DENSO Receives IEEE Corporate Innovation Award for Developing and Spreading Use of QR Code

― Recognition honors outstanding innovation in technical fields ―

KARIYA, Japan, Dec. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DENSO Corporation today announced it has received the IEEE Corporate Innovation Award from IEEE,*¹ the largest international association for electrical and electronic engineering in the world, for developing the QR Code*² and spreading its use globally.

The IEEE Corporate Innovation Award, one of the most prestigious technical awards in the world, is presented to organizations that have made a significant global impact with innovative technologies and products and contributed to the development of electrical and electronic engineering. Established by IEEE in 1985, the award has been presented to leading companies and organizations worldwide. DENSO has become the sixth Japanese company to receive this recognition.

The QR Code was developed in 1994 by DENSO's applied equipment engineering section (currently DENSO WAVE) as an easy-to-read code that can store a large amount of information. The innovative two-dimensional code can store about 200 times more information than barcodes and can be read at high speed. DENSO started to use the code mainly for inventory management at its manufacturing plants, and later made the patent available free of charge, enabling it to spread globally. In the early 2000s, the QR Code became familiar to the general public in line with the growing use of mobile phones equipped with cameras. Today, it is widely used in many daily life applications, including electronic tickets and cashless payments. In 2020, the QR Code was recognized as an IEEE Milestone*³ for its outstanding contribution.

Even 28 years after it was invented, the QR Code continues to evolve with the addition of new functions. DENSO WAVE developed SQRC,*⁴ which can carry two types of data (public and private) in a single code, Face Authentication SQRC, which can turn facial feature points into a QR Code, and Frame QR,*⁵ which offers design flexibility. The QR Code is contributing to personal identification, prevention of counterfeiting and information falsification, and generation of electronic tickets.

DENSO remains committed to developing innovative technologies that contribute to society and industry.

*¹ The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
Headquartered in the United States, it is the world's largest engineering academy with more than 400,000 members in more than 160 countries.
*², ⁴, ^{and 5} QR Code, SQRC, and Frame QR are registered trademarks of DENSO WAVE Incorporated.
*³ An IEEE Milestone commends a historic achievement which has greatly assisted the development of society and industry in electrical and electronic engineering.
2020/10/07 DENSO receives IEEE Milestone for QR Code
https://www.denso.com/global/en/news/newsroom/2020/201007-g01/

https://corporate-awards.ieee.org/recipients/current-recipients/#recognition-awards 

https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/about/awards/recipients/corp-inn-rl.pdf

Video featuring the QR Code https://youtu.be/ieAYPNJq1bA 
About the QR Code: QR Code.com https://www.qrcode.com/en/ 
QR Code development story https://www.denso-wave.com/en/technology/vol1.html 
Website commemorating the 25th anniversary of the development of the QR Code (released in 2019)
https://www.denso-wave.com/qr2019/en/ 

http://ieeemilestones.ethw.org/Milestone-Proposal:QR_Code    

DENSO is a $45.1 billion global mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO invests in its 198 facilities to produce electrification system, powertrain system, thermal system, mobility electronics, & advanced devices, to create jobs that directly change how the world moves. The company's 167,000+ employees are paving the way to a mobility future that improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the environment. Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO spent 9.0 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. For more information about global DENSO, visit https://www.denso.com/global/en/. 

In North America, DENSO is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and employs 27,000+ engineers, researchers, and skilled workers across 51 sites in the U.S, Canada and Mexico. In the United States alone, DENSO employs 17,700+ employees across 14 states (and the District of Columbia) and 41 sites. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, DENSO in North America generated $9.5 billion in consolidated sales. DENSO is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion inside the company and beyond – a principle that brings unique perspectives together, bolsters innovation, and pushes DENSO forward. Join us, and craft not only how the world moves, but also your career: densocareers.com. For more information, go to https://www.denso.com/us-ca/en/

SOURCE DENSO