The Innovation Design Initiative (IDI) was established in April 2020 as a think tank under the direct control of the president, in order to contribute to the review of management and R&D policies at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).
IDI collects and analyzes information on ICT research and development, policies, and industry trends in Japan and overseas. Based on the results, IDI designs and proposes ICT strategies for a mid-to-long term perspective.
Whitepaper
As Japan's only public research institution specializing in the
field of ICT, NICT is engaged in support cutting-edge R&D in
ICT.
On this website we have published our whitepapers on the
direction of NICT's R&D activities in major areas.
We anticipate a wide range of readers, including governments,
companies, universities and research institutions.
We hope these whitepapers will help with understanding the
importance of collaboration among various stakeholders in Japan
and overseas, as well as the importance of R&D and other
initiatives.
Beyond 5G/6G Whitepaper
Countries around the world are gearing up for R&D
on Beyond 5G/6G, the next-generation information
and communications infrastructure that is expected
to be the foundation of all industries and
societies in the 2030s. For the sake of
international competitiveness, it is important for
Japan to establish Beyond 5G/6G’s component
technologies as soon as possible.
In order to accelerate future Beyond 5G/6G R&D in
collaboration with research institutes in Japan
and overseas, and for achieving Beyond5G/6G by the
anticipated 2030, this whitepaper summarizes
societies and use cases that are expected to be
realized by the development of each technology,
the component technologies and R&D roadmaps
necessary to create them, and the direction of the
Institute's efforts.

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- Click here to download the white papers.
Quantum Networks Whitepaper
Currently, efforts are underway in Japan and
overseas for quantum cryptography and quantum
networks (the ultimate goal is the "Quantum
Internet"). In January 2020, the Japanese
government announced the "Quantum Technology
Innovation Strategy." As a "quantum security hub"
in this strategy, NICT has been promoting
cutting-edge R&D on quantum networks. In addition,
we have begun activities to create centers for
industry-academia-government cooperation and human
resource development.
This whitepaper looks at the "Quantum Internet" as
the ultimate goal, and summarizes the domestic and
overseas trends in quantum communications, the
societies and use cases which quantum networks
will create, and the R&D, roadmap and promotion
strategies that NICT will be implementing with aim
of realizing quantum networks.
