(Technical development to issue the Earthquake Early Warning)

Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) aims to issue earthquake information before the arrival of major shaking by analyzing seismic waveform data observed by seismographs near the epicenter quickly to determine the location and magnitude of the earthquake, and to estimate the time at which the principal shock (major shaking) will arrive and the seismic intensity for each area. EEW is effective in mitigating the damage caused by earthquakes and tsunamis when utilized properly.

## (Development of preventive safety technology)

In the transportation sector there are calls for development of “preventive safety technology,” which prevents accidents caused by human error. Examples of this include technologies that detect promptly when a driver has moved to a potentially dangerous state (deviating from the normal state, although danger is not yet present) and accelerate their return to a normal state, technologies that enhance the driver’s situation awareness (awareness support), and technologies that allow for situation assessment and support from the flight (drive) control side.

## (Technical development and accelerated dissemination of ITS)

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are systems constructed to unify people, roads, and vehicles using the latest information and communication technology. These systems also contribute to road traffic safety. One of these is the automated highway system (AHS), which uses IT to coordinate between the road and the vehicle and supports the driver's safe driving. There are calls for further research and development on this technology.

Industry, educational institutions, and government are also working in collaboration to promote the development and dissemination of advanced safety vehicle (ASV) technology, which uses new electronics technologies to increase intelligence and dramatically improve safety. In the future, along with promoting the practical use of ASV, which is made safer by the employment of communication technology, examination of steps for its dissemination based on evaluation of its effectiveness must be promoted.

## (Technological development and implementation relating to railway, aviation, and maritime transport safety)

The following must be carried out to improve railway safety: from the standpoint of enhancing backup equipment in case of driver error, install speed limiting devices in places like curves and track terminals where there is a danger of a serious accident as well as installing devices that automatically stop the train when driver conditions turn abnormal; from the standpoint of preventing secondary damage after a derailment or other accident has occurred, make efforts to improve the reliability of security radios; from the standpoint of preventing recurrence of accidents by inspecting their causes, install recording devices so that the operational situation at the moment of accident can be ascertained.

For aviation, future air navigation systems utilizing new technologies, such as satellite navigation, need to be established in order to expand the capacity of airspace and en-route and cope with the future increase of air traffic.

For maritime transport, it is necessary to promote the implementation of technologies that aid in and allocate crew operations, such as automatic radar plotting aids (ARPA) and automatic identification systems (AIS), in addition to promoting research on technologies like work analysis technology, which evaluates the burden of ship handling operations and makes appropriate adjustments.

## (Technology development to strengthen terrorism countermeasures in transportation facilities)

The risk of terrorist acts targeting transportation facilities and the risk that dangerous articles that could be used for terrorism may blend in with normal cargo and be transported has been pointed out. In order to forestall this sort of problem, there have been calls to promote research and development into next-generation detection technologies that would improve detection capabilities for dangerous items, the practical application of security screening devices using new technology, and other technological applications.