“What is a super smart society? I’m not sure but it sounds interesting!” For those who think like this, please take advantage of “the WISE Super Smart Society Program” (the WISE-SSS program). What do you imagine when you think of a super smart society? Do you envision the world of science fiction movies where automated tractors plow through an enormous field in Smart Agriculture, automated buses and trucks lead the way in Smart Mobility, or avatar robots manage nursing care in Smart Medicine? In fact, such technologies are almost a reality. With the arrival of a super smart society, an abundant future will be realized by solving our current social issues, including an aging society with a low birth-rate and a labor shortage.

Are you at a loss for where to start learning about a super smart society? Our program aims to create such a society from engineering perspectives and to educate leading innovators. Although a wide range of fields from agriculture to industries and services have applications for a super smart society, the basic principles are the same. In fact, these applications have five unifying themes: 1) sensors to measure the environment, 2) databases such as geographical information, 3) edge computing to make decisions, 4) actuators such as automobiles, and 5) AI and big data for learning. The first four reside in the real world (physical space) but the last one exists in the virtual world (cyber space). Therefore, it can be said that a super smart society is realized by integrating cyber and physical spaces.

Now that you know how to start, where can you learn these five principles in one program? Previously, there was no educational program where you could study all five of these components together. Therefore, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, in collaboration with the Super Smart Society Promotion Consortium (SSS promotion consortium) partners, launched the WISE-SSS program in April 2020 as a place to learn about a super smart society. This program is unlike any previous educational program because it offers social collaborative education (open education) and interdisciplinary joint research (open innovation) in cooperation with the consortium. To offer necessary education and research to create a future society, the program collaborates with a variety of related sectors such as municipal organizations, private corporations, and Japanese National Research and Development Agencies. Furthermore, comprehensive financial and career support is offered in collaboration with the consortium.

Together we can learn in the program and build an exciting future society!