Advanced Collaborative Research Organization for Smart Society (ACROSS)Waseda University

About ACROSS

Message from the Chairman and the Dean

Towards the realization of a carbon neutral society

Yasuhiro Hayashi
Chairman of ACROSS

In November 2021, Waseda University issued the “Waseda University Carbon Neutrality Declaration,” announcing its intent to tackle the Carbon Net Zero Challenge by linking research and education. The objective is the “realization of a carbon neutral society” with Waseda University as an indispensable key to building the next-generation society. This university-wide effort goes beyond the field of technology focusing on science and engineering and extends to the humanities, social sciences, and integrated and innovative science. To make this a truly effective initiative, the Waseda Center for a Carbon Neutral Society (WCANS) has been newly established within Waseda University, and the research and education for the realization of a carbon neutral society is going to be centralized under this center. The activities of this center would be aimed at promoting the early realization of a carbon neutral society and cultivating the core talent needed for this.
Previously, initiatives aimed at realizing a smart and carbon neutral society have been implemented by ACROSS, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe the activities of ACROSS as anticipating the objectives of the WCANS. These prior initiatives have been highly appraised by the university, and thus I have been appointed as the director of the newly established WCANS. The newly appointed director of the WCANS is obligated to comprehensively supervise carbon neutral activities throughout the university. Going forward, we must keep pace with ACROSS activities and contribute to activities aimed at realizing a carbon neutral society throughout the university. This represents the beginning of major changes, and thus it has been decided by ACROSS to establish a new post named chairman in order to coordinate the activities of ACROSS with those of the entire university, and to appoint me to the post. Accordingly, Professor Shin-ichi Tanabe, Director of the Research Institute for Building Environmental Design and widely active in Japan and overseas, was newly appointed as a dean. Professor Tanabe and I intend to work together to lead the ACROSS with even more energy and vitality. We ask for your continued support and cooperation.

Information, Energy and Service Connected by ACROSS

Shin-ichi Tanabe
Dean of ACROSS

The use of ICT is expanding in every aspect of our lives, promoting the fusion of things and creating new values and services never seen before. Waseda University considers this situation to be an embryo of the arrival of a “smart society” and established the Advanced Collaborative Research Organization for Smart Society (ACROSS) in July 2014 with seven research institutes and corporate members to promote activities in the core areas of “smart mobility,” “smart health support,” “smart houses and buildings,” and “smart grids.”

Meanwhile, the energy field, which is the foundation of society, has undergone major changes, including progress in power system reform, further expansion of renewable energy, promotion of the utilization of energy resources on the consumer side, and expansion of ZEB/ZEH. Based on the cooperative framework of the ” Promotion Association for Smart Society Technology” and the ” Study Group for Smart Society Technology,” which are frameworks for industry-academia collaboration, we have achieved numerous research results in a variety of fields, contributed to systems and standardization, and left behind a track record of outreach to society, which is our goal.

ACROSS Phase II: Achieving Carbon Neutrality and Realizing a Smart Society

In recent years, “super-smart society” and “Society 5.0” have been earnestly promoted, and new technologies are rapidly developing, such as information network technologies including the IoT, cyber space utilization technologies like big data analysis and AI, and cyber-physical systems (CPS) that integrate cyber space and the real world (physical space). These new technologies have begun to significantly impact society. To lead this new trend, we have positioned the five years from FY2019 as ACROSS Phase II, and established new research institutes and further strengthened industry-academia collaboration to expand our research areas and deepen our research content. In addition, we have been aiming to present our unique image of smart society as well as that of smart city, and realize them through the integration of information, energy, mobility and services.

The Green Growth Strategy for Carbon Neutrality in 2050, formulated in December 2020 by the Cabinet Secretariat and a cross-section of related ministries and agencies, lists 14 areas of expected growth including “offshore wind, solar, and geothermal,” “housing, buildings, and next-generation electricity management,” “automobiles and batteries,” “logistics, human flow, and civil engineering infrastructure,” and “lifestyle-related.” ACROSS has been working on these research areas as its main issues, and we are proud of our pioneering achievements in management and optimization through inter-sectoral collaboration (sector coupling) such as housing sector and energy sector, as well as electricity sector and transportation sector.

The “Sixth Basic Energy Plan” and “Energy Supply and Demand Outlook for FY2030,” which were recently approved by the Cabinet on October 22, 2021, present even more challenging plans including an upward revision of the target for the introduction of renewable energy in 2030 to approximately 1.5 times the previous target. We will continue to use our research results and to work ceaselessly to realize a “smart society” so that the results of our research will serve as the foundation for technologies to achieve carbon neutrality.

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