## (2) Internationalization and Other Initiatives in the Railway Sector

As Europe actively promotes international standardization of European standards, if Japan’s superior technology is excluded from the international standards, the possibility of significant obstacles in overseas expansion of railway technology is increased. Because this will affect global competitiveness in the railway sector, it is important to actively promote international standards in railway technology. For this reason, under the Railway Technical Research Institute, the Railway International Standards Center was founded in April 2010 to be the centralized organization that handles railway related international standards for further advancing domestic railway safety and expansion of the railway industry, and is working proactively.

As a result, Japan has had a central role in contributing to the proposal of individual standards and committee activities in the Technical Committee for Railway applications (TC269) of the ISO founded in 2012, and are seeing successful results. Furthermore, efforts to promote international standardization of railway technology are underway to increase presence in international conferences like ISO/TC269 and the Technical Committee for Electrical equipment and systems for railways of the IEC. The National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory (Independent Administrative Institution), Japan’s first certification body of international standards in the railway sector, has acquired solid certification experience following the establishment of the Certification Office, and contributed to the international expansion of Japan’s railway systems.

## (3) International Standards Regarding Ships and Mariners

While aiming to improve safety and reduce environmental impact of marine cargo, in order to also spread Japan’s superior low-energy technologies worldwide, Japan has led discussions on the creation of international standards in the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In addition, Japan is cooperating in the development of coastal vessel safety standards in ASEAN countries with the aim to promote the export of Japanese ships and marine equipment, and in January 2015, gathered ASEAN countries to hold an officials meeting which included the participated of IMO members.

## (4) International Harmonization of Standards and Certification Systems in the Civil Engineering and Construction Sectors

In recent years, in the civil engineering, architecture, and housing where internationalization of the market is evolving, by enforcing legislative operations like imported building materials performance certifications and approval rating agencies, enlisting technical cooperation with organizations like JICA, and participating in establishing the ISO for design and construction technology, we are working to promote international harmonization of standards and certification systems in the civil engineering and architecture sectors. Likewise, as part of the efforts to reflect Japan's accumulated technology in international standards, discussions are in progress to develop and revise domestic technical standards with consideration to trends in the creation of international standards.

## (5) International Standardization of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)

In order to promote the development of efficient applications, international contributions, and the development of the related industries in Japan, the international standardization of ITS technology is progressing within international standardization bodies, including the ISO and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

In particular, standardization activities, related to the utilization of routing information from ITS probe data via ETC2.0, are being conducted through participation in the Technical committee (ISO/TC204) for the international standardization of ITS. In addition, lead by Japan’s initiative, an automotive subcommittee was formed under the UN World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29), and co-chaired by Japan and the UK. Furthermore, Japan is leading international standardization initiatives related to advanced technology, such as proposing standards for lane-keeping assistance devices, an automated driving technology.