Determination of Visionary Initiative (VI) leaders

The key concepts of this vision are the three pillars of Better Life, Better Society, and Better Planet. A "better life" refers to realizing prosperity for all. A "better society" represents pioneering new frontiers, while a "better planet" envisions achieving sustainability on Earth. Two VIs have been established under each of these pillars. The professors gathered here today are the Program Directors (PDs) responsible for the first set of VIs established under these pillars.

Total Health Design, which envisions a better life, refers to achieving the health and wellbeing of all. The former TMDU originally promoted the concept of Total Healthcare, but the new term Total Health Design goes beyond care to include the idea of designing one's life. Professor Fumihiko Ishikawa serves as the PD for this Visionary Initiative.

Innovative-Life Society, which aims for a better society, refers to cyber-physical spaces opening up new areas of life. As technologies such as AI continue to bring major changes to society, various activities are now taking place in cyberspace as well. Therefore, with the aim of using the power of science to realize innovative living spaces through AI, robotics, and smart cities, Science Tokyo asked Professor Kei Sakaguchi to serve as the Innovative-Life Society PD.

GX (Green Transformation) Frontier envisions a better planet, and refers to realizing cutting-edge science and technology to make green transformation a reality. Needless to say, environmental issues such as global warming have reached a critical stage. Accordingly, Science Tokyo asked Professor Mika Goto, who possesses extensive knowledge in this field, to serve as the GX Frontier PD.

To begin our discussion, I would like to ask each of you to share your experiences so far, how you felt when you were appointed as a PD, and your honest thoughts about the VIs.

The university merger took place in October 2024. At that time, many faculty and staff members, including myself, were at a loss as to how to collaborate with people from different fields. That is when the VIs were launched. I am optimistic that if everyone can naturally come together around these VIs, we will certainly be able to realize a truly remarkable vision.

Around that time, I was told by the former Tokyo Tech to return to Japan and think carefully about what I wanted to do next. I felt that I wanted to work on technology that went beyond what was then known as IoT and DX, so I declared that I would build a cyber-physical system. This became the prototype of what we eventually named a Super Smart Society. At about the same time, there was a call for applications for the Doctoral Program for World-leading Innovative & Smart Education (WISE). With the goal of creating new teams in what we now call convergence science, we secured funding and gathered researchers from all graduate schools of the former Tokyo Tech, as well as researchers in Japan and overseas with whom the vision of a Super Smart Society resonated. In doing so, we built something quite close to what would later become the current VIs. That was in 2020. From there, AI began to advance rapidly, the concept of the digital twin emerged, and everything became connected through 5G, leading to a variety of fascinating applications. Executive Vice President Kotaro Inoue of the former Tokyo Tech was keenly aware of this trend. Since the WISE Program was limited in duration, I had assumed my activities would end when the program concluded. However, Inoue proposed taking a top-down, vision-driven approach rather than a bottom-up one. He suggested that Tokyo Tech should focus on convergence science and interdisciplinary integration rather than individual disciplines, and that this would be its strength. I immediately agreed with his idea.

From my personal perspective, I feel that the original Super Smart Society concept was slightly refined and reworked through collaboration to fit the entire university and resonate with all faculty members. At first, my biggest concern was whether the entire university would really warm to the idea. However, so far, I am glad to see that everyone seems to be on the same page.

When we created the VIs, I had initially decided to work behind the scenes, but for some reason, I was appointed as a PD.

Even so, I was truly surprised when I was first approached about the PD position. Honestly, my first thought was whether I could handle such an important responsibility. However, I received many words of encouragement, and realizing that the decision to appoint me had been made after much consideration, I decided to accept the position.

In the past, I was not particularly conscious of interdisciplinary research. Even so, due to the nature of my research environment, I often worked alongside engineering researchers despite my background in economics. Also, I was not engaged in theoretical economics; rather, my field incorporated elements of business management. Over the past 10 to 20 years, my primary interest has been in how to incorporate environmental factors into the market economy. So, while my research could be described positively as an interdisciplinary field, I always felt somewhat uneasy, as if I did not truly belong anywhere. From an economics perspective, economic rationality is important. For a company, making a profit and running a sustainable business are essential prerequisites. Within this context, many of the benefits we receive from nature and the environment exist outside of theoretical frameworks and have not been converted into value. However, these benefits are not without value. They can, in fact, be converted into value in the form of market prices or taxes. I am continuing my research to incorporate factors such as the value of clean air, the cost of CO₂ emissions, and measures of affluence and happiness into evaluation systems.

In the GX Frontier VI, we place high expectations on the connections and collective strength of researchers working on energy, the environment, and a sustainable planet. My first goal is to create opportunities within VIs for mutual work exchange among researchers. We just had our kick-off meeting the other day, and I was very encouraged by the fact that everyone shares a common vision. Sharing and embedding a vision within an organization is very important, and it is not something that can be achieved overnight. Nevertheless, I strongly feel the importance of setting a vision within the VI and approaching it through diverse fields and methods.