Tokyo event set to explore future from the desk to the city
What will the city look like in five years’ time? How can we work towards a more positive future? These questions are set to be tackled by experts from academia and practice in this year’s WORKTECH Tokyo conference
As the traditional Japanese workplace embarks on a period of reform and reimagining in the post-pandemic era, the 2023 WORKTECH Tokyo conference is weighing in with a range of future-facing discussions to provide insight into how we might live, work and collaborate in the future.
Taking place in-person on 6 December 2023 at Akasaka Intercity Conference Centre, this is an event not to be missed for workplace professionals in the region. Here is a selection of key sessions:
The Magnetic City
The pandemic has shifted how we think about the workplace and, in doing so, it has altered how we think about the city. In recent years, central business districts around the world have gone from bustling commercial hubs to ghost towns, leaving urban planners, designers and workplace experience managers wondering how to draw people back. Using new models for the city from across the world, Alessandro Ranaldi, Head of Workplace Consultancy at Foster and Partners, will showcase how the city might be transformed for the better, examining how practice has shifted and investigating which trends will shape the future of the urban environment.
The right workspace portfolio
In this discussion of post-pandemic workplace portfolios, Kiyohito Yamamoto, Manager of NTT Communications Corporation, takes a look at the way in which hybrid working has transformed how businesses operate and how individuals view their work. With efforts to optimise space usage on the rise and individual desking becoming less common, companies are looking at how they can change their offices to create financial benefit whilst also maintaining engagement from employees. Using case studies and investigating a range of strategies, this talk will showcase effective examples of office transformations, helping companies come to grips with their workspace portfolio.
Practice of foresighting
Are we victims of a mystery future? How can we work towards the kind of future that we really want? What role does technology play in creating our workplace futures? Professor Jawn Lim from Singapore Institute of Technology will discuss these questions and many more, taking a look at how the practice of foresighting can play a key role in understanding how working policies, practices and personas will change in future years.
Focus on the future of work
Wrapping up the day will be Yuki Kanamori, workplace researcher and editor at Kokuyo, who will be discussing what we have learned about the future of work, what innovations are on the horizon and how best to think about employee productivity and experience. Kanamori will highlight the most effective strategies for workplace transformation from across the world.
Find out more about WORKTECH Tokyo 2023 here.
