international standardization based on outcomes from leading domestic initiatives as well as strive to extend these international standards at home.

### 7. Developing ICT personnel

## (1) Developing highly skilled ICT personnel

MIC ran the Advanced ICT Human Resources Training Program Development Project for three years from FY 2011. The Project promoted the training and development of personnel with the skills and knowledge to use and apply ICT at advanced levels and to plan and implement corporate and organization ICT strategies.

### 8. Developing cloud services

## (1) Activities of the Japan Cloud Consortium

The Japan Cloud Consortium, a private organization, was established in December 2010 in order for industry, academia, and government to cooperate effectively and harness their collective capabilities in promoting the growth of cloud services. The Consortium, consisting of more than 350 companies and organizations as of May 2015, is involved in sharing information and putting out information on cloud services centered on the FY 2015 keywords of “regions,” “SMEs,” and “user enterprises.”

## (2) Raising ICT literacy

MIC is taking actions for the safe and secure use of the Internet by children. The Ministry runs e-Net Caravans, a series of rotating lectures given across the country to guardians, teachers, and juvenile students. Additionally, it develops and disseminates teaching materials and other resources tailored to the characteristics of different media formats to encourage the sound use of media by children.

## (2) Boosting productivity with ICT

In addition to being a resource-starved country with a declining birth rate and an aging population, Japan faces the urgent challenge of stimulating economic growth. For these reasons, we need to leverage our world-leading broadband infrastructure and work actively to raise productivity through the application of ICT. To this end, MIC, in cooperation with related ministries, agencies, municipalities, and other bodies, is implementing initiatives to support the business activities of SMEs, venture companies, and other firms in the ICT field.

## Section 7 Promoting ICT Research and Development

### 1. Promoting research and development strategies

MIC is working to promote research and development following the Fourth Science and Technology Basic Plan (decided by the Cabinet in August 2011), which is Japan's basic policy for science and technology.

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) is promoting efficient and effective research and development in four priority fields—base network technology, base technologies for universal communications, future base ICT technologies, and base electromagnetic sensing technology—during the third mid-term target period over five years starting in FY 2011. The priorities were selected in consideration of the government's overall science and technology and the current circumstances surrounding the information and communications field.

### 2. Enhancing and enriching research and development that will drive the next generation

## (1) Research and development into multilingual communications technology

With the announcement of the Global Communications Plan in April 2014, MIC is aiming to make practical global exchanges free of the world's language barriers by implementing multilingual voice-based translation systems. To this end, MIC has started R&D to expand the application scope and languages of the multilingual voice-based translation technology developed by NICT as well as demonstrate various applications at hospitals, commercial establishments, sightseeing spots, and other public locations through industry-academic-government partnerships.

## (2) Establishing base network technologies for the big data age

MIC has started research and development into network virtualization technology that has sufficient functional and performance levels to meet the demands of telecom carrier networks, as a move toward realizing fast, efficient network controls that can handle future service diversification and widespread cloud development.

## (3) Ongoing construction and operation of the Japan Gigabit Network eXtreme (JGN-X), a new-generation communication network testbed

NICT is currently conducting numerous research and