"Do research by drawing from the fountain of knowledge and provide specific benefits to society through commercial development."
These words, proclaimed in 1950 by Goro Yoshida, the first Director of the Electrical Communication Laboratories under the Ministry of Communications at that time, still live on as the DNA of NTT Laboratories after more than 70 years. They include three important resolutions that NTT Laboratories should have especially in these times.
1. "Do research by drawing from the fountain of knowledge"
We have entered an era in which all kinds of information can be quickly accessed over the Internet or through artificial intelligence (AI). However, true "knowledge" cannot be so easily obtained. A place with a good, gushing fountain is hard to find, and even if you can find it, it may be located on steep terrain. Good research begins with finding a fountain that is difficult to reach. NTT Laboratories has a history and research team supporting this quest. In other words, the object of this quest is organizational knowledge passed on from senior to junior researchers in an unbroken manner over several decades and collective knowledge arising from exchanges between researchers who have come to inherit this organizational knowledge. Over the years, NTT Laboratories has been discovering and drawing on these two fountains of knowledge to support R&D.
At present, optical communication technology, network technology, speech technology, cryptography, and quantum computer technology are prime examples of fields at NTT Laboratories with world-leading research results. Without superb research, we cannot confront technical issues and social problems that are becoming increasingly complex. Against this background, we aim to further develop our research capabilities and solidify our position as a world leader in research.
2. "Through commercial development"
It is thought that Goro Yoshida, our first Director, was the first in Japan to use the words "JITSUYOUKA", commercial development in English. These words reflect his strong resolve to transform the Electrical Testing Laboratory, which had been a largely academic institution, into the Electrical Communication Laboratories having the responsibility of turning research into practical products. NTT Laboratories took on the responsibility of not only research but also of commercializing research results to support the socially important information-communications infrastructure in unexplored areas such as optical communications technology, voice/image encoding technology, and large-scale computer technology.
At present, the services provided by NTT are undergoing a transformation beyond a communications infrastructure to include social infrastructures and even infrastructures on a global scale. To support this transformation, NTT announced its vision of an Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) in 2019. Following this, research, development, and commercialization activities progressed steadily, and in 2023, NTT launched IOWN 1.0 as the first version of IOWN commercial services. Going forward, NTT plans to implement the IOWN vision in the world by commercializing photonics-electronics convergence devices, applying them to communications and computer environments, and making full use of them in such fields as Digital Twin Computing (DTC) and next-generation general-purpose AI.
3. "Provide specific benefits to society"
Going back in time when the research of communication networks and computers was just starting out, anything that could be faster and lower cost would certainly be purchased and used. In other words, if a researcher's idea of a "good thing" was researched, developed, and commercialized, it would "provide benefits to society."
However, today's society is undergoing dramatic and complex changes, and values are becoming increasingly diverse, so a researcher's idea of a "good thing" and society's idea of a "good thing" may no longer agree with each other. This trend is particularly noticeable on a global scale. In this kind of world, we will steadily promote "research by drawing from the fountain of knowledge" and "commercial development" and provide specific value to society while achieving a good balance between "market-in" research that collaborates with specialists in market analysis and development to plan and drive research forward and "product-out" research in which one sets out to create the future without worrying about the market.
In 2023, the NTT Group announced its new Medium-Term Management Strategy "New Value Creation & Sustainability 2027 Powered by IOWN." To make this a reality, all of the three resolutions of NTT Laboratories described above are extremely important. While revisiting the core objectives established at the founding of Electrical Communication Laboratories and reaffirming that research, development, commercialization, and value provision are all important, NTT Laboratories will continue to carry out world-leading R&D in unison with all NTT researchers based on an action plan of "keeping our researchers excited and ambitious," "helping society in a scalable and sustainable way with powerful technology," "creating the future rather than just predicting it," and "honing our intuition and creativity."