2016/5/29

News Release 040427(Press Release)
April 27, 2004
Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Corp.
Kiryu Area Intelligence Network

P2P consortium is established for regional collaboration of industry,
government, and academia to achieve community formation on area andpersonal levels- NTT and KAIN begin joint tests related to operation of autonomous
distributed collaborative network using advanced P2P technology"SIONet" Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Corp. ("NTT"; Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo;
President: Norio Wada) and Kiryu Area Intelligence Network ("KAIN"; Secretariat:
Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture; Director: Yasuo Shiozaki) will begin joint tests onMay 1 related to operation of an autonomous distributed collaborative network for
promoting flexible regional activities and regional IT applications on a global scaleusing NTT's P2P*1 technology "SIONet" (Semantic Information Oriented Network).
Participants in these tests included regular users registered as KAIN Joint Test
Committee members and experts developing services on SIONet. SIONet operating
units (PCs, etc.) are installed in locations (operating sites) provided by KAIN, and"community spaces" are provided to users (see Fig. 1). General-purpose Internet
protocol (http) is used for the interfaces between SIONet and the user terminals,
and the users install application software, including access applications, toparticipate in the community.
In the operation of the communities, the KAIN-P2P Consortium*2 (Fig. 2) - a
regional collaboration of industry, government, and academia established by KAIN is in charge of processes ranging from content planning to application development,
verification testing, and evaluation of test results. The Consortium also conducts
tests and evaluations regarding the formation of autonomous distributed
collaborative community models in regions that have incorporated P2P systems.
1 Background and purpose of joint tests
Since its establishment, KAIN has conducted activities under the slogan of "Helpingand developing communities and individuals through IT." Based on the practicalapplication of this philosophy and on related research KAIN has espoused thephilosophy of a "New Neighborhood Association"*3 that combines human networks
with information technologies that will form the social infrastructures of the 21stcentury. At the same time, it has proposed the concepts of "Community
Platforms" that will embody this philosophy and of "Community Archives" forstoring the "cultural DNA of the region" that is fostered through these platforms,
and has established the KAIN-P2P Consortium as a part of its activities aimed atmaking these two concepts a reality.
NTT Laboratories, meanwhile, has developed "SIONet," the world's first P2P
technology to give concrete form to people's social activities in the form of
information technologies that anticipate the newest trends in 21st-century
information systems and organizations, such as the shift away from centralizationand toward autonomous organizations. Identifying features of these systems include
smooth connections, self-proliferation, the elimination of "brokers," autonomous
distributed collaboration, localization, and chain reactions. In this way, NTT
Laboratories has promoted research and development targeting the creation of new
information transmission systems.
NTT and KAIN have decided to combine their efforts in conducting these joint
http://www.ntt.co.jp/news/news04e/0404/040427.html

1/4

2016/5/29

News Release 040427

tests, based on an awareness that SIONet will be an extremely effective
communication tool for achieving KAIN's goal of creating communities (Fig. 3).
The goal of these tests is to create true "human network technologies" throughthe effective use of the SIONet platform and other applications, using as afoundation the human networks cultivated so far based on the KAIN-P2P
Consortium operated by KAIN. Through experimental operations of the newly
developed functions and systems in actual application fields, KAIN and NTT willconduct research on improvements aimed at further extensions of these functions
and systems.
2 Details of joint tests
In these tests, examples of specific community spaces will be provided, andverification tests of the following two projects will be conducted, targeting fullscale operation of autonomous distributed collaborative P2P networks.
(1) Ad Hoc Mall
The Ad Hoc Mall is a community created and operated through the voluntary andautonomous participation of unique and diverse artists. Each of these artists has
his or her own shop space, and can create a "shop member community" thatbuyers (mall users) can access from PCs or even mobile phones. The goal of thisproject is to achieve a system in which the opinions and impressions of users arereflected in the makeup of the mall. In this way, it becomes possible to create acommunity that truly unites the users with the artists who have created the shops.
Because this project also has the potential to contribute the formation ofcommunity business models, there are high expectations that it will be useful inadding vitality to the entire Kiryu region.
(2) Wine Diary
The Wine Diary Project, which will be initiated before the Ad Hoc Mall gets
underway, will be developed and operated through the voluntary and autonomous
participation of a wide range of members, including consumers and producers, aswell as wineries, distributors, liquor store owners, and wine critics. In this Project,
how communities are formed using P2P networks in keeping with various winerelated trends and preferences will be investigated.
3 Sharing of responsibilities in joint tests(1) NTT
NTT will mainly provide P2P platform software, and will promote research into newcommunity formation technologies and service creation technologies. Specific tasks
to be undertaken by NTT include:- Provision of SIONet software to be used in the joint tests- Technical support in the construction and operation of systems for the joint
tests, and in the creation of communities- Gathering of technical data on joint test configuration systems, and analysis
and evaluation of this data
(2) KAIN
KAIN will utilize the knowledge it has cultivated in relation to "developing
communities and individuals," and will further promote these activities by
undertaking the following tasks:- Creating services and providing know-how in the creation of communities, asrequired for system construction- System construction and service operation- Conducting evaluations of services and systems in terms of operation andapplications by users

http://www.ntt.co.jp/news/news04e/0404/040427.html

2/4

2016/5/29

News Release 040427

4 Outline of joint tests(1) Term of joint tests
May 1, 2004, to March 31, 2005
(2) User terminal conditions when accessing from PC (ref. Fig. 1)
Machine types: PC/AT compatible machines
Operating system: Windows XP/Windows2000 (Japanese version)
CPU: Intel Pentium 500MHz or higher
Memory: 128 MB or more (256 MB or more recommended)
Hard disk: 70 MB usable memory space
Network interface: requires network interface card
(Modem or Ethernet 10/100M)
Screen size: 1024 x 768 or larger(3) Homepage
An outline of the joint tests is provided on the following homepage:
http://www.p2p-conso.jp
5 Features of SIONet
SIONet, developed by NTT Laboratories, is the world's first P2P Platform. It utilizes
information technologies to embody a wide range of human social activities, withfeatures that include smooth connections, self-proliferation, the elimination of"brokers," autonomous distributed collaboration, localization, and chain reactions.
When the user sets a keyword for each item according to the format and sends amessage, the system finds items that contain the relevant keyword among
published digest information, and sends a notification of that message to only theusers that have published those digests. The system thus achieves autonomously
developed community models in which the users can freely create and operatecommunities based on their preferred contents, without being concerned about
what others might think.
SIONet, the world's first P2P platform, can be used for a diverse range of P2P
services, including distributed computing, collaborative business support systems
for companies, and services that provide support enabling individual users to send
and receive various types of information.
6 Plans for the future
After the completion of these tests, NTT will endeavor to achieve furtherinnovations in P2P technologies, and will promote further efforts targeting thecreation of new information transmission systems.
Based on the results of these tests, KAIN plans to introduce SIONet into numerous
community-building organizations, and to conduct research aimed at increasing thenumber of application scenarios and improving on application methods.
Glossary*1: P2PP2P refers to communications in which users or terminals communicate as equals
or "peers." P2P systems are expected to gain popularity as a form of "volunteer
network" that does not require any central authority. As such, this technology issaid to be ideally suited to "flat" organizations that avoid "top-down" hierarchies,
and has gained attention as a new method of Internet application that eliminates
the need for server intervention. P2P is thus used in contrast to "client/server"
systems in which the server is central and the clients are subordinate to theserver.
*2: KAIN-P2P Consortium

A P2P consortium promoting regional collaboration among industry, government,
and academia, in which the community and organizations representing industry,
http://www.ntt.co.jp/news/news04e/0404/040427.html

3/4

2016/5/29

News Release 040427

government, and academia play a central role. Participants include universities suchas Gunma University, Waseda University, Tokyo University of Agriculture andTechnology, Tama University) and government agencies such as the Gunma
Prefectural government and the Kiryu municipal government, as well as volunteer
organizations (e.g., the IEICE CoA Technical Group) and cooperating companies(Bitmedia K.K., Uncle K.K., etc.). Operated by KAIN, and with a Steering Committee
at the core of these operations, the Consortium conducts its activities in thefollowing divisions: an Evaluation Subcommittee, a Community Operation
Subcommittee, a Developers' Subcommittee, a Site Operation Division, a Planningand PR Division, and the P2P Consortium Secretariat.
*3: New Neighborhood Association

A municipal community platform based on the smallest possible units, establishedwhen conventional "Regions" are divided into fine units within municipalities.
Regional networks are formed through the autonomous activities of these "New
Neighborhood Associations" which at the same time work in harmony with one
another.

Fig. 1: Outline of Joint Test System
Fig. 2: Consortium Organization
Fig. 3: Sharing of Responsibilities related to Joint Tests

For further information,plese contact:
NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group
Planning Division
Public Relations:Chizuka,Sano,Ida
Tel. +81 422 59 3663
E-mail: koho@mail.rdc.ntt.co.jp
Kiryu Area Intelligence Network Secretariat
Tel: +81 277 20 7800
E-mail: npo@kiryu.jp

Copyright (c) 2004 Nippon telegraph and telephone corporation

http://www.ntt.co.jp/news/news04e/0404/040427.html

4/4