![Departments and Laboratories : Department of Social Intelligence and Informatics [SS]](/eng/lecture/images/pct_cat-visual02.jpg)
Modern information systems and information networks have penetrated widely into many kinds of social activities, and by bringing together the knowledge of individuals with the knowledge of organizations and communities, they are contributing to the development of societies.
Accordingly, in order to pursue more advanced solutions with information communications technology, there is a need to conceive and construct information systems and networks based on the real state of social activities and also the findings of specialized research.
In this department, information systems and information networks are studied from the standpoint of communities and people, and education and research are pursued with the aim of training specialists who are capable of exploring the fundamental principles of information system structure from a broad perspective, and creating information systems that vitalize the interaction between individuals and organizations or communities, as well as generating knowledge, based on a deep understanding of both information communications technology and social activities (e.g. society, management and economics, education, administration and policy). In addition, the department will serve to foster information technologists and researchers equipped with the knowledge and technical know-how to develop systems that are truly safe and secure for end-users, and to conduct multidisciplinary education and research for pursuing design-oriented work.
Laboratories
Laboratory for Accommodating System and Network Design
In the Laboratory for Accommodating System and Network Design, students will clarify the purpose, role, and contribution of information systems and information networks in social and organizational terms, for the realization of prosperous, advanced information societies, and they will pursue research relating to the system architecture and construction of such systems, and the methodology and software engineering needed for them. For this purpose, they will work with development approaches of software that can flexibly change their own behaviors and structures such as agents and self-adaptive systems, and the model checking technique to verify complicated system behaviors. They aim at realizing systems that can address the issues of the real society, including systems for public welfare such as elderly people support and those requiring high-level security, safety, and reliability. The mission of this Laboratory is to discipline students to understand systems as a whole and design and
evaluate them.
Laboratory for Knowledge Computing and Building System
In the Laboratory for Knowledge Computing and Building System, students will aim to create various learning environments to promote the development of human skills in intelligent societies, and to explore technology to foster, accumulate, and reutilize the individual and social intelligence established through interactions between people and society. The major fields of research will include artificial intelligence, recognition and learning support systems, intelligence mining management, e-Learning, collaborative learning and working, the learning functions and knowledge structures of organizations, and interactive process technology. Furthermore, this research will be explored from the perspective of educational information systems and educational technology, in relation to new methodologies for human resource development in information system-related fields, and the creation and construction of educational culture.
Laboratory for Social Informatics
In the Laboratory for Social Informatics study is oriented towards the realization of a harmonious, advanced information society. Students will investigate the significance of the information revolution and information in society from the standpoint of social systems and human beings, and attempt to plan and create information systems appropriate for advanced information communication environments. They will tackle the design and evaluation of highly social systems by integrating social system engineering, management system engineering, histological chemistry, and environmental science, and by employing a variety of methods, such as modeling, field surveys, simulation, network analysis, and multiple classification analysis.
Laboratory for Management Informatics
The Laboratory for Management Informatics will be dedicated to investigating operations and management in various kinds of organizations, based on information from the organization, and to proposing practical and effective management methods. Students will investigate information systems that are essential for sustainable organizational systems by considering appropriate methods of management, technological innovations, and information utilization, based on social responsibility at each stage of the development process—not only for companies, but also in many other areas, such as medical care and disaster management. The training and research in this course will integrate operations research (OR), management engineering, systems engineering, and risk engineering, and make full use of simulation analysis, mathematical modeling, recognition experiments, and surveys.
Laboratory for Policy Informatics
In the Laboratory for Policy Informatics, students will study fields such as new industrial innovations for high knowledge-value creation, technology management, organizational and social total safety systems (including risk management), information communications policy, and information network-related policy, and they will explore the mechanisms and management of these from the perspective of information systems science. In addition, they will deal with problems of operating information services in various societies, product quality assurance, and standardization technology. This lab, which is targeted particularly to people with rich working experience, will aim to foster the knowledge and skills needed for organizational and social policy formulation, based on a broad perspective encompassing the aspects listed above.
Laboratory for Information Systems Management
In the Laboratory for Information Systems Management, research and education will focus on improving the quality, reliability and security of systems for an advanced technological society of the 21st century. In order to economically create highly reliable and secure systems capable of delivering high levels of customer satisfaction, and to offer these to society, it is essential to systemize scientific management techniques in a way that gives importance to quality and reliability. The key to this lies in quality assurance systems that cut across different fields of activity that make use of massive market information databases, such as warranty data under the global economy, knowledge and technology databases in development and design, and information technology, including digital engineering. This laboratory will concern itself with theory relating to quality, reliability and security, and development research for the support of all these aspects.
