A New Chapter in University Computerization

The Cybermedia Center was established in 2000 with the goal of creating a cyberspace and cyber-society center on the Osaka University campus to promote new forms of human intellectual activity, namely new ideas, discoveries, and creations, based on a variety of information and communication media, and to encourage the broadening and globalization of intellectual activity.

Thereafter, as the educational and research services offered by the Center continue to increase in scope, it is also becoming more and more apparent that information and communication technology (ICT) is extremely important to the business of the university as a whole. With this in mind, there was earnest discussion regarding the need to establish a university-wide organization to plan and implement overall information policy, and this gave rise to the establishment of the Office for Information and Communications Technology Services in 2013. Along with changes made to the Office, the Center was designated to play a significant part in its mission, and has worked together with the Office to conduct various information-related activities at the University. In 2015, the Office for Information and Communications Technology Services is changing its name to the Office for Information and Communications Technology Services and will continue to deepen its cooperative efforts and activities.

The rapid expansion of information and communication technology has the power to bring revolutionary changes to society. Although Japan has the best infrastructure, we are not on the leading edge in terms of making full use of it. This holds true for universities as well, and in order to encourage the further innovation and evolution of education and research through the use of information and communication technology, the Center must evolve from simply providing hardware to providing a diverse array of services.

In 2015, the Cybermedia Center reaches an important milestone, entering its 15th year since founding.
The Center has undergone an expansion of functionality under the organizational changes, as well as the completion of improvements to the Main Hall, housing the energy-efficient IT Core Annex, which solved the long-existing problem of supercomputer storage, and the Cybermedia Commons, which is accessible to students and community members alike and provides cutting edge large-scale visualization equipment for purposes such as active learning and research meetings. Along with all of our staff, the Center hopes to continue to put forth its utmost effort to make significant contributions to the international academic and scientific competitiveness of Osaka University and to that of Japan as a whole. We earnestly hope for everyone’s continued support going forward.

Cybermedia Center Director
Shinji Shimojo