[ What's New ] [Apr. 2012] NII Today No.41[Web Data-Driven Information Flow] is published. (Corresponding toJapanese No.55) [Jun. 2009] NII Today(English version) is registered online ISSN. Numbers are below,
The Transdisciplinary Research Integration Project kicked off in April 2010. Its objective is to create data-centric human and social sciences. The National Institute of Informatics (NII) and the Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM) joined hands in a bid to develop a technique for actively using a tremendous volume of data on the Web space and thereby to supporting the policymaking process for designing social system with resilience capabilities in the face of damage caused man-induced or other faults, attacks, human errors, and natural disasters. It is indeed an ambitious goal.Read article
Noboru Sonehara (Professor, Information and Society Research Division, NII) / Mariko Takahashi (Senior Staff Writer, Asahi Shimbun)
Today, so many people want their personal information undisclosed that it is necessary to ensure its anonymity for preventing personal identification. However, excessive anonymization leads to a deterioration of information quality and impedes effective use of information. How is it possible to bolster active use of information while protecting it?Read article
Tetsuro Kobayashi(Associate Professor, Information and Society Research Division, NII) / Isao Echizen(Associate Professor, Digital Content and Media Sciences Research Division, NII)
In recent years, the Japanese government has been emphasizing tourism as a promising industry. The NII embarked on research in this area, presuming that data-centered sciences would play a significant role in the revitalization of the tourism industry. With a view towards making effective use of Web Data, Dr. Yu Ichifuji, a project researcher for Transdiciplinary Research Integration Center, was interviewed on the current status and future prospects of theresearch.Read article
Yu Ichifuji (Project Researcher, Transdisciplinary Research Integration Center, NII)
The Research Organization of Information and Systems established the Transdisciplinary Research Integration Center in 2005 to push ahead with transdisciplinary studies based on diverse and massive data acquired from the NII, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM), the National Institute of Genetics (NIG) and the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR). For the second phase that commenced in 2010, it has added a new discipline of humanand social sciences to the conventional ones, namely life, the global environment, and information infrastructure.Transdisciplinary research conducted by the NII and the ISM is in progress.Read article
Hiroe Tsubaki (Vice Director-General, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM)) / Noboru Sonehara
It is still fresh in our memory that social networking services (SNS) played significant roles at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Progress in information and communication technology (ICT) has enabled anyone to freely send out information all over the world. On the other hand, it has given rise to serious problems such as privacy invasion and personal information leakage. At Graduate Schools of Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo,Associate Professor George Shishido explains the current issues of ICT and measures from the perspective of a legal expert.Read article
George Shishido (Associate Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo)
Should I use or avoid the expression of "omedeto" (or "happy") in NewYear's greeting cards? Of course, this puzzled me in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The impact of the disaster still remained so serious that I found myself unable to feel the joy of having a New Year.When I saw Q&A websites,.... Read article
Norio Katayama(Associate Professor, Digital Content and Media Sciences Research Division, NII)
Agents have the potential to connect human beings with one another in ways that provide greater benefit. ? Read article
Seiji Yamada (Professor, Digital Content and Media Sciences Research Division, NII) / Madoka Tainaka (Science and Technology Editor/Writer Expert member, Council for Science and Technology Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)
Recently, an impression of robots has been shifted from machines to natural human-wise agent. There are high hopes for the development of robots that can communicate naturally with human beings, with facing the day that humanoid robots will come to our homes. ? Read article
Tetsunari Inamura (Associate Professor, Principles of Informatics Research Division, NII)
Researchers have begun the construction of a new platform that will enable 3D Internet users to use an avatar (an anthropomorphic agent) to converse, exchange information and conduct joint experimentation and research with other users. This is expected to form an infrastructure for participatory science and help create an environmentally friendly society. ? Read article
Helmut Prendinger (Associate Professor, Digital Content and Media Sciences Research Division, NII)
Collaboration (joint research) between individuals and organizations has produced many significant achievements. It was only after the new century had arrived that there was a lot of talk about "collaboration." However, the joint NII-university collaborative research described here dates back to the 1990s.. ? Read article
Hiromichi Hashizume (Professor at the Information Systems Architecture Research Division, NII) / Masashi Sugimoto (Associate Professor at Tokyo University Graduate School of Engineering) / Yasunari Maeda (Ph.D. candidate, Graduate University for Advanced Studies)
For the past three years, NII has been engaged in a study comparing the behaviors of human beings and pill bugs. This study, begun originally as a collaborative effort with Shinshu University and other institutions, is interesting, because it may overturn the commonly held assumption that intellxectual behavior is a product of the highly developed brain. We discussed many things with Nobuhiro Furuyama, associate professor of the Information and Society Research Division, about the most recent developments in this collaborative project. ? Read article
Nobuhiro Furuyama (Associate Professor, Information and Society Research Division, NII)
The setting for the Tale of Three Kingdoms is the China of approximately 200 A. D.. In the story, heroes in each of the three kingdoms fight to build their respective nations.... ? Read article
Ryutaro Ichise (Associate Professor, Principles of Informatics Research Division, NII)
