My first message in the previous issue was on my vision in assuming the post of AIST President. In this issue, I would like to share my findings and thoughts after joining AIST as the first president with an experience in the private sector. Though the title is addressed to industry, I would be delighted if it is read by not only company executives and R&D staff but also university members.

Nearly six months have passed since I joined AIST. During this time, I have received detailed briefings on its multiple kinds of activities while I have also talked with representatives of our collaborating companies, universities and public sector. The first thing that strongly captured my attention was the difference in the research motives among industry, academia and government. Or, I should rather phrase it as the "difference in the research perspectives."

With 'industry,' the motivation or driving force of R&D is based on the necessity and demands arising from business management. Compelling pressure to comply with the demands is increasing year by year due to the severe industrial competition of global scale, and we know well that it has become hard for companies to tackle important but long-term research assignments.

With 'academia,' the missions are education, research and societal contribution, as stipulated in the Fundamental Law of Education. However, the actual driving force of R&D would be intellectual curiosity and academic necessity.

What about research with the "governmental and public sectors"? Here, the motives and meaning of R&D should be the requests from the nation and society. There are many R&D issues that must be addressed for sustainable development, but these cannot be fully coped with by companies that have urgent business activities as their first priority, or by universities which respect academic freedom. It is exactly the'governmental and public sectors'that should confront such issues steadily and discreetly. In AIST's case, such issues are geology, measurement standards, and other infrastructural, cutting-edge research in various fields. I believe that the so-called industry-academia-government collaboration can be carried out more efficiently and effectively upon mutual awareness of such characteristic features and difference in our respective research activities.

Now I would like to elaborate on an aspect of AIST's research. We now have 6 priority fields of Life Science and Technology; Information Technology and Electronics; Nanotechnology, Materials and Manufacturing; Environment and Energy; Geological Survey and Applied Geoscience; and Metrology and Measurement Science. 51 research units in total are engaged in research in the fields. Each individual unit sets the objectives of its research implementation and creates the strategy road maps. Researchers are very much aware of the importance of collaboration among units, beyond their own research areas, and this demonstrates the merit of AIST's merge of the former 15 institutes into one comprehensive institute. Also such collaboration circles are naturally extended to universities and industry. Their ultimate aim is to make their "outcome" of research be utilized in actual society. I appreciate their keen interest in "research outcome and product realization" though it should be naturally expected in a public institution. Although such interest might be regarded as still insufficient in the eyes of industry experts, I am confident that we can expect much from their efforts in Full Research, efforts to search beyond the level of basic research and explore the process toward product realization.

I also highlight here some research results of AIST, unspectacular but indispensable in society. AIST's research results come out in various forms. There are numerous results that appear in visible, audible, tangible forms as cutting-edge products, projects or technologies. AIST also produces considerable number of research results to fortify the infrastructure of industry and society. They are, for example, geological maps covering our entire land, measurement standards, safety evaluation database of chemical substances, database of gene-protein structures, and many more. The degree of contribution of any one of them cannot be directly evaluated, but should be appreciated by the effects of their services to reinforce the fundamental potentials of Japan, serving as the overall industrial infrastructure. Today technologies are diversified, such as life science technology, nanotechnology or bio-science technology, and the kinds of materials we handle are multiplying. Moreover, the global issues, such as environmental problems, are increasing. It is AIST's important role to send out such discreet but crucial knowledge that is indeed essential for the realization of sustainable development.

Next, I would like to introduce AIST's support for local industry and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Though it may appear that AIST has closer relations with large enterprises, it also places great emphasis on collaboration with SMEs. Around half of our technology consultations, which annually run into more than 4,000 cases, are from SMEs. We cooperate in diversified cases such as analysis and testing for quality improvement, basic data-collection or process development for introduction of new materials, and production methods development corresponding to new standards or regulations. AIST has a network of regional research bases in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Tokyo Waterfront, Chubu, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyusyu. In each regional center, we have a consultation service office for local industry. In case one center cannot give a proper solution at the site, AIST Tsukuba and other centers will cooperate. It has been also the tradition that they cooperate with prefectural industrial research institutes to strongly support the local industry. Before, advisees used to receive an impression that AIST gives technological instructions as the governmental authority to private sectors, but these days both sides cooperate on the same platform of joint research or technology consultation.

Here is a little by-talk. Having long served in industry until quite recently, I have seen or heard of many cases of restructuring and in some cases was responsible in decision-making myself. However, never have I known a more drastic case as the one of AIST, of merging the 15 institutes that possessed prestigious histories since the Meiji Period into one comprehensive institute. I believe that it owes much to the new-found spirit, sense of crisis, and sincere discussions of those who took responsibility in the re-establishment. I hear that there are often visits from abroad to investigate the AIST restructuring, when re-organization of national research institutes are considered and planned.

While I was in industry, or even after I joined AIST, I have heard many criticism on or expectations for AIST: "AIST should listen to voices of industry in setting its goals," "We cannot easily consult AIST because they first talk about cost-sharing," "AIST has too rigid an idea on the value of their intellectual property that it discourages us to collaborate," "AIST still makes much of academic papers, and has little understanding of management in industry," and so on. Each comment has its reasons, and I sincerely think AIST should try its best to improve. On the other hand, however, I would like to ask for your kind understanding on the difficulties in our management due to the fact that AIST is a public institute.

In our improving the afore-mentioned points, it would be necessary to increase occasions of communication with industry to exchange our ideas frankly. I would do my best to explain AIST activities accurately to the public, and to introduce the voices of industry to AIST.

At present, AIST is now in the last fiscal year of its Second Medium Term, the First Medium Term being from 2001 to 2004 and the Second from 2005. We are now working to complete the Second Term and advancing in-depth discussions on core visions of the Third Term. We plan to contribute all the more to national policy-making, by promoting R&D focusing on the social needs toward the realization of a sustainable society. The main themes of our heated discussions are as follows.

• to break through the former vision of "AIST sending out the research results for the use of society" toward a new vision of "AIST itself acting to enhance competency of Japanese industry"
• to challenge issues responding to the governmental policies, while also reflecting the voice of industry
• to make AIST's value clearly visible and tangible from industry and academia, to encourage interaction in both quality and quantity

During and after the current discussions, we would like to share our visions with fellow leaders in industry and academia for our better future cooperation. I am very much looking forward to talking with you all.