About the Project

The current DIAS (Data Integration and Analysis System) project is scheduled to run for 10 years from FY2021 as part of the "Global Environment Data Integration and Analysis Platform Project" of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It is being implemented as a subsidized project of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).

MEXT has been developing DIAS since 2006 as an information infrastructure that can create new and valuable information by effectively and efficiently combining global observation and prediction information.

To date, DIAS has supported research and development using global environmental data ("global environmental big data"), such as earth observation and forecast information, carried out by many users in Japan and overseas, including universities, research institutions, national government, local governments, and international frameworks, and has produced results that contribute to solving social issues in Japan and overseas, with a focus on climate change and water issues.

In this project, we will further expand and develop the utilization of the global environmental big data while making use of the results and achievements to date and further promote digital transformation (DX) in the field of the global environment that contributes to disaster prevention and mitigation measures and climate change measures.

At the same time, we will aim to establish long-term, stable operation as a data platform (hub) for the entire global environment centered on disaster prevention and mitigation measures and climate change measures that contribute to decision-making by the national government, local governments, and companies.

Background to the Project

In the Integrated Innovation Strategy (approved by the Japanese Cabinet in July 2020), DIAS is positioned as a "data integration platform (global environment)," and the following are stated as the goals to be achieved.

  1. To build a platform "hub" that can respond to the impact on socioeconomic activities, etc., and to give back to society the results of this work.
  2. To develop analysis systems and applications that meet diverse needs and to strengthen and upgrade the platform.
  3. Long-term, stable operation is being carried out as an essential foundation for achieving continuous data accumulation and social contribution.

The strategy also indicates that the digital transformation of research environments and research methods (such as developing an environment for the effective and efficient creation, sharing, and utilization of research data) is a DX promotion of the research environment.

In addition, the "Basic Plan on Space Policy" (approved by the Japanese Cabinet in June 2020) states that "we will contribute to the solution of global issues, including disaster prevention, national resilience, and climate change, by strengthening and upgrading the analysis environment of DIAS (including the development of fundamental technology for integrating and analyzing big data)."

Furthermore, in the follow-up report (August 2020) to the "Implementation Policy for Earth Observation in Japan for the Next Decade," compiled by the Earth Observation Promotion Subcommittee, Research Planning and Evaluation Division, Council for Science and Technology, MEXT, the continuous maintenance and management of data infrastructure such as DIAS, the necessity of further enhancing its functionality, the importance of data infrastructure that can be utilized to solve various issues such as the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, and the promotion of information provision that contributes to the integrated use of Earth observation data are stated.

In the industrial area, global environmental big data is information expected to be used in an increasingly diverse range of sectors in the future, including for ESG investment decisions for companies and for examining corporate future strategies in light of climate change, and further expansion of its use is anticipated.

While continuing to expand and develop the results and achievements of DIAS to date, in a situation where it is expected that remote research and development will become even more central than before, DIAS will contribute to DX in the Earth environment field by further promoting the utilization of global environmental big data through our initiatives, and will also contribute to decision-making by the national government, local governments, and companies (contributing to measures to counter the impact of climate change on various socioeconomic activities) by collaborating with other information infrastructure, etc.

In addition, as a data platform (hub) for the entire global environment, with a focus on disaster prevention and mitigation measures and climate change measures, we will continue to provide an attractive information infrastructure by evolving to meet the constantly changing needs of society (users) under long-term, stable operation.

Purpose of the Project

In this project, we will further expand and develop data utilization by promoting cutting-edge research and development that combines earth science and information science, making the most of the strengths of DIAS, which accumulates, integrates, and analyzes global environmental big data. Furthermore, we aim to create an open platform that brings together researchers and engineers from a wide range of fields to promote nascent research and to contribute to solving economic and social issues caused by climate change, such as contributing to decision-making by the national government, local governments, and companies, by collaborating with other information infrastructure.

In addition, by making the most of DIAS's strength of large-capacity storage, we will promote collaboration with supercomputers and other platforms to expand usage further. Furthermore, through these activities, we will contribute to developing human resources for research.

Content of the Project

To achieve the above objectives, in this project, we will maintain and manage DIAS and continue accumulating, organizing, and expanding the use of big data and real-time data, which are DIAS's strengths.

At the same time, we will further expand and develop the results and achievements of our previous work, which focused on water issues (water-related disasters), and conduct new research and development, application development, and social implementation, which contribute to solving social problems such as climate change measures in various fields, including disaster prevention and mitigation measures, in collaboration with other information infrastructure, etc.

Also, through international contributions and academic research promotion through organizations such as GEO (the Group on Earth Observations) and IPCC (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), we will provide an attractive information infrastructure, which is stated in the above objectives, that contributes to decision-making by national and local governments, companies, etc.

In addition, we will promote research and development that contributes to solving global issues such as climate change and disaster prevention by utilizing global environmental big data through the enhancement of computational resources and other equipment that strengthen data utilization under remote environments, expansion of usage, and human resource development. Furthermore, we will cultivate a new interdisciplinary field that integrates IT expertise with climate change and other related research and involves experts from various fields, including the humanities and social sciences. We will conduct public relations activities to expand utilization, and we will promote efforts to improve data utilization literacy.

Source: MEXT "Call for Proposals for the Global Environment Data Integration and Analysis Platform Project" (in Japanese page only)