= A Serial Introduction Part 4=Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2017
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.

Amane Miura

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)
http://www.nict.go.jp/en/

Fields of activity: Satellite Communications

International Standardization of Integrated MSS Systems
It is my great honor to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement
Award.
Entering the 2000s, satellite operators in Europe and theUnited States drafted specifications for integrated Mobile Satellite
Service (MSS) communication systems, with terrestrial systems
using the same frequency bands as mobile satellite communicationsystems in a complementary way. These terrestrial systems arecalled Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) in the UnitedStates and Complementary Ground Component (CGC) in
Europe, but they are both based on the same concept. Both aim
to improve transmission services by operating complementary
services through terrestrial base stations (ATC/CGC) on the same
frequency band as MSS. Several plans were drafted by multiple
satellite operators for MSS/ATC systems using the L/S band, andsatellites were launched in the period from 2008 to 2010 (althoughcommercial services have not yet begun). Recently, the company
Inmarsat proposed a satellite/terrestrial S-band frequency-sharing
mobile communication service for aircraft use in Europe, called
Aviation CGC (ACGC).
Discussions on international standardization of integrated
MSS systems began at the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity Wireless

Dai YamakamiGroup (AWG) and the International Telecommunication Union
Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) in around 2013-2014.
During 2008-2012, NICT had conducted R&D on the Satellite/
Terrestrial Integrated Mobile Communications System (STICS),
which is a kind of integrated MSS system, as commissioned
research for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communicationsof Japan. I joined both the AWG and ITU-R meetings to promote
STICS technologies.
2013-2014 meetings in AWG included activity to create theAPT Report, “Studies within the Architecture and Performanceof Integrated MSS Systems and Hybrid Satellite/Terrestrial
Systems below the 3 GHz Band.” In ITU-R, 2014-2016 SG4WP4B meetings included similar activity to create the ITU-R
Report on Question 291/4, “System architecture and performance
aspects of integrated MSS systems.” I have continuously
contributed input on the achievement of STICS R&D in both ofthese meetings. These reports have been finalized and publishedsuccessfully, as APT/AWG/REP-57 and ITU-R Report M.2398.
In the future, I would like to continue to contribute tostandardization activities in the field of satellite communications.

NTT East, International Division (On assignment to: Japan
Telecommunications Engineering and Consulting Service)
http://www.jtec.or.jp/english/

Fields of activity: International cooperation activities

Telecommunications cooperation in developing countries
I am honored to have been chosen to receive the ITU-AJ
Encouragement Award.
I was originally sent out to assist in restoration of telecom
services after a devastating hurricane, and working together withlocal counterparts, we engaged in troubleshooting and repair ofsubscriber lines and infrastructure around the capital city of Port

Vila in the Republic of Vanuatu.
The Vanuatu mission was hugely successful, for I was able tomaintain and repair subscriber lines, identify weak points in theinfrastructure thanks to trouble reports submitted by subscribers,
and quickly isolate faults and restore service.
Inspired by this initial assignment to Vanuatu, I participated

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in a number of other telecom projects taking me to Cambodia,
Myanmar, and Vietnam. My eight years of service working for
NTT Vietnam are especially memorable. Working in close
collaboration with the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications
Group (VNPT), we made remarkable progress developing
Vietnam’s telecom infrastructure, deploying FTTH, and rollingout new services.
Looking ahead, I plan to continue working with personnel
from local telcos dealing with problems in developing countries,
struggling to overcome local obstacles, and promoting telecom
cooperation in developing countries.

NTT Corporation, Network Technology Laboratories

Kazuhisa Yamagishi

http://www.ntt.co.jp/qos/eng/person/yamagishi/index.html

Fields of activity: Performance, QoS and QoE

Standardization of quality assessment methodology forvideo communication services
I feel greatly honored to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement
Award, and would express my appreciation to the Selection
Committee and to all those who helped me along the way. Thisaward recognizes my contribution to standardization of qualityestimation models for video communication services.
Since joining ITU-T SG12 in 2005, my work has focusedon the standardization of quality-estimation methods for videocommunication services. These methods are extremely useful
in designing applications and networks, and for monitoring thequality of services that are up and running.
During the 2004-2008 study period, I worked on a qualityestimation model, called a planning model, for videophoneservices. Designated ITU-T Recommendation G.1070, themodel takes application and network parameters into accountsuch as bitrate and packet-loss ratio. The model is used indesigning applications and networks for videophone services, andis the first quality-estimation model for video communication
services developed by ITU-T SG 12. Being the first model,

it has informed all subsequent standardized video-qualityestimation models. Although this was my first involvementin ITU-T standardization work, I was exposed to the wholeprocess of standards making: I proposed the scope, the termsof reference, identified a candidate model, verified the qualityestimation accuracy of the model, and as editor, I drafted the final
recommendation with support of other SG12 colleagues.
Subsequently, I participated in a study to develop qualitymonitoring tools for IPTV services (ITU-T Recommendation
P.1201) and adaptive-bitrate streaming services (ITU-T
Recommendation P.1203), and helped draft quality-estimation
model proposals and recommendations in the 2009-2012 and2013-2016 study periods, respectively. The range and depth ofthese various activities sharpened my analytical skills and greatly
extended my network of professional colleagues.
I am convinced that these activities will help address theoperational challenges of service providers and promote sounddevelopment of video communication services.

NEC Corporation Transportation and City Infrastructure Division(currently NEC Corporation Safer City Solutions Division)

https://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/biometrics/index.html

Fields of activity: Face recognition

Contribution to wider utilization of face recognition around the world
It is a great honor for NEC to receive this award. We would
like to thank the ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) and otherorganizations and individuals who have made this possible. NEC
has been involved in research and development on fingerprint
identification and face recognition for over half a century. The
technologies resulting from these initiatives have been used toensure safety and security around the world and have contributed

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to job creation, human resource development, and other economic
activities in different countries. We are therefore truly honored
to have our efforts recognized through this award. Our facerecognition solutions continue to be deployed by more and morecustomers. We have also continued our research and development
initiatives to not only increase their accuracy and speed, but also
to strengthen measures against identity fraud, and make thesolutions available to a wider range of users. Moreover, sincebiometric technologies have different characteristics, combining
multiple technologies, such as face recognition and fingerprint
identification, enables recognition with higher accuracy and utility
value. NEC, therefore, has pursued research and development

Takaaki Matsushima

on various biometric technologies. One of them, iris recognition,
has been ranked number one in a recent accuracy testing (April2018). Going forward, we will continue these initiatives to makebiometric technologies from Japan available to more users aroundthe world.

KDDI CORPORATION
http://www.kddi.com/english/

Fields of activity: ITU-R SG4 WP4A, SG5 WP5A/5DStudies of sharing and compatibility between Mobile and Satellite services
It is a great honor to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement
Award for my studies of sharing and compatibility between
Mobile and Satellite services.
After WRC-15, the decision was made to study thecompatibility of IMT and BSS (sound) in the frequency bandfrom 1,452 to 1,492 MHz in Regions 1 and 3 (Issue 9.1.2 of theWRC-19 Agenda). Normally, only one group is responsible foreach agenda item or issue. But for issue 9.1.2, two responsiblegroups have been assigned. WP 4A is responsible for studies
relating to BSS (sound), and WP 5D is responsible for studies
relating to IMT.
Since 2015, I have been attending the ITU-R WP 4Ameetings as a satellite expert, and the WP 5D meetings as amobile expert in order to discuss sharing and compatibility

between Mobile and Satellite services. After WRC-15, WP 5D
asked WP 4A to provide relevant technical characteristics of BSS(sound) systems and related information to support discussions ofissue 9.1.2 between WPs 5D and 4A. To promote more effective
collaboration between both WPs, I have not only participated inWP 5D meetings as a DG chairman specializing in MS/BSS
1.5GHz compatibility, but I have also launched a joint study by
two WPs and contributed to studies of BSS (sound) in WP 4Ameetings.
Not many members attend both WPs 4A and 5D. In
particular, there are very few experts on issue 9.1.2. I look forward
to continuing with my participation in both WPs as an expert inboth satellite and mobile technology, and I hope these studies will
have an acceptable outcome for both satellite and mobile members.

Cover Art
Ichikawa Danjuro(Picture of kabuki actor
Ichikawa Danjuro VII(1791-1859).
It is said that heis playing the role ofMatsuomaru in
Sugawara and the Secretsof Calligraphy (1823).)
Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865)
Collection of the Art Research Center(ARC)
Ritsumeikan University
Object number: arcUY0119

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