Arkansas – September 14, 2026 -- Japan remains the largest foreign investor in Arkansas, operating more than 65 offices, research facilities, and manufacturing plants through over 30 companies, a footprint now extending into agricultural technology collaboration.
IEEE-USA and NARO convene the IWRC Smart Agriculture Technology Summit in Arkansas
The summit brings together NARO leadership, U.S. and Japanese agtech companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, and government officials to address open-field agriculture, controlled-environment farming, and food technology. Breakout sessions will cover advanced farming equipment, international research collaboration, and fertilizers and pesticides.
Arkansas leverages its rice-production scale as a testbed for Japanese robotics and AI farming systems
Dr. Kazuo Kyuma, Senior Executive Advisor at NARO, said Japan leads in agricultural robotics, precision irrigation, autonomous equipment, and AI-powered farming systems, while Arkansas offers large-scale food production infrastructure where these technologies can be tested and deployed. Arkansas produces more rice than any other U.S. state, combining that output with established agricultural research capacity.
IEEE members target standards development to accelerate global smart-agriculture adoption
Matt Francis, past IEEE Region 5 Director and CEO of Ozark IC, said IEEE members are shaping agriculture's future through automation, signal processing, and semiconductor technology, and that collaboration with NARO and global partners will advance standards and speed adoption of smart agricultural solutions worldwide.
Ten confirmed speakers span Arkansas academia, Japanese agritech firms, and state economic development
Featured speakers include Dr. Deacue Fields, VP for Agriculture at the University of Arkansas System; Naohiro Idegami, CEO of NARO-Nature Ponics Co., Ltd.; Neal Jansen, Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission's Asia Office; Dr. Noboru Noguchi, Executive Vice-President of Hokkaido University; Taiga Sakai, President and CEO of NTT AgriTechnology Corporation; Dr. Junichi Nakagawa, Director-General of NARO's Research Center for Agricultural Robotics; Dr. Yoshikiyo Sakakibara, Executive Director of NARO; Dr. Shinjiro Yamada, Chairman of PLANTX Corporation; and Daisuke Yamamoto, Director at OPTiM Corporation.
Invitation-only site visits will expose delegates to Arkansas food production and storage technology
The summit includes closed-door tours of leading Arkansas agricultural institutions, giving participants direct exposure to next-generation food production, processing, and storage systems. Registration for the summit is currently open.