“JUIDA New Year’s Gathering 2024” was held. Declaring 2024 the “First Year of Drone Social Contribution”

 

On January 29th (Monday), “JUIDA New Year’s Gathering 2024” was held at Tokyo Kaikan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. This event was held to bring together those involved in the unmanned aircraft industry and pray for further development and growth in the drone industry in the new year.

More than 170 people attended, including members of the Diet, executives from related ministries and agencies, related companies, and JUIDA members.

In his opening remarks, President Shinji Suzuki mentioned that JUIDA will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in July this year, expressed his gratitude, and talked about the 10 years of progress from its founding in July 2014 to the present. Shinji Suzuki also introduced the main activities that JUIDA has been working on to promote industry, as it has grown along with society’s growing demand for drones. The number of JUIDA members is increasing every year, and as of December 2023, there are 28,345 members, and JUIDA cooperation partners are expanding overseas as well. Since the JUIDA accredited school system/drone pilot skills & safety flight operation management certification system was launched in October 2015, we have been training human resources with knowledge related to the safety of unmanned aircraft operation and high-level operation skills, and as of December 2023 nationwide and overseas. We have reported that the number of JUIDA accredited schools has expanded to 273 schools, and more than 170 of them are certified as registered training institutions.

Furthermore, in the opening remarks, he reported on the outline of JUIDA’s support activities for the affected areas of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake that occurred on January 1st, and announced the JUIDA slogan for 2024 as “The First Year of Drone Social Contribution.”

Next, the guests presented their outlook and aspirations for the drone industry this year.

Mr. Kazunori Tanaka, Member of the House of Representatives, Deputy Chairman of Diet Members Caucus supporting Drone Business
Yoshitaka Sakurada, Member of the House of Representatives, Vice-Chairman of Diet Members Caucus supporting Drone Business
Mr. Daishiro Yamagiwa, Member of the House of Representatives, Secretary General of Diet Members Caucus supporting Drone Business
Akiko Santo, Member of the House of Councilors, advisor to Diet Members Caucus supporting Drone Business
Konosuke Kokuba, Member of the House of Representatives, Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Ichiro Miyashita, Member of the House of Representatives, Secretary of Diet Members Caucus supporting Drone Business
Takuma Miyaji, Member of the House of Representatives, Secretary of Diet Members Caucus supporting Drone Business
Soichiro Imaeda, Member of the House of Representatives, Deputy Director-General of Diet Members Caucus supporting Drone Business
Yasunori Takizawa, Director of New Air Mobility Policy Office, Aerospace and Defense Industry Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Daisuke Umezawa, Director of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Safety Division, Safety Department, Civil Aviation Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Jiro Hiroe, Director, Ground Self-Defense Force Education, Training and Research Headquarters

After a toast from JUIDA’s advisor Yoshio Aoki, it was time for a pleasant talk.

The roll screen at the venue was raised, and the view of the Imperial Palace spread out before our eyes.

During the pleasant talk period, we also broadcasted the latest information from the site of JUIDA support activities following the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

JUIDA currently has memorandums of cooperation (MOU) with 36 organizations in 26 countries, and is promoting information exchange and collaboration in research and development. We received many messages from various organizations. The message introduced on the screen at the venue can be viewed below.

■2024 MOU partner message
■Video letter received from MOU partner

Finally, the New Year’s gathering ended with a greeting from Yasuhiro Senda, Vice President of JUIDA.

JUIDA will continue to support the creation of new industries and markets and contribute to the healthy development of industry.
Thank you for your continued support this year.