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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > WHITE PAPER ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY2003 > Part3 3.2 3.2.2 3.2.2.2

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Part3 Measures Adopted for Promotion of Science and Technology
3.2 Priority Strategies for Science and Technology
3.2.2 Prioritization of Research and Development in Response to Issues Important to the State and Society
3.2.2.2 Information and Communications


  Promotion of research and development in the information and communications sector is important for the creation and expansion of such know-ledge-intensive industries as the information and communications industry and the high-tech industry,as well as for reform of existing industries,such as new developments in the manufacturing industry,etc.Moreover,it brings great changes not just to industry but also to a broad swathe of social and economic activities that extend to the daily lives of the people,and is therefore an important foundation that enables people to live their safely and with confidence.

3.2.2.2.1Basic Policies for Promotion

  Information and communications technology based on computers and networks is the principal intellectual and creative infrastructure that forms modern society,and is expected as the driving force which brings great changes in society overall,from individual lives to social systems and even the direction of science and technology.

  The Second Science and Technology Basic Plan targets the information and communications sector as meriting priority in distribution of research and development resources.

  Based on these recommendations,the Second Science and Technology Basic Plan placed priority on promotion of the following technologies:

1.Advanced networking technology that allows all activities on the network to be conducted safely and without trouble,regardless of time or place.
2.Advanced computing technology that allows high-speed analysis,processing,storage,and searching for vast amounts of information distributed in society.
3.Human interface technology that allows any user to receive the benefits of the information and communications society without complicated operations and feeling stress.
4.Device and software technologies that function as common infrastructure in support of the above.

  In September2001,the CSTP adopted the"Strategy for Promotion of the Information and Communications Sector"based on the Basic Plan,to contribute to the world through creation and utilization of knowledge,and to the realization of a nation that can offer international competitiveness,sustainable development,and safe,secure,and comfortable lives to its people.This strategy ex-amines the state of the information and communications sector over the next five years,and clarifies areas that should be prioritized,research and development goals in these priority areas,and promotion measures.From the viewpoint of strengthening international competitiveness,the strategy places priority on:(1)research and development toward ubiquitous usage of technology throughout society;(2)technologies that form the seeds of next-generation breakthroughs and new industries;(3)broadly based R&D infrastructure technologies(computerization of R&D);and(4)personnel training and securing capable people.

  In the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology,the Subdivision on R&D Planning and Evaluation of the Council for Science and Technology Policy responded to this strategy in June2002by drawing up the"Policy for Promotion of Research and Development in Information Science and Technology."The promotion policy noted that care is needed to ensure the training of researchers and technologists who can create research areas suited to the new era,build new research styles,and offer advanced diversity.The policy calls on the ministry to play a role in(1)active contribution to the development of a society that utilizes the research potential of basic and infrastructure technologies;(2)upgrading and advancing the functionality of infrastructure utilizing information science and technology in support of advanced research;and(3)training and securing research personnel who offer advanced diversity.

  Furthermore,the Basic Law on the Formation of an Advanced Information and Telecommunication Network Society(IT Basic Law)went into force in January2001.Based on this law,the"e-Japan Strategy"(January2001),developed as a national IT strategy by the Strategic Headquarters for Promotion of an Advanced Information and Telecommunications Network Society,the"e-Japan Priority Policy Program"(March2001),which laid down measures that the government should most quickly place priority and act upon to achieve the specific goals set in the"e-Japan Strategy,"and the"e-Japan2002Program"(June2002),all describe what areas of Japan's technological capabilities in the information and communications sector require strengthening.

3.2.2.2.2Major Research and Development Issues

3.2.2.2.2.1A Society Served by Ubiquitous Networks,and Building a High-Speed,Highly Reliable Information Communication System for Creation of a World Market

  Society demands that Japan swiftly returns research results to the society and to the economy by constructing a"high-speed,highly reliable information communication system"with unified hard-ware and software under strong cooperation among industry,academia,and government ahead of the rest of the world,centering around superior technologies(mobile,optical,device technologies,etc.).Some specific research and development topics in the Ministry of Public Management,Home Affairs,Posts and Telecommunications include research and development into terabit-class super-networks,such as technology for control and management of stable,optimized routes for terabit-class traffic,research and development toward the realization of such fourth-generation mobile communication systems as ultra-broad band mobile communication transmission technologies and software wireless technologies,research and development of ultra-fast photonic network technology,which will not only apply to main and access line networks but will also use high-quality and efficient operation in the optical domain for all information transmission processing from one Internet terminal to another,and research and development into network security technologies,including technologies for the prevention and detection of illegal access or cyberterror,for encoding,and for evaluation and certification.In the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology,the"Focused Research and Development Project for Realization of the World's Most Advanced Information Technology Nation"involves research into nextgeneration mobile Internet terminals and ultra-compact and high-capacity hard disks,high-performance and low-power consumptive memory,and other technologies expected to reach commercialization.In the Ministry of Economy,Trade and Industry,topics include"development of photonics network technology,"for development of technologies related to optical router devices,wavelength multiplex devices,and optical node devices that combine the previous two types,"development of basic technologies for next-generation semi-conductor materials and processes"involving development of new materials,and measurement and analysis technologies for realization of low-power consumption,high-performance semiconductor devices,"development of large-capacity optical storage technologies"related to high-speed,high-density,large-capacity storage technologies that make use of proximity optic and other optical technologies,and"development of high-efficiency organic devices,"for development of elements,transistors,and thin displays that make use of low power-consumption organic materials with higher productivity than silicon.

3.2.2.2.2.2Information and Communication Technologies that Lead to Next-generation Breakthroughs and Seeds of New Industries

  Society demands the promotion of research and development on advanced information and communication technologies carried out in cooperation with interdisciplinary sectors,like next-generation human interface technologies,next-generation information and communication technologies that make use of quantum engineering and other new principles and technologies,space development(communications),nanotechnology,and bioinformatics.

  Some specific research and development topics in the Ministry of Public Management,Home Affairs,Posts and Telecommunications include"research into a friendly communication society,"for support of the people's intellectual activities and the free exchange of information between people any-where in the world by overcoming language and other communication barriers,"research and development of quantum information and communication technologies,"which aims for ultra-high speed communication and coded communications with extremely high security guarantees,and"synthetic research and development for conversion of household information appliances to IPv6,"which aims for realization of household information terminals capable of handling IPv6,the next-generation Internet protocol.Topics promoted in the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology include"construction of a space-based infrastructure toward achievement of an ultra high-speed Internet society(the"i-Space project")"that will complete the links in the ground-based infrastructure and eliminate the digital divide.

3.2.2.2.2.3 Infrastructure Technologies for Research and Development

  Society demands development of science and technology databases,where Japan lags behind Europe and North America,development and equipment of technologies for supercomputer net-works and virtual research institutes that allow joint research over long distances by linking research institutions with universities via high-speed net-works.

  In the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology,some specific research and development topics are being carried out include promotion of the"'e-Science'Realization Project,"which aims at a revolution in research and development style,including realization of a real-time experimentation environment based on super-computer network links.Other research topics include the creation of new research sectors(inter-disciplinary research domains,etc.)and the"Super SINET(the Super Science Information Network)Concept,"which proposes to link advanced research institutions with10Gbps lines,for the world's fastest research network.

  The main research topics in the information and communications sector during FY2002 are as shown in Table3-2-3 .

Table3-2-3Major research subjects in information and communications(in FY2002)


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