ISSN 0915-3160

通巻百三十四号

No.

2Vol. 34 April 2022
SpringS pec i a l Feat u reOpen Innovation and Successful Startup Cases in Japan
Governmental Policies toward Forming an Innovation Ecosystem
Open Innovation Initiatives
Creating the Future of Brain-tech with Brain wave AI Platform

New Breeze Vol. 34 No.2 Spring

New Breeze

April 2022

C O N T E N T S

ISSN 0915-3160

Quarterly of The ITU Association of JapanBN Gyoen Bldg., 1-17-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo 160-0022 Japan
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https://www.ituaj.jp/?page_id=310
Editorial Committee

		 Special Feature — Open
Innovation and Successful Startup Cases in
Japan

1

Governmental Policies toward Forming an Innovation Ecosystem

9Creating the Future of Brain-tech with Brain wave AI Platform

6

Open Innovation Initiatives

		 Digital Opportunities

Chairman: Wataru Kameyama
Members: Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications, Association of Radio Industries
and Businesses, Communication Line Products
Association of Japan, Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi, Ltd.,
Japan Broadcasting Corporation,
KDDI CORPORATION, Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation, National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology, NEC Corporation,
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONECORPORATION, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.,
Panasonic Operational Excellence Co., Ltd.,
Softbank Corp., Sony Group Corporation,
The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association, and
The Telecommunication Technology Committee

13

APT Training 2021
— Development of fundamental network planning skills in regional
communities to bridge the digital divide —		Column
15= A Serial Introduction Part 1 =Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2021

Publisher: Tetsuo Yamakawa
Editors:

Junichi Kishimoto
Naoko Ishida
Mariko Shimizu

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The ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) was founded on September 1, 1971, tocoordinate Japanese activities in the telecommunication and broadcasting sectors
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Governmental Policies toward Forming an Innovation
Ecosystem
Seira Suzuki

Deputy Director for Innovation Policy
Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, Cabinet Office

1. Introduction
A law revising parts of the Basic Act on Science andTechnology (enacted in 1995) was established during
the 201st session of the National Diet in 2020, and it
was changed to the “Basic Act on Science, Technology
and Innovation.” In addition, the “Science, Technology
and Innovation Basic Plan”*1 was created for the fiveyear period starting in FY2021, based on the Science,
Technology and Innovation Basic Law in March

2021 (Figure 1). This article will provide a deeper
understanding of policies related to forming an innovation
ecosystem in the next five years, as indicated in the
Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan.
2. Positioning within the Science, Technology
and Innovation Basic Plan
Based on the addition of “Innovation” in the revisions
described above, the Science, Technology and Innovation■ Figure 1: Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan overview (March 2021 Cabinet decision)＊1 Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan (March 2021 Cabinet decision) https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/kihonkeikaku/index6.html

New Breeze Spring 2022

1Basic Plan set in March 2021 goes beyond discussion ofresearch and development, stipulating creation of societal
value and solutions to societal issues by creating andusing “Comprehensive Knowledge” that integrates thenatural sciences with the humanities and social sciences.
While the concept of creation implied by “innovation” hasconventionally tended to be taken as behaviors directly
related to product development or production activities byenterprises, in the Science, Technology and Innovation
Basic Plan, it is understood as a broader subject,creating larger changes in the economy or society andencompassing creation of new value and reform of society
itself. This also provides background for the changes to the
Basic Act on Science, Technology and Innovation and the
additions regarding creation of innovation.
Based on the above, the Science, Technology andInnovation Basic Plan includes a policy to “Forman innovation ecosystem that will be a foundation for
creating new industries that co-create value,” which thegovernment will work on in the next five years, withthe goal reforming society by creating new value andsolving societal issues. Also as background to this is thetrend in which startup enterprises typified by the GAFA
companies, grow very quickly in a short time, overcoming
larger enterprises to become huge IT companies andreforming the structure of industry and even lifestyles.
Creating innovation is an important driving force increating startups, and advanced nations are working
strategically to form startup ecosystems to support creationof innovative startups. It is important for Japan to also
form a world-class startup ecosystem. It is also importantto form positive cycles of innovation driven by societal
need, creating businesses from the R&D results of startups
responding to societal need and creating products andservices that become popular around the world. Open
Innovation is also necessary for existing large enterprises
to collaborate with startups that are utilizing their mobility
to face challenges, and universities and R&D companies■ Figure 2: Basic policies for startup ecosystem formation (Excerpt from “A Startup Ecosystem Support
Package: A new path to growth and overcoming COVID-19,” July 2020 Cabinet, MEXT, METI)＊2	Global base cities: Tokyo area (Tokyo, Kawasaki, Yokohama, Wakou, Tsukuba, etc.), Nagoya and Hamamatsu, Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe), Fukuoka. Driver base cities: Hokkaido area
(Sapporo, etc.) Sendai, Hiroshima, Kita-Kyushu.

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■ Figure 3: Startup ecosystem base formation (Excerpt from “Beyond Limits. Unlock Our
Potential: Strategies for forming bases for a world-class startup ecosystem,”June 2019)that have seed technologies. The Science, Technology andInnovation Basic Plan requires creation of an innovation
ecosystem as described above, closely-connected and interlinked to produce innovation.
3. Forming a startup ecosystem
To form a world-class startup ecosystem in Japan,
eight “startup” cities (four as Global Startup Cities andfour as Startup cities) were selected in July 2020*2, basedon “Beyond Limits. Unlock Our Potential: Strategies forforming the base of a world-class startup ecosystem” (June2016)(Figure2). In July 2020, the Cabinet, the Ministryof Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also
compiled, “A Startup Ecosystem Support Package: A newpath to growth and overcoming COVID-19,” to build
startup support systems for a focused support period of

three years starting in 2020 (Figure 3).
For example, in its program to expand investment
in public and private R&D (PRISM), the Cabinet
established a new project to promote formation of a startup
ecosystem in FY2020, nurtured startups in the base cities
through lectures, individual consultation and networkbuilding, and started an Acceleration Program to support
overseas expansion and other initiatives. In FY2021, thenumber of enterprises being supported was expanded,field-specific courses were started so that programs
suited to the needs of participating companies could beoffered, and other support was provided for activities
such as expanding domestic startups overseas, conceiving
business plans to attract investment from overseas investors
and enterprises, matching specialists with startups andpromotional activities*3.

＊3	F Y2020 Supplementary budget Program to Expand Investment in Public and Private R&D (PRISM), Policy to enact the startup ecosystem formation project https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/gaiyo/
sip/210210/siryo3.pdf

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4. Forming positive cycles of innovation driven
by the needs of society
Based on the concept of innovation described above,
as something that creates new value and brings reform tosociety itself, producing solutions to problems considering
the needs of cities, regional areas and society is an
important driving force for innovation. The United States
has a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) systemthat suggests topics based on the needs of the country,
supports a wide range of R&D from the earliest stages,
and supports startups and other companies through amulti-stage selection process. With the USA SBIR,
government ministries have a duty to spend a fixed ratioof their R&D budgets on initiatives such as startups,
operating on uniform rules across ministries, and thishas produced many enterprises, such as Qualcomm andiRobot, that have brought innovation to industry andcontinued to grow.
Japan has also operated our own version of an SBIR
since 1999, the Small and Medium Enterprise TechnicalInnovation System, operated mainly by the METI
■ Figure 4: Japanese SBIR

4New Breeze Spring 2022

Small and Medium Enterprise Agency. However, someshortcomings have been identified, such as not being
strategic in fields of expenditure, insufficient support
for earlier stages of R&D such as feasibility studies andproofs of concept, and the lack of consistent rules for
multi-stage selection and evaluation.
In 2020, the Law on the Revitalization of Science,
Technology and Innovation Creation was reviewed andrevised to strengthen initiatives spanning ministries andagencies and overseen by the Cabinet Office, to makethe SBIR in Japan more effective (enacted April 1, 2021).
Based on the law, the Cabinet issued “2021 Policy on
Expenditure Targets for Funding to Support Specific
New Technologies,” and “Guidelines for Delivering
Designated Support Funding,” in June 2021. Throughthis, a fixed ratio of specific R&D budgets (Specified
new technology subsidies, etc.) in each ministry would
be allocated to initiatives such as startups, and a target
expenditure of 53.7B yen was established. Further, asa consistent set of rules for offering and operating thedesignated support funds from each ministry, concreteR&D topics were presented based on policy requirements,
guidelines were given for public procurement andperformance in order to implement results in society
using a voluntary agreement system, and plans were madeto build an integrated support system spanning R&D
through government procurement and use by consumers,
with cooperation among ministries and agencies andcoordination by the Cabinet Office (Figure 4). These
initiatives are building a system that will stimulate newchallenges for startups, which are responsible for muchinnovation.
5. Casting off policies of closed innovation andpromoting Open Innovation
Implementing results of R&D and other efforts insociety quickly and applying them as solutions to societal
issues or to create new value is a major issue recently,
and Open Innovation is attracting attention as a way to
overcome organizational barriers, combine knowledge,
technology and management resources, and to promote
new initiatives. Businesses are also beginning to moveaway from policies of closed innovation and towardcollaboration with startups that are using their mobility
to take up challenges in various fields, and universities andnational R&D agencies that possess seed technologies.
To further promote Open Innovation in Japan, the“Japan Open Innovation Prize,” has been held each year
starting in 2018, to give recognition to initiatives thatshow strong leadership and originality, and promise to
be role models for the future. This is the fourth yearthat prizes have been awarded*4, and a variety ofparticipants have been honored, including startups,
businesses, universities and local governments. It is hopedthat this recognition will help to overcome the barriersof organizations, combining knowledge, technology,
and management resources to drive new initiatives andpromote advanced projects, thereby accelerating thepositive cycles of commercializing R&D results andcreating new added value through Open Innovation
among the various participants.

6. Conclusion
As discussed above, there is a need to form a startup
ecosystem and establish positive cycles of innovation
driven by the needs of society, and also to promote
movement away from policies of closed innovation toward
Open Innovation, based on the Science, Technology andInnovation Basic Plan. These objectives are closely related
to realizing an innovation ecosystem, to creating new value
in COVID and post-COVID times, and to reforming
society to achieve “a society in which all citizens canbenefit from the creations of science, technology andinnovation,” as stipulated in the Science, Technology andInnovation Basic Law.

Cover Art

kyotomeishonouchi arashiyama manka(Full Blossom at Arashiyama on the Oi River)
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797~1858)
Collection of the Art Research Center (ARC)
Ritsumeikan University
Object number: arcBK06-0013_004＊4	https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/openinnovation/prize/index.html

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Open Innovation Initiatives

Tomoya Hiroe

VP Operations, Stuff Co. Ltd.

Stuff Co. Ltd. has actively pursued development
initiatives using Open Innovation since 2016. We
approach our startup and Open Innovation initiatives withthe following three perspectives.
The first is that we use external intellectual property
and create businesses and products in-house.
The second is that we use internal awards to turnbudgeted plans into businesses and products working withexternal companies.
And finally, the third is that there are things we cannot
develop ourselves for various reasons, but with support
from other enterprises, we can make something of ourideas.
For the first one, we take a unique idea or technologythat a startup or university has, and make it into a productusing the branding and commercialization capabilities andthe sales channels of a large enterprise. For the second,
we take a plan created with our own expertise and use it
for marketing or with another company’s technology tocommercialize a product. And for the third, when you
have internal obstacles so that even though your idea
is strong, it does not suit your company, you can makesomething of it with support from another enterprise.
Here, we introduce some of our successes with each ofthese patterns (See Figure).
As an example of the first case above, we createda STUFF product called “TISPY,” that came from a
Toshiba internal startup. The product (currently being soldas TISPY2) is a blood-alcohol level checker that learns
using a memory card with Wi-Fi function from Toshiba.
■ Figure : C reated products
From the left: Kitoki, TISPY, INFINI MIX

6New Breeze Spring 2022

This project was a voluntary startup within Toshiba,
which we joined in February 2016, combining professional
software and hardware development and design members
from Toshiba with our product creation capabilities.
We began crowd funding in March 2016, and sent a
product to our supporters in autumn of that year. When
we joined the project, Toshiba had already decided to use
crowd funding to get support and created the web page,planning to make 3000 units. It was difficult to create a
Toshiba branded product with this number of units, so
after some compromise, we finally created the product,
raising 15M yen of funding. We collaborated with Life
Care Giken Inc. for tests to evaluate effectiveness of the
product. There were some heated discussions and someconflict of personalities before we arrived at a product,
but we continued to pursue the goal and finally achieved a
product in quite a short amount of time.
An example of the second case, is a vital sensing device
made of wood, called “kitoki,” which is being sold throughOpen Innovation with JT. We participated in this projectfrom the planning stages, studying the product value andconcept and designing it in a group of four companies,
with JT, a design company called we+, MIS (Makuake),and our company, STUFF. We produced a new idea
combining a range of research knowledge from JT, thedesign capabilities of we+, MIS’s vision for value, andSTUFF’s technical and product-development capabilities.
By forming a team to realize that idea, we reached acommon understanding of our objective. Through Open
Innovation, we created a product in only 11 months fromthe start of planning, and with Makuake we were able toraise over 10 million yen.
A final example is the INFINI MIX product from
Mitsubachi Products, which is currently on the market.
Mitsubachi Products is a startup that was carved outof a major enterprise. Mitsubachi Products’ goal was toproduce value based on the main themes of “building
a chocolate-drink culture,” and “hot chocolate drink
machines.” We collaborated with them on developing andmanufacturing these machines. We were introduced to
CEO Hatsumi Ura by Makuake, and were allowed to joinfrom the planning stages. This is the first product of its
kind, so there were many hurdles to overcome in creatingthe product.
Two major points stay with me from these experiences.
The first is that we only joined the project in the spring of
2018, but after we decided to exhibit at Salon du Chocolat
in France in the autumn of that year, we were able torealize a usable product from the design concept in only
about two months. The second is how I could relatewith the Mitsubachi Products sentiment that, while theywanted to introduce a product to the world, they also
wanted to create a new food culture at the same time.
In all cases, we would not have been able to create
the products on our own efforts alone. They started
with a plan from a startup or a large enterprise, and were
implemented by gathering together various strengths,
whether technical, research data, parts processing or
procurement, design or sales. Gathering together many
strengths to proceed is what makes Open Innovation able
to speed up the product development process.
Looking back now, each of these initiatives also had aturning point.
For TISPY, the Toshiba internal startup was formedin December, 2015, when we had our first consultation.
It is embarrassing to say, but it was our first experience
with crowd funding, with a startup, and with Open
Innovation when we started at the time. We launchedanyway, and although there was much we did not know
and were experiencing for the first time, we did not takean attitude that delivery delays were inevitable, as is often
the case with crowd-funding projects. We had a sharedunderstanding that we would proceed with development
and production as planned, and this was a major pointin our success. However, as is often the case for a startup
within a large enterprise, members are often required to do
two things at the same time during development, and thiswas also true for TISPY. The two things were “everyday
business” and “TISPY development.” Because of this,things progressed smoothly through design part of productdevelopment but then, when studying specifications anddeveloping the software, we often could not contact thepeople involved until the evening, so development took
more time than usual.
Reflecting on the results, this was a major issue in thefact that we shipped one month later than our originalplan.
Learning from this experience, when developing kitoki
in the second initiative, with JT, we set a rule in the project
team that we would not start crowd-funding until the
prototype product was completed. Thus, we were able tocontrol the product production volume, which is one of thebenefits of crowd funding. When we developed TISPY,
we did not even have a working mock-up on hand when
we started. Thinking about that now, it was a terrible
thing to do.
Incidentally, we have heard that Makuake has also

had a similar experience, so now when they use crowd
funding, they have a rule that they must have various
conceptual prototypes completed already when starting a
crowd funding project.
Returning to discussion of kitoki development,a major product planning issue was how to generateuser experience value. The product was intended to bea “vital sensing device,” which raised the question of
how to measure one’s state of excitement or relaxation,and how to induce a relaxed state. We settled on an
arrangement that senses perspiration on the user’s handand promotes relaxation using an original algorithm withvibration sensations. During development there was muchdiscussion back and forth and we completed the product in
11 months.
The f inal example is of the INFINIMIX hot
chocolate machine, created by Mitsubachi Products.
Mitsubachi Products President, Hatsumi Ura, has abusiness background, so we provided technical expertise.
Mitsubachi Products handled marketing and sales, while
STUFF handled development and manufacturing. When
we started development, there were already plans to exhibit
at a trade show in Paris and to give a presentation at a
Panasonic 100th Anniversary event, so we began withthose plans in mind. Development was organized withmembers from Mitsubachi Products handling productdesign, while we handled design of circuits, software,structure and enclosure, fabrication and evaluation of
prototypes, and later, assembly, manufacturing, packaging
and shipping for mass production. The design wascompleted in August, 2018, and the Paris exhibition was at
the end of October. Looking back, I realize what a toughjob that was. However, having those plans in place was
the best motivation we could have had, and we were able
to exhibit the product at the trade show and the event in
December, and also to refine the drinks further.
The value of our experience with Open Innovation
is increasing as we receive many development proposals
recently, and having learned how to quickly clarify the
product creation process is an important factor in being
able to respond quickly. Thus, through many projects,
we have learned that with Open Innovation, making
an absolutely firm schedule during the early stages ofdevelopment is a very important task.
A second important task is to clarify the costs.
Our company takes on many product development
contracts from other companies, with various requirements
such as development and consulting on basic prototypes
for verifying specifications, studying products emphasizing
appearance from the designer’s perspective, developing
devices incorporating multiple sensor modules, anddeveloping products that require various certifications forcommercialization.
For many development consultations, clients have

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jumped the gun starting development without having
considered the specifications thoroughly, but with ourdesign partners that have not considered the overall costs,
we try to create good products by considering customer
needs over a broad scope. I do not think this approachis wrong, but in many cases, not much thought is given
to costs. As a result, time considering specifications canincrease greatly, which can inflate costs. It also means thatmany projects are not able to satisfy both their content andtheir costs, they do not have capacity to make the rightjudgments in real time, and in the end they need to takea different direction than originally intended, such as rethinking or suspending development. Even in the rarecases that they move to the next development phase, it islikely that they will need to reconsider their budgeting.
For these reasons, it is important to disclose as early as
possible and to the extent possible, the overall budget, thedevelopment budget, and plans for procuring funding, andwhat has been decided with business partners. This is thesecond task and has benefits for both parties.
And finally, a third task: to make responsibilities clear.
To avoid misunderstanding, this is not leaving decisions
to others at all. With Open Innovation, it often gives
partners a point of contact in a joint project. If each partner
involved in development takes responsibility for its own
tasks, there will be less chance of diverging from theschedule or costs as discussed above.
These are three fundamental issues for startups andOpen Innovation initiatives, but they are often forgotten
and members often proceed as with regular business in alarge enterprise.
With startups, people’s hopes and visions often expand
during discussion, and they run too far ahead and forgettake a stance in terms of cooperative Open Innovation.
When this happens it is difficult to pull back, so it is betterto be mindful of this at all times.
These are basic issues and it is important to think about
them from the very beginning.
Another extremely important task is selecting partners
to work with.
We are a design company, handling everything fromsoftware, hardware and structure to product enclosures,
both in-house and outsourcing, so we have a networkof hundreds of designers, other design companies,
and fabricators from prototyping to mass production.
We receive thousands of inquiries per year, and workwith partners to optimize each design phase, solving
development problems and working to accelerate theseprocesses.
Our company could be the “best match” in somecases, but if the customer can use their own resources ortheir existing network, they could ask other companies tohandle individual aspects such as design, prototyping, or
mass production of the product.
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New Breeze Spring 2022

I have described some of our experiences, based on
concrete cases that we have worked on, but we normally
try to collaborate with partners that we can exchange
views with at trade shows or through web research, so it iseasy to form a development arrangement and development
proceeds smoothly.
I have one final point to mention.
When kicking-off a development project, it is necessary
to have details such as level of quality required, evaluation,and certification decided and assigned among partners toa certain degree. This point is sometimes omitted, but it
is extremely important, since it can determine whether the
product turns out well or not.
If the enterprises, departments or partners haveexperience producing products, they will each bring
their own information to the project, I can recommend
engaging in Open Innovation, taking these points into
consideration.
However, even if the issues described above arehandled smoothly, projects are not guaranteed to go well,and when introducing a product that has not been on themarket before, it may be difficult to attain the certificationand quality standards that people expect from Japan.
We have also had several cases where we evaluatedprototypes, but encountered major obstacles when moving
to mass production, and this highlights the difficulty ofcreating products, for a startup or an established enterprise.
There are many plans to execute, mainly from internal
startups and pitch events in large corporations, but after
awards are won and budgets created, there are still many
issues before a product is created, such as profitability andstandards, and many initiatives do not achieve productsuccess. Above all is the inherent difficulty of starting a
new business from the bottom up. Every enterprise has its
own way of thinking, but by taking care of fundamentals
and carefully selecting project members as I have discussed
earlier they should be able to continue development
without stopping,.
There is much support for startups from the various
regions, prefectures and national agencies, and weshould expect even more in the future, but it is not an
exaggeration to say that whether an organization orenterprise can make a product or not will be determined by
how they think about it.
In addition to the above examples, we have createdproducts with many universities, agencies, large enterprises
and startups. For these accomplishments and activities, we
had the great honor of being recognized and awarded thefirst Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Open Innovation Prize in 2019. We are very thankful to
all involved for this recognition of our methods, and wehope to promote even more activity in Open Innovationand produce more successful experiences.

Creating the Future of Brain-tech with Brain wave AI
Platform

Hideki Matsubara
CEO, PGV Inc.

1. Founding of PGVPGV is a startup enterprise from Osaka University,
established in September, 2016 to create a practicalimplementation of results from the research of Professor
T. Sekitani, of the Institute of Scientific and Industrial
Research (ISIR, or SANKEN) at Osaka University.
Professor Sekitani conducts research on flexible electronics
technologies, and he has attracted attention from aroundthe world in this field. He has achieved excellent research
results with technology using highly elastic electrodes toaccurately capture brain wave data, which is particularly
difficult to measure, even compared to other biological
data. PGV was established to implement a patch-type
electro-encephalograph (EEG) device based on theseresults. With this patch-type encephalograph device, PGV
aims to become the technology leader in the brain-techmarket.
2. Characteristics of brain wave data
With brain activity, tiny electrical currents flow inthe brain. Electroencephalograms (EEG) are a record ofelectrical activity produced by nerve cells in the brain ofa person or animal, taken using electrodes placed on thescalp or other locations. They have two characteristics thatdifferentiate them from other biological signals such as
pulse, heart-rate or myoelectric (muscle) signals.
The first is that brain wave response is extremely fast.
During human activity, the brain must process and send
instructions to each part of the body before that activity.
For example, when one is nervous, the pulse and heart rateincrease, but the brain feels the nervousness first, and thensends instructions to the heart. Thus, its response is fasterthan pulse, heart rate or myoelectric signals.
The second characteristic of brain waves is that they
carry more information. Brain waves are signals thatchange with a modulation width of roughly 0 to 50 Hz.
They also change without regulation or pattern. For
example, when you are reading a book, watching a movie,
or listening to music, the waveforms of brain waves aredifferent in each case. In contrast, pulse and heart rate
have a set pattern; a fixed waveform centered around 60 to
70 Hz, getting faster or slower according to level of stress(autonomic nerve action). Differences in the book, movie

and music experiences can be distinguished from brain
waves, but such differences cannot be classified easily frompulse or heart rate.
Brain waves have these characteristics, but they are
difficult to handle because they are extremely small signals
and have complex waveforms. Pulse and heart rate signal
strength is in the range from 1 to 10 mV, but brain wave
signals are only 1 to 50 μV, and unlike pulse and heartrate, brain waves also occur with an unlimited number ofwaveform patterns. They are also measured together withmyoelectric signals due to the movement of eyelids andeyeballs, and this adds to the complexity of the waveforms.
As a result waveforms can be different, even for the sameactivity or state, making analysis to select the common
components very difficult.
3. PGV Strengths
As can be seen from the above characteristics, usefuland effective utilization of brain waves requires 1) theability to accurately and easily measure brain waves, which
are very weak biological data, and 2) to overcome thedifficulty of analyzing these measurements.
For the first point, we have implemented a patch-type
EEG (Figure 1) product using flexible electrode sheet
material by combining Prof. Sekitani’s research results withexpertise from Nippon Mektron Ltd., a world leader inthe field of flexible printed circuits (and a member of the
NOK group, which is a PGV shareholder). In the past,
brain waves were measured using large, medical EEGs,
but their range of use was limited because they required up
to 30 minutes to set up, they placed a heavy burden on thesubject, and they were very expensive systems. PGV’s patchtype encephalograph is extremely easy to use compared toconventional large EEGs, and is able to obtain brain wave
data without compromising accuracy. The electrode sheets
used to measure brain waves are a patented technologythat is an extremely thin 50 μm, has excellent elasticity,
clings tightly to the forehead, and fluctuates very little inresistance, so the subject’s minute brain wave signals can be
captured. The device also uses excellent noise processing
technology to achieve stable EEG readings.
For the second point, we have incorporated AI in
analysis of brain waves and are accumulating know-

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■ Figure 1: PGV’s patch-type EEG

how in efficient analysis of brain wave data. Brain wave
f luctuations do not show patterns and appear to beirregular. As such, even when performing a frequency
analysis, there are many dimensions that are beyond
the scope that a person can understand. It is extremely
difficult to derive patterns linking brain wave changes
with changes in the body or mind. This has lead to use of
AI analysis. In AI analysis of brain waves, large amountsof brain wave data labeled with the person’s activity orstate are collected and they can be analyzed to makeassociations between the person’s activity or state of mind
and body and the brain waves. By developing many brain
wave AIs in this way, it may also become possible tounderstand various states of a person’s mind and body
objectively, by measuring their brain waves.
4. PGV’s business―Now and in the future
So far, most of PGV’s work has been in developing,
manufacturing and selling the patch-type EEG, andcontracting services related to brain wave analysis.
PVG’s patch-type EEG sensor is small and light10

New Breeze Spring 2022

weight (27 g), is hardly noticeable when worn and iscontrolled wirelessly, making it very easy to measure brain
waves. As of August, 2020, it has also received medical
device certification (Class II, 302AFBZX00079000) as
a telemetry EEG. It is helping to make clinical researchusing brain waves at universities and research facilities lessexpensive and more effective.
Our contract services in brain wave analysis involve
medical research and also a range of research involving thefive senses and other bodily states (fatigue, concentration,etc.). Our customers include university and other researchfacilities as well as enterprise R&D departments andnew-business development departments. We have been
performing frequency analysis of brain waves, but as
mentioned above, since FY2020, we have been using AI
based on the characteristics of brain waves.
To raise our competitiveness in the brain-tech market,
we are promoting a brain wave AI platform concept. The
platform is composed of three elements: (1) an EEG, (2)a brain wave AI development tool, and (3) brain wave AI
models (Figure 2).

■ Figure 2: Three elements of the brain wave AI platform

Regarding the first element, we have begun developinga next-generation EEG. We are pursuing a more compact
and user-friendly EEG while maintaining high accuracy,
to further advance the current EEG. In the future, weplan to develop an AI chip, and automate brain wave preprocessing (data cleansing) and other tasks that require alarge amount of effort to be invested.
For the second element, the brain wave AI
development tool, we formally released the NAIS Entry
brain wave AI analysis service in May 2021. Although
the EEG is easy to use, the brain wave data is difficult
to handle, so this service provides AI analysis ofmeasurements that our customers have taken themselves,in an SaaS format. We implement brain wave analysis
that is easier and costs less. Users first use a PGV device

to measure brain waves, which they then upload to PGVservers using an application on a tablet. The results of AI
analysis of the user’s brain wave data are then sent backto the user. We plan to continue improving NAIS Entry
functionality, to more precisely meet the needs of various
types of customers.
For the third element, the brain wave AI model, we
have consolidated various algorithms from both medical
and non-medical fields in to our NAIS Library, and areworking on visualizations of brain activity as a measure(an objective index) of brain waves. At PGV, we havealready completed development of a brain wave AI model
for sleep analysis (automatically determining stages of
sleep and generating sleep indices). In the future, beyond
development within PGV, we will strengthen our support

New Breeze Spring 202211

for external AI model development, providing our patchtype EEG and NAIS Entry service to other enterprises
and research facilities. Our brain wave AI platform is
positioned as a service platform promoting Open
Innovation in the brain-tech field.
In medical fields, we hope to use brain waves as abiomarker for mental and nervous-system disorders. For
example, brain waves could be used to diagnose dementia.
We have already prototyped a program to diagnosedementia, but we are still collaborating with the Facultyof Medicine at Osaka University to improve its reliability.
In the future, we will conduct clinical trials to verify thetechnology and hope to commercialize a brain wave AI
program for diagnosing dementia (obtaining certification
or approval as a Software as a Medical Device). We plan
to implement a system that can be used for a preliminary
diagnosis of dementia using brain waves, which canbe done by a primary-care physician, even if they are
not a specialist in dementia. This will contribute to the■ Figure 3: NAIS Entry service flow

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New Breeze Spring 2022

treatment of dementia as is needed in our hyper-aging
society.
As of FY2021, we have also begun developing a NAIS
Library for a non-medical field, visualizing people’s stateof fatigue and mindfulness, and using brain waves as an
objective index of fatigue.
Finally, I would like to introduce PGV’s long-term
vision of “Brain health management with an EEG in every
household.” We hope in the future, to implement an EEG
and brain-health management program for home use, byfurther improving our EEG so that it can be used easily by
the general public, and by using evidence and brain wave
AI models obtained through initiatives in the medical andhealth-care fields. We have about 15 technical employees(data scientists, software and hardware engineers) who
are focused on implementing this long-term vision andworking daily to improve performance in the brain-techindustry.

APT Training 2021

— Development of fundamental network planning skills in regional communities
to bridge the digital divide —The ITU Association of Japan
International Cooperation Department
As part of AP T’s (Asia-Pacif ic
Telecommunity) program to support
human resource develop, the IT U
Association of Japan has been delivering
training programs*1 since 2017 that aim
to build skills in status analysis, solution
formulation and conceptual design ofcommunication networks as a solution
strategy in an effort to bridge the digital
divide between urban and less-populated
communities in developing countries.
In 2021, the eight-day program*2 washeld between December 1-13, and for thesecond-year running was delivered online.
As was the case last year, class times
were limited to two-to-three hours a day,which was just long enough for trainees
to maintain concentration for an effective
training session. This year’s training
program welcomed eight trainees from fivecountries: Bhutan, Iran, Myanmar, Palauand Sri Lanka.
The training program has three clear
objectives.
(1) Gaining an understanding of issues
specific to one’s own country and learn
methodology for proposing tangible■ Group Photoprojects to overcome the digital gap
in the various communities of thatcountry.
(2) Understanding the importance ofadopting clear government policies on
network architecture.
(3) D eveloping skills in proposing andevaluating solutions for the various
issues faced in one’s own country.
On the first day of training all trainees
delivered presentations on current ICT
conditions and related issues in their own
countries and/or specific regional areas.
After the presentations, trainees were given
plenty of time to exchange ideas and learn
about and gain a deeper understanding ofconditions in the countries of their fellow
participants.
Day two started with an address by
Kazuhiko Tanaka, the Secretary-Generalof the ITU Association of Japan, on thecurrent status of ICT in Japan. Thiswas followed by a lecture on the basic
concepts of network design by former
NTT-employee Takayoshi Hamano. Mr.
Hamano joined the program as a lecturer
this year to provide practical drills training,which is a major drawcard of the program.
Trainees carried out various training
drills from day three to learn how todesign networks. Each drill presented
a model of a typical regional area, suchas a mountainous or coastal community,
and trainees examined methodology fordesigning networks suitable for each region
based on analysis of geographical and otherconditions. They were also instructed in
the development of region-specific ICT
services and ICT environments.
On day six, trainees were given a
virtual tour of KDDI DIGITAL GATE
by KDDI, with a few staff from the
ITU Association of Japan also visiting tosupport the virtual tour.
During this virtual tour, trainees
shared in a lecture on K DDI’s 5G
initiatives and demonstrations of KDDI’s
advanced 5G technologies via a live stream.
Despite trainees participating remotely via
their computer screens, there must havebeen a real sense of presence about thetraining not generally available in suchformats.
On the f inal day, each trainee■ Lecture delivered by Mr. Hamano＊1 Training program funded by the Government of Japan for practitioners and technical staff from APT member countries to learn about Japanese technologies and services＊2 A rest day was scheduled during the week.

New Breeze Spring 202213

■ KDDI lecture

presented an action plan. The action plans
proposed solutions to the issues identified
by trainees on the first day, as well as
applied the skills learnt on the program.
Once all trainees had presented theirplans, trainees were given the opportunity
to exchange ideas with the lecturers andother trainees. By attempting to address
challenges close to their own hearts,
trainees were able to learn more practical
approaches.
Training formats that center onpractical drills induce independencein trainees and enable more active
communication between participants.
In view of the Covid-19 situation, thisyear’s program adopted last year’s training
methods and was delivered entirely online.
Specifically, the program was designed
so that trainees could read and familiarize
themselves with texts and drills in advance
via an e-learning platform so that they
■ Practice drills

14

New Breeze Spring 2022

■ Virtual tour of KDDI

could concentrate on questions and answer
sessions and meaningful discussions during
online classes. During discussion-based
drills trainees were divided into smallergroups using the breakout room function
on the Web-conferencing tool, Zoom.
Drills were conducted four times,
with members in each group taking
turns to practice the techniques, anddespite differences in nationality and skill
levels, the trainees managed to deepen
interactions with each other.
Once debate had been concluded ona group level, a representative from eachgroup was asked to present their group’s
findings, with lecturers evaluating designideas and giving suggestions on alternative
methods. Trainees came to a sharedrealization that there was never a single
strategy to solving an issue, which thenprompted a wide-ranging discussion.
Despite being conducted entirely

online, this year’s program again proved tobe comprehensive and productive.
Even if the program continues to beheld online in 2022, we would like toconsider how best to deliver purposefultraining sessions in view of the recent
noticeable advances in communication
technology.
In closing, we would like to express
our gratitude to the staff of the APT
and Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications for their guidance andcooperation in carrying out this training,
Mr. Hamano for his efforts in creating
the course materials and instructing
the trainees, and the staff of KDDI for
providing a virtual tour of their facilities.
In addition, we would also like to takethis opportunity to thank Mr. Takuzo
Fujii, who created the foundations of the
program and continued to lecture up until
last year.

■ Post-drill presentations

= A Serial Introduction Part 1 =Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2021
In May every year, The ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) proudly presents ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards to people who have madeoutstanding contributions in the field of international standardization and have helped in the ongoing development of ICT.
These Awards are also an embodiment of our sincere desire to encourage further contributions from these individuals in the future.
If you happen to run into these winners at another meeting in the future, please say hello to them.
But first, as part of the introductory series of Award Winners, allow us to introduce some of those remarkable winners.

Masashi Kamei

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/
Fields of activity: ABU, ITU-R SG4, WRC, Satellite Broadcasting

International Collaboration with ABU for Standardization Activity
It is an honor to receive this ITU-AJ Encouragement Award. I would
like to express my sincere gratitude to the ITU Association of Japan and all
those who have given me guidance and encouragement.
I have been involved in standardization activities since WRC-07. I
participated in discussion of the agenda item on use of the 21-GHz- bandbroadcasting satellite service at APG07-5 and made contributions basedon results from our study for WRC-12 agenda item 1.13, on the 21-GHz
band broadcasting-satellite service. Our proposals, which enable flexible
use compensating for rain attenuation and providing future broadcasting
applications, were reflected in updates to Radio Regulations. We continue
study on the 21-GHz band broadcasting-satellite service and contribution
to ITU-R.
During the discussion in APG and WRC, the Asia-PacificBroadcasting Union (ABU), which is a professional association ofbroadcasting organizations including NHK in the Asia-Pacific region,
gave a lot of cooperation and support for our proposals and promoted

Daisuke Kurita

better understanding in other members. I learned that this international
collaboration was established by a tradition of both contribution by senior
members of NHK to ABU and trust by ABU in those members.
I was elected as a vice chairman of ABU Technical committeein October 2018. One of the agenda items of WRC-19 was related topromotion of UHDTV satellite broadcasting, which is already being
provided in Japan since December, 2018. Based on our traditional
relationship, I was able to secure understanding and cooperation from
ABU to support Japanese activities on this agenda. Since APG19-5 washeld in Tokyo in August 2019, exhibiting UHDTV satellite broadcasting
was examined to promote understanding in foreign members who would
not otherwise have a chance to experience its immersive visual and sound. I
also gave a presentation for the ABU supporting Japanese activity.
I will continue to make efforts for international collaboration with
ABU and promote R&D results based on our traditional relationship.

NTT DOCOMO, INC.
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/
Fields of activity: 3GPP LTE-Advanced and 5G standardization

3GPP Activities on UMTS/LTE/LTE-advanced Antenna PerformanceStandards and 5G Physical Layer Standardization
I would like to offer sincere thanks upon receiving this ITU
Association of Japan Encouragement Award, and take this opportunity tothank the many people who offered their support and guidance.
I have participated in 3GPP RAN WG4 since 2007, studying mobile
station antenna performance requirements and evaluation technologies,
and in 3GPP RAN WG1 since 2018, studying and creating specifications
for advanced 5G NR technologies such as NR backhaul-link application
and NR communication area extension.
Mobile station antenna performance is the element that determines
communication areas, and we faced two main difficulties when beginning
discussion to create the standard specifications. The first was that network
operators want high performance, while mobile device vendors want theminimum performance. I proposed performance requirements consideringboth perspectives and considering discussion from each company. The

second was that in studying evaluation technologies for multi-antenna
performance, support was divided between two different evaluation
technologies. I proposed technology that permitted the technologies tocoexist, and were able to guide discussion with each company to conclude
the technical study.
In this way, I learned that although technical superiority is importantin discussion of standards, it is also important to make flexible proposals
that consider differing perspectives. I also devoted such thinking when
involved in study of 5G NR advanced technologies and contributed tocompleting the technology verification according to schedule.
I look forward to further advances in communication technology,
which will bring more richness and convenience to life in the future, andhope to contribute to that development.

New Breeze Spring 2022

15

Taiji Sakamoto

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
https://group.ntt/en/
Fields of activity: ITU-T SG15

Next-generation Optical Fiber Standardization Activity
I am very thankful to receive this Encouragement Award from the
ITU Association of Japan. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone
at ITU-AJ and ITU-T SG15 for their guidance and cooperation forstandardization activities in ITU-T SG15.
I have been involved in ITU-T SG15 (Transport, Access and Home)
Optical Fiber standardization Question 5 (Optical fiber characteristics
and test methods) and Question 8 (Optical fiber submarine cable systemcharacteristics) since 2012, promoting standardization of optical fiber for
high-speed, high-capacity transmission.
To support communication traffic as they continue to increase in

Takuya Shitomi

the future, standardization of optical fiber capable of even higher speeds
and capacity is needed, and we have already begun discussion of the next
generation of optical fibers, called multi-core fiber, which are structurally
very different from conventional optical fiber.
Communication standardization activity is essential to maintaining
interconnectivity, and optical fiber is the hardware at the core ofcommunication. I hope to continue contributing to establishing standards
for next-generation optical fiber and developing the basic opticalcommunications technologies supporting all of our lives and businesses.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)https://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo/
Fields of activity: ITU-R WP6A, Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting

Activities related to digital terrestrial television broadcasting
It is a great honor to receive the Encouragement Award from the ITU
Association of Japan. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the
ITU-AJ and everyone that has given me guidance and encouragement.
I have been acting as a member of the Japan delegation since 2017,contributing to WP6A mainly on two issues.
The first relates to transmission technologies for 4K/8K terrestrial
broadcasting. I contributed documents on the transmission technologies
developed in the research titled, “R&D related to advanced terrestrial
television broadcasting technology,” supported by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications, and the information was added to several
related reports. For the recommendation for 2nd generation digitalterrestrial television broadcasting systems (BT.1877), I also proposed arevision of the system selection guidelines to summarize the technicaldifferences and features between several transmission systems. In this work,

Kunihiko Teshima

the opinions of each country were in conflict, but we were finally able tolead to a revision of the recommendation allowing everyone to agree.
The second issue concerns methodologies for evaluating interference
on digital terrestrial television broadcasting using Monte Carlosimulations. I participated in the rapporteur group meeting, discussing thecorrespondence between the interference probability obtained by the Monte
Carlo simulations and the degradation of location probability used in theterrestrial broadcast link budget. We developed a new recommendation(BT.2136) and hope that the recommendation will be beneficial for both
broadcasting and other systems.
Through these activities, I was able to experience international
negotiations and broaden my perspective. I will continue to make efforts tocontribute to the effective use of radio waves and the promotion of Japan’s
efforts on next-generation broadcasting technologies.

NTT DOCOMO, INC.
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/
Fields of activity: Open RAN

Standardization activities at 3GPP and O-RAN
I am extremely honored to receive this ITU Association of Japan
Encouragement Award. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone at
ITU-AJ and all others involved.
I have been involved in RAN standardization activities at 3GPP
since about 2013. One of the issues I was involved in was discussion on
improving communication quality in high-speed mobile environments
such as Shinkansen trains. At the time, the issue was raised as just a
potential issue, because high-speed environments like Shinkansen arelimited, even considering the whole world, so it was difficult to convinceothers that an extended specification to resolve the issue was necessary.
However, through patient discussion to identify the issue using field test
results and explaining it in detail, we finally reached understanding withmany operators and vendors. I later became rapporteur for this discussion,

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New Breeze Spring 2022

and the fact that we finally completed the extended specification is a goodmemory for me, even today.
Currently, I have moved my activities to the O-RAN Alliance,
working to implement an open and intelligent RAN, and am working
as a co-chair of one of the groups studying open interfaces to realize
a multi-vendor RAN. Enabling configuration of a RAN combining
equipment from different vendors would allow combinations that utilizefeatures from more vendors and products, to gain benefits in terms of
performance, timing in providing services and cost. For RAN in the 5G
era, with demand for more advanced requirements and diverse services,
implementing and open, multi-vendor RAN is more important than ever.
As a co-chair, I intend to continue driving discussion of creating an open
RAN.

Standards for Connecting the World ThroughTechnological Innovation- Nomination for the Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau Telecommunications technologies have brought about the information society and promoted digital society around theworld, and are supporting the progress of digital transformation. Its impact on people's lives, industries and society has been
growing in recent years. ITU-T continues to play a role in ensuring technology evolution and its timely deployment throughout
the world. Mr. Onoe’s leadership will contribute greatly to the realization of a vision that brings inclusive, sustainable andreliable society through the worldwide spread of technology standards that result in the deployment of meaningful andaffordable broadband connections all over the world. Here, the Government of Japan nominates him for the Director of the
ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and would like to seek your support for him.

Extensive International Experiencein Standardization and Management- Leading the evolution of generation forthe mobile communications network- Abundant experience in organization
management- Active in standardization organizations
and forums- Work on ITU related activities

Mr. ONOE has extensive experience in international standardization andmanagement. He has led the evolution of the mobile communications network
through standardization initiatives and global coordination, and is known as “theFather of LTE”. Mr.ONOE’s experience, capabilities and tested management skills
will surely be a driving force for ITU-T activities.

通巻百三十四号

定価一冊一、六五〇円 （本体価格 一、五〇〇円、消費税 一五〇円） 年間購読料

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