AIBC 2026 brings its AI-plus-blockchain research program to Ritsumeikan University's Osaka Ibaraki Campus from November 20-22, 2026, with ACM-indexed publication on the line.
An Academic Anchor in Kansai
Not every blockchain gathering chases expo floors. The International Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Conference, shortened to AIBC, is a research conference through and through. Its 2026 edition runs November 20-22 at Ritsumeikan University's Osaka Ibaraki Campus in Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan, with the university listed among the event's supporters. Organization falls to ACMSC, and the three-day length signals a full program of sessions rather than a single afternoon of keynotes followed by drinks.
The dual focus sits right in the name. Machine learning sessions cover supervised learning, unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, deep learning and neural networks, transfer learning, and online and incremental learning. Natural language processing gets its own block, spanning sentiment analysis, named entity recognition, text generation, translation and dialogue systems. Computer vision rounds out the AI half with recognition, detection, generation and 3D work, while blockchain threads weave through manufacturing and broader application tracks.
For researchers, that breadth cuts both ways: fewer deep specialists per subfield, more cross-pollination than a single-topic workshop would ever manage.
From Virtual Editions to a Campus
AIBC's recent history explains its shape. The 2021 and 2022 editions ran online, a product of their moment. AIBC 2023 moved offline to the University of Aizu in Aizu-Wakamatsu, AIBC 2024 landed at the University of Tokyo, and AIBC 2025 convened at Japan's National Institute of Informatics. Osaka continues a deliberate rotation through Japanese host institutions, each bringing its own local academic community into the room.
For authors, that continuity matters. Each year the committee keeps the same compact, campus-scale format where a doctoral student can corner a professor between sessions, something larger venues rarely allow. The venue address, 2-150 Iwakura-cho in Ibaraki, sits on Osaka's northern rail lines, close enough to the city center for evening excursions without paying downtown rates.
Review, Publish, Present
The publication path is explicit and worth reading twice. Submitted papers undergo double-blind review by both a program committee and a technical committee; accepted papers, once registered and presented, appear in the ACM Proceedings and are indexed by Ei Compendex and Scopus. For early-career researchers building a record, those indexes carry weight on job markets and grant applications alike.
Logistics back this up. Final submissions close October 5, 2026, and papers enter through the Zmeeting submission system or by email to the conference secretariat, run by Ms. Snow Zhong. Prof. Hiroyuki Sato of the University of Tokyo heads the announced keynote slate, with additional keynote speakers promised as the date approaches.
Presenting authors should budget travel time accordingly: acceptance decisions and camera-ready deadlines land in autumn, then it is straight into November preparations.
Where the Two Fields Intersect
The interesting material will likely live where the tracks overlap. Blockchain in manufacturing appears among the tagged topics alongside artificial intelligence and neural networks, hinting at supply-chain provenance and industrial-data applications rather than pure token speculation. Expect papers asking what happens when machine-learning pipelines need auditable data histories.
Osaka itself helps the case for attending. Japan's second city pairs serious rail connections with lower costs than Tokyo, and late November sits outside peak tourist season, so hotels behave. For researchers weighing which venue justifies the airfare this year, AIBC offers a defensible answer: indexed proceedings, a named keynote, and a campus setting built for argument rather than spectacle.