Professor Shojiro Nishio,
former Director,
Cybermedia Center,
Osaka University
It is no doubt that information technology will continue its rapid deployment in the future. This has raised a strong demand for establishing a new organization that will take a leadership in creating the future vision of Osaka University as a part of the advanced information society such an organizational structure will promote Osaka University to become a world-leading institution in the information age of the 21st century. The University has therefore consolidated the Computation Center, the Education Center for Information Processing, and part of the Library into the Cybermedia Center, with the coordination of the relevant graduate schools including the Graduate School of Science, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering Science, the Faculty of Language and Culture, and the Graduate School of Language and Culture.
The Cybermedia Center has the mission to plan and carry out research, development, and infrastructure management for the next generation of information technology, with the support of the cutting edge basic research undertaken in all relevant departments within the University. The Cybermedia Center is also aimed to become the center for the education and the promotion of the most advanced information processing technology. The Center is expected to help the University to strengthen existing information technology infrastructure and promote their effective use.
For the university, the center has a goal to establish the university-wide cyberspace or cybersociety, utilizing various of resources such as digital contents, information media (data), hardware, software, and communication media. It will support a new form of intellectual activities, i.e., to elicit new ideas, discoveries and inventions and further promote the spread and globalization of the activities. In addition to our primary service to the University, the Cybermedia Center also provides service nationwide. By providing the computing and network resources, the Cybermedia Center will be a major force to introduce the advanced information technology regionally and nationally.
I firmly believe that the Cybermedia Center will contribute to create a comprehensive service community in order to assist all members of Osaka University, researchers in Japan and in other countries, and general public who enjoy multimedia contents.