On November 29, 2023, the 2023 C&C Prize Ceremony was held at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo (Minato-ku, Tokyo). 78 people attended the ceremony venue (Photo 1), and 33 people watched online.

The ceremony began at 3 pm with an opening address by President Niino. In his remarks, he introduced the foundation's key activities and reported that the C&C Prize was celebrating its 39th year since their inception in 1985, having produced 77 groups and 122 recipients, some of whom went on to win Nobel Prizes. Next, the selection process and the two award-winning groups were announced by Dr. Hideyuki Tokuda, Chair of the Award Committee. RecipientGroup A was awarded for "For Contributions to the Field of Quantum Information Technology, including the Development of Superconducting Qubits and Quantum Computers". Dr. Yasunobu Nakamura, Director of RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing and Professor at Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, and Professor Tsai Jaw-Shen, Professor at Tokyo University of Science and Team Leader at RIKEN Computer Research Center were recognized. RecipientGroup B was awarded for " For Major Contributions to the Development of the Python Programming Language and its Use as Open-source Software ". Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Guido van Rossum was recognized. The achievements of each recipient were then introduced. Next, the C&C Prizes were presented to the recipients: certificates, plaques, and prize money were handed out by President Niino (Photos 2).

Guests then offered their congratulatory remarks. Hidetaka Nishimura, Deputy Director-General, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, praised the recipients' achievements, and noted that their quantum information technology and programming language breakthroughs are essential for the realization of a digital society. He also expressed the Ministry's commitment to ensuring these efforts lead to the development of various industries and improvements in people's lives. In his congratulatory remarks, Dr. Hiroyuki Morikawa, President of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, shared his thoughts and memories about the recipients' accomplishments, such as the rise of quantum computing and the rapid spread of Python.

During the commemorative speech, the three recipients delivered speeches. Dr. Nakamura spoke about his research on superconducting quantum bits and quantum computers. Professor Tsai spoke about his research background. Guido van Rossum then gave a speech, presenting on the history of Python, its popularity, and formation of the Python community.

Afterward, a cocktail party was held, where attendees offered congratulations and conversed in a friendly atmosphere. In the ceremony hall, the dilution refrigerator was displayed, which Dr. Nakamura and Professor Tsai used in their superconducting quantum bit development, which attracted attendees' interest.

The dinner party was attended by the recipients and guests. President Niino's opening address was followed by a speech and toast from Hitoshi Matsubara, Vice President of the Information Processing Society of Japan. Dinner was served and enjoyed while conversing. At the end of the banquet, introductions, congratulatory messages, and thanks from the recipients took place. The dinner party ended at 7:45 pm in a relaxed atmosphere.

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About The NEC C&C Foundation

The 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 2023, 125 prominent persons had received the prize.

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 researchers in a doctorial course at a graduate school in Japan.