'I’ll be back' says Yokohoma as city clinches 2024 robotics show

The Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau (YCVB) has announced, 12 August, that Yokohama has been chosen to host the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (IEEE ICRA 2024). Organised by the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society, the event will be a hybrid conference with 25,000 participants: 5,000 in-person, and 20,000 online. This will also be the first time the event has been held in Japan since 2009. The YCVB, PACIFICO Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, City of Yokohama, Japan Tourism Agency, and Japan National Tourism Organisation attracted the conference, with the economic spill over expected to be approximately US$9.2m. The YCVB claims Japan’s standard of research and Yokohama’s safety and convenience were among the deciding factors in this decision to award the conference to the city. Yokohama aims to facilitate exchange between researchers and Yokohama-based businesses and academia at IEEE ICRA 2024. Makoto Batori, executive director of PACIFICO Yokohama, commented: “We are confident we can provide a safe environment and the right technical support.”