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Report : Methodology of technology integration toward establishing an open innovation hub−68−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.4 No.1 (2011) concerns for health and human factors. We must spend our effort on learning the social background of what the society needs, what is important in our daily lives, and “how” to make the “what”. However, recently we’ve been neglecting that and we seem to be thinking only about the “how”, and I hope we can get back to basics.AkamatsuIs the “what” in optics to realize large volumes of communication at once?KitayamaIn the early stage, loop or ring configured optical fiber communication systems were introduced to computer controlled manufacturing plants because of their high electromagnetic immunity. As the number of computers and terminals increased, loop or ring configured optical networks needed higher bit rate, larger number of communication nodes and cost for the system soared. We thought downsizing and reducing the cost of the communication nodes were necessary to construct a larger area optical network. We thought PON and multiple accesses scheme would be the most promising architecture for FTTH.ItoThe 1980s was when motorization exploded. It was a time when roads were not organized and the road signs were all messed up. The available maps were crude. It was an era when many problems could be solved through technology that allowed one to find out where he/she was and which way he/she was heading. At present, navigation and route guidance system is one of the instruments on a car, and it has several functions. However, I do not think that it is important to just think of safety and environment, nor do I think that navigation has been perfected. I think there is room for research in route guidance that matches the human perception, is ergonomically sound, and allows reduction of traffic jams.Was the government support for the R&D project effective?AkamatsuWhen the automotive navigation was realized, can I assume that the government support for the R&D project was effective?Ito I think yes. Back then, I think there was antagonism among the government agencies, but there was a good and close relationship for the ITS field, and the Cabinet Office supervised the activities. ITS Japan played the role of linking the private companies, government, and the academia. There are participations of 180 private companies. These companies cannot do what they want. The entire thing must be coordinated to set the key competitive areas. I think we are in such a situation.KitayamaIn trunk line communication systems, it was very clear that by introducing higher bit rate optical transmission technologies, the cost of communication would remarkably reduce. But the market was not so big compared with access network. While many people thought that high-speed optical communication technologies would be available even in access networks in the future, nobody conceived to develop optical access network by themselves because many breakthroughs would be necessary, especially about passive networking and cost reduction. Large-scale R&D of Optoelectronic Measurement and Control Systems Project had an important role to trigger the optical network technology development.SuzukiExploring an invisible issue, identifying necessary science and technologies, converging these science and technologies if necessary and creating social value by implementation cannot be all done by one person or one organization. Therefore, it is necessary to consider how to make a “place or “Ba” of Meta-Engineering” or an ecosystem where various companies can participate. In this case, I think the national project made a significant contribution.ItoI think it is true that everything went fine because of the cooperation from the government organizations, and it will continue to be so. Now, for example, VICS is the information obtained from the police vehicle detectors. Since tests have just begun for the probe that collects information from the vehicles on the road for the next-generation traffic jam information, there must be cooperation with such organizations. Another point is that the Japanese navigation is based on maps, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport claim that using the map just for navigation display is wasteful. I hope we can discuss such things in the “place”.KitayamaBefore, system manufacturers had to develop the semiconductor process, optical devices and ASICs and software by themselves. Recently, the developing period has become short and the scale of development has become large. There is a limit on resources or risks a company can manage. I think to win the competition in commercialization, good cooperation in an open environment is very important. Not only large companies, but also venture companies need to cooperate with each other. In an open environment, it is essential to build a trusting relationship, and to cooperate to run the project until an achievement is made.

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