Director General's Message
National Institute of Science and Technology Policy
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
The National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) was founded on July 1, 1988, as a core national research institute engaged in surveys and researches of the basic issues relating to science and technology policies. Since the foundation, a variety of research activities with focusing on several major subjects, such as science and technology foresight, science and technology indicators, and science and technology human resources have been conducted. Recently, we started to intensifying our efforts in researches relating to innovation, including industry-academia cooperation programs.
For some major subjects, such as science and technology foresight, we work together with foreign organizations. In addition, we are also making progress in strengthening our collaborative ties with universities, by such means as entering into a cooperation agreement with the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) to establish our satellite office on its campus.
In the area of policy studies, communication and coordination with administrative bodies are the keys in selecting research subjects and applying the research findings. One of our distinctive characteristics is that we, taking advantage of our organizational standing as a government research institute, positively commit to research activities directly relating to administrative bodies. In this context, currently we published reports to support discussion to compile the forthcoming 4th Science and Technology Basic Plan:"Survey Research for Follow-Up on 3rd Science and Technology Basic Plan" and "Emerging fields in Science and Technology for the 4th Science and Technology Basic Plan".
Japan is confronted with societal issues, such as the declining birthrate and aging population, and global warming. In order to address these societal issues and build a society that can achieve sustainable growth, people's expectations toward of science and technology are growing more than ever. We believe that our mission as a core think tank is to make the utmost contribution to the systematic planning and implementation of efficient and effect-generating science and technology policies in order for Japan to achieve those goals.
NISTEP will continue to strive to meet the people's expectations. We very much appreciate your understanding and support.
July 2010