Fiscal 2005 ITS Info-communications System Symposium Report


2. Greetings from an Invited Guest
Kanichiro Aritomi, Director, Telecommunications Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

<Greeting Summary>
ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) in Japan are rated as world-class around the globe. Whether it be car navigation, VICS (Vehicle Information Communications Systems) orETC (Electronic Toll Collection), this field is developing at unprecedented speed, unmatched anywhere else, and recognized as a type of social infrastructure by the nation's citizens. Even the simplest of calculations show that car navigation systems and VICS units alone render a positive economic impact of approximately 3.6 trillion yen. On June 15th, ITS Japan will be newly launched as an NPO (non-profit organization) with the important role of promoting Japan's ITS industry. The government is working hard in many areas, and from many aspects, to support such measures. In February of this year, an "IT policy package" was drafted, and work will proceed towards a second stage of tangible ITS measures for Japan as a whole based on the cooperation of ITS related agencies.

ITS is a vehicle-centered field and involves the creation of systems spanning fields such as roads, traffic and communications. Viewed from this perspective, one could say that cars are a type of "moving information box". Not being limited to accessing information and navigation needs, functions here also involve connecting to cell phones and televisions and searching for a variety of information. Providing these functions to a moving object is impossible with conventional telephone lines. Yet this can be achieved by utilizing the latest radio frequency technologies.

The MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) has come up with the concept of "u-Japan" with the aim of achieving a ubiquitous society by the year 2010, and is studying what specific measures must be taken to achieve it. Here, in speaking of a ubiquitous society, it means a society that is capable of operating on the current ubiquitous communications level (i.e., communication being possible anytime, anywhere, anyway by anyone).

In the ITS field, in addition to the current use of sophisticated ITS info-communications systems, more and more functions are being added to the users' terminals. As a result, we are facing problems such as how to receive terrestrial digital broadcasts while operating a vehicle, or how to best meet diverse users' needs by skillfully utilizing new information media such as electronic tags. MIC is also evaluating a variety of technical measures for making the most efficient use of the limited radio frequency bandwidths by narrowing the frequencies being used. Research groups at MIC are summarizing views on plans covering all types of approaches and working on more than 10 proposals for the ITS field. Though results may not appear right away, MIC is considering ways to use new radio frequencies.

But problems facing the ITS field are not limited to the domestic market. Countries overseas, with car-oriented societies like that of Japan, share similar problems.  Promotion of ITS in Asian countries, especially China,is an extremely critical issue to be dealt with. On inquiring to Chairman Toyoda, it was found that there are numerous visitors from Asian and African countries at the Expo in Aichi, and it is important for us to take this and other opportunities to show the appeal of the ITS field in Japan, and stimulate the ITS business in Japan to become internationally competitive. The International Conference in 2007 and the Olympics in 2008 will be large events held in China. It is essential that we make an aggressive effort to demonstrate the appeal of our ITS products there. This is all the more reason why we need the cooperation and support of everyone participating in this symposium today. MIC will be working closely with related institutions to ensure that measures are taken to fulfill future needs.