NEC C&C Foundation Awards 2022 C&C Prize

Oct 11, 2022 15:46 JST

Source: NEC Corporation

Recognition of outstanding contributions to developing energy-saving and general-purpose ultra-high-performance supercomputers and establishing quantum information science

TOKYO, Oct 11, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - The NEC C&C Foundation today announced that the 2022 C&C Prize will be awarded to two groups for their contributions to developing easy-to-use supercomputers of high-performance, low cost, energy savings, and actual application performance by incorporating GPUs in supercomputers as a world's first, and to establishing quantum information science and formulating the QKD protocol that will soon make quantum cryptographic communications practical. Dr. Satoshi Matsuoka will represent Group A and Dr. Charles H. Bennett and Prof. Gilles Brassard will represent Group B. Each recipient will be recognized with a certificate of merit and a plaque. Each group will also receive a cash award of ten million yen.

The C&C Prize was established in 1985 and is awarded to distinguished persons in recognition of outstanding contributions to R&D activities and pioneering work related to the integration of computers and communications technologies and the social impact of developments in these fields. This year's two recipient groups are outlined below.

The prize ceremony and acceptance speeches will be held on Thursday, November 24 from 15:30 at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo which will be streamed live to those who apply at the Foundation's website.

2022 C&C Prize Recipients

Group A

Dr. Satoshi Matsuoka
Director, Riken Center for Computational Science
Specially Appointed Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Citation

For Contributions to Pioneering Research and Development of Energy-saving and General-purpose Ultra-high-performance Computer Systems

Achievement

Supercomputers constitute an essential tool for fostering innovation in all sorts of fields in modern society, from a variety of science and technology fields and design/manufacturing applications to the creation of smart cities. In fact, supercomputers have become indispensable to computer science (simulation), which is said to be the third science after theory and experimentation. At the same time, there is a demand for high-performance computers in the processing of big data in "data science," the fourth science, so competition in the development of supercomputers as a driver of innovation continues throughout the world.

Dr. Matsuoka is known for his research in supercomputer configuration methods and system software. It was his intention to develop an easy-to-use computer with importance placed on high-performance, low cost, energy savings, and actual application performance by incorporating GPUs in supercomputers as a world's first and adopting other novel techniques. He is a worldwide leading figure in supercomputers that have obtained top rankings in the world in many indices including energy efficiency. As the person with overall responsibility in the development of the TSUBAME series of supercomputers open widely to industry and academia as "everyone's supercomputer" and in the development of supercomputer Fugaku, he led the way from their initial research and development to their actual use. In view of these remarkable achievements recognized around the world, Dr. Matsuoka is certainly a deserving recipient of the C&C Prize.

Group B

Dr. Charles H. Bennett
IBM Fellow, IBM Research

Prof. Gilles Brassard
Professor of Computer Science, Universite de Montreal
Turing Chair for Quantum Software, QuSoft

Citation
For Pioneering Research on Quantum Cryptography and Essential Contributions to the Establishment of Quantum Information Theory

Achievement

Cryptography is one of the fundamental technologies that protect the security of information. However, most current cryptographic techniques, including those used in electronic commerce, are only computationally secure. In particular, they will become decipherable when quantum computers are put into practical use. This may also occur with the discovery of new algorithms, even for classical computers. The inability to detect the presence of eavesdroppers, as well as the possibility to harvest currently indecipherable messages now and decrypt them later, is a significant weakness, which it would be advisable to remedy in the network of the future. For this reason, quantum cryptography, introduced by Dr. Bennett and Prof. Brassard, is attracting attention as a cryptographic technology whose present and future security is guaranteed by the laws of physics.

For their invention and development of quantum cryptography and their role in founding the field of quantum information science, Dr. Bennett and Prof. Brassard are well deserving of the C&C Prize.

For additional information, please visit The NEC C&C Foundation website at: www.candc.or.jp/en/index.html

About The NEC C&C Foundation

The NEC C&C Foundation is a non-profit organization established in March 1985 to foster further growth in the electronics industry by encouraging and supporting research and development activities and pioneering work related to the integration of computers and communications technologies, that is, C&C, and ultimately to contribute to the world economy and the enrichment of human life. The Foundation is funded by NEC Corporation.

The Foundation currently has two main activities. It presents the annual C&C Prizes to recognize outstanding contributions to R&D activities and pioneering work in the area of C&C. Candidates are recommended from all over the world. Each prize winner receives a certificate, a plaque, and a cash award (ten million yen per group). As of 2021, 119 prominent persons had received the prize. In addition, an Outstanding Paper Award for Young C&C Researchers is awarded annually to outstanding paper(s) presented at an international conference overseas with the support of a grant from the Foundation. Each recipient is given a cash award of 200,000 yen.

The Foundation also gives the following two grants: (1) grant to enable researchers in Japan to attend international conferences overseas to make presentations in the field of C&C and (2) grant to non-Japanese researchers in Japan.

For additional information, please visit The NEC C&C Foundation website at www.candc.or.jp/en/index.html

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of "Orchestrating a brighter world." NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at www.nec.com.

Sectors: Cloud & Enterprise