IHI Participates in ACE Forum 2023
IHI helped organize and run ACE Forum 2023, which took place on December 6, 2023. The Accessibility Consortium of Enterprises hosts this annual event to foster the employment of people with disabilities and share information about outcomes from member company activities.
ACE was created in 2013 to establish a new employment model for people with disabilities that contributes to corporate growth. It has 39 member companies. IHI has been participating since its inception, agreeing with its purpose of activity.
The 2023 gathering focused on managing diversity, equity, and inclusion now and over the next decade to help all employees reach their potential. 306 people attended the event in person and online. Of the total participants, 47 IHI employees attended and there was a high level of interest in the event among IHI employees.
The event featured numerous thoughtful touches for people with disabilities, including sign language interpreting and transcript displays. An exhibition in the atrium informed attendees about assistive devices.
Professor Satsuki Ayaya of the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology delivered the keynote speech on training and harnessing individuals with developmental disabilities. This has become an important topic in recent years. Her experience with such disabilities and findings from her years of research into others with these challenges have contributed much to building employment models to foster diversity.
The event also featured ACE Award presentations to employees with disabilities from member companies. The awards recognize inspirational efforts among such individuals. The Grand Prix was awarded to the case of Bloomberg L.P.: in this case, they successfully placed individuals with developmental disabilities in workplaces where those could make the most of the disabilities, that indeed symbolizes DE&I.
By participating in the Accessibility Consortium of Enterprises, the IHI Group will keep encouraging employees with disabilities to succeed. It aims to make work environments more conducive to the growth of these people and help them to develop their careers.
