo 16) Lecture by Prof. Dongarra (2)

After the awardees' acceptance speeches, a cocktail party was held with the award recipients. Although the socializing lasted only 50 minutes, many people attended, and in a friendly atmosphere, participants offered their congratulations to the award recipients. It also served as a place for attendees to deepen their friendships with each other (Photos 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22).

(Photo 17) Cocktail party（１）	(Photo 18) Cocktail party（２）	(Photo 19) Cocktail party（３）
(Photo 20) Cocktail party（４）	(Photo 21) Cocktail party（５）	(Photo 22) Cocktail party（６）

At the dinner party (Photo 23), award recipients, distinguished guests, and people associated with the foundation gathered. Following the opening address by President Niino (Photo 24), the event began with a speech and toast by Masami Hagiya, President of the Information Processing Society of Japan (Photos 25, 26), after which dinner was served as guests enjoyed friendly conversation (Photos 27, 28, 29, 30). Toward the end of the evening, the guests from the QR Code team — Takayoshi Sagara, President of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED, and Atsushi Toyonaga, President of GS1 Japan (Photo 32)—were introduced. Mr. Sagara (Photo 33) delivered congratulatory remarks, followed by a response from Mr. Kurobe (Photo 34) on behalf of the team. Next, Prof. Dongarra (Photo 35) expressed his gratitude for receiving the award. At 7:30 p.m., the dinner party concluded in a warm and friendly atmosphere.This year, as well, many distinguished guests and related parties attended, allowing us to successfully conclude the ceremony. We express our deepest gratitude to everyone who participated.

(Photo 23) (Dinner) Venue	(Photo 24) (Dinner) Chairman Niino	(Photo 25) (Dinner) Prof. Hagiya, President, Information Processing Society of Japan
(Photo 26) (Dinner) Toast	(Photo 27) (Dinner) Participants (1)	(Photo 28) (Dinner) Participants (2)
(Photo 29) (Dinner) Participants (3)	(Photo 30) (Dinner) Participants (4)	(Photo 31) (Dinner) Dessert
(Photo 32) (Dinner) Mr. Toyonaga, President, GS1 Japan	(Photo 33) (Dinner) Mr. Sagara, President, DENSO WAVE Inc. (Guest of the QR Code Team)	(Photo 34) (Dinner) Mr. Kurobe
(Photo 35) (Dinner) Prof. Dongarra

(Photo 36)Commemorative photo of award recipients: Prof. Dongarra, Chairman Niino, Mr. Hara, Mr. Watanabe, Mr. Kurobe, Mr. Takai (from left)