We are helping to resolve issues facing society using Information and Communication Technology (ICT),
while working to make the Internet safe for children and improve security.
In November 2002, the NTT Group created the "Vision for a New Optical Generation: Broadband leading to the world of resonant communication" in order to achieve the era of ubiquitous broadband society. Since then, we have worked tirelessly to achieve this goal, including the popularization and growth of B FLET'S optical access service and FOMA third-generation mobile communications services. Specially, our commitment to optical-access services include providing full-scale high-quality IP telephony and rich content, and our commitment to third-generation mobile communications includes enhanced device functionality and expanded service areas.
We are also active at R&D. We are researching future applications in high-volume telecommunications networks, and conducted the world's first successful communications experiment multiplexing 1,000 wavelengths on a single optical fiber.
We remain committed to helping to resolve the issues facing society, including support for nursing and care, and enhancing remote and preventive medicine, through the development and implementation of ubiquitous broadband services through the convergence of fixed and mobile communications and other efforts.
Conducting a Wide Range of Research to Help Make the Internet Safe for Everyone
Giving everyone equal access to Internet and other telecommunications services, regardless of age, region, physical disability, or whether they use a personal computer or mobile device, is a true measure of a prosperous age of ubiquitous broadband society.
We are conducting research to analyze and propose solutions for a variety of issues. At NTT DATA Research Institute for System Science, NTT DoCoMo Mobile Society Research Institute, InfoCom Research and other facilities, the NTT Group is working to achieve an era of ubiquitous broadband society that is safe and secure for all, in partnership with experts and researchers both inside and outside the group. We will also continue to actively publish the results of this research.
Improving Infrastructure Reliability (Network Security Measures)
As broadband access rapidly expands and grows in popularity, damages from malicious exploitation of vulnerabilities and information leaks are coming to the forefront of the public consciousness.
The NTT Group is researching and developing information-security technologies to enable secure access to network services, including more secure encryption technologies, as well as technologies to counter distributed denial of services (DDoS) attacks*1, combat spam and unwanted email, and prevent information leaks. At the same time, we are researching ways to build a broadband environment that is secure from a sociological perspective as well.
- *1
- A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack:
A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is an attack that plants attack programs on many third-party PCs and servers connected to the Internet, and then attacks a specific server by sending it large volumes of data
Enabling Remote Medical Diagnoses
There is an increasing need for pathologists to analyze human tissue samples for cancer cells and other ailments. But rural medical facilities without resident physicians' expert at pathology must make clinical analyses by physically sending samples to other labs. This makes the results of testing take longer, creating a large gap in the level of services between regions.
The NTT Group conducted field trials of telepathology jointly with Iwate Medical University, in order to eliminate these regional gaps in medical services. In the trials, WarpVision high-quality communication services and B FLET'S optical access lines were used to confirm that it is possible to deliver microscope images as high-resolution video, enabling rapid remote diagnosis during surgery. We now plan to explain the results of the trials and their effectiveness to government and medical circles, while commercializing the services on a large scale and promoting its implementation in medical facilities after obtaining evaluations and cooperation from experts.
Giving Children Safe and Secure Access to the Internet and Mobile Phones
In June 2004, NTT Resonant began advocating the "7 Rules for Kids" at Kids' goo (Japanese only), the portal site for children it operates, in order to promote safe Internet use by children.
In February 2005, two different versions of a booklet teaching about the 7 Rules for Kids - one for elementary students and one for instructors - were created, and 530,000 copies sent out.
Then in May 2005, research training classes based on the booklets was conducted at elementary schools.
Additionally, in May 2005 NTT DoCoMo began teaching the DoCoMo Mobile Phone Safety Class, which teaches children the knowledge and etiquette to use mobile phones correctly and safely. In fiscal 2005, the company plans to give the classes at up to 200 schools, with the cooperation of elementary, junior high, and high schools, as well as other educational institutions.
Studying Issues in the Networked Era
 Public Symposium
Today, the Internet is becoming an increasingly integral part of our lives, and its uses are becoming more diverse. At the same time, a number of issues are arising involving the Internet. In order to resolve these issues, the NTT Group has been running an ongoing project to study safe and secure Internet use since 1999.
In fiscal 2004, we conducted a study of the causes of instability in the network society, and changes in the structure of the real society, with the topic "Searching for the Relationship between the Real and Network Societies: The threat of instability in the network society." Experts gathered for 8 workshops per year, and surveys of the literature and questionnaires were conducted, culminating on March 2, 2005, with a public symposium, at which the efforts of the project to develop a healthy Internet society were made public.
An Effort to Provide Systems to Combat Information Leaks
For the past several years, leaks of personal and confidential information have become an issue, and the introduction of measures to counter information leaks is an urgent task for companies. NTT (Holding Company) has developed a "storage-centric security system"*2, which combats information leaks. The system has been introduced at the NTT (Holding Company) home office building, and preparations are under way to enable the NTT Group companies to offer this system to their business customers.
- *2
- Storage-centric security system:
This system enables operating systems, applications, and other software assets to be centrally managed on a storage device, rather than just by users, in order to make management of desktop-device security, data backup, and other maintenance tasks more efficient. It utilizes the "storage-centric network technology" developed by NTT Information Sharing Platform Laboratories
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