Japan's annual electronics and information technology show will be held fully online again this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, its organizer said Monday, changing the initial plan to prepare both virtual and physical venues.
The Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies was held virtually last year for the first time in its 20-year history. CEATEC is scheduled for Oct. 19 through 22 this year under the theme of "Toward Society 5.0 with the New Normal."
Further details will be announced later this month, the organizer Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said.
"As CEATEC welcomes about 150,000 visitors during a four-day period, we have judged that it would be difficult to provide a venue at the Makuhari Messe that would enable visitors and exhibitors to make exchanges actively under a safe and secure environment this year," JEITA said in a press release.
CEATEC had been held at the convention center in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, giving electronics makers an opportunity to showcase their products. In recent years, the event has evolved from an electronics show to one that better reflects a shift toward the internet of things, or connected world.
Japan is still struggling to rein in coronavirus cases with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines lagging behind other developed nations. With the Tokyo Olympics less than two months away, parts of the country, including Tokyo and Osaka, are under a third state of emergency over the virus.
