Roles and Activities
Campuswide Computing Research Division
The Campuswide Computing and Communications Division is in charge of operating, administering, and maintaining the Educational Campuswide Computing System (ECCS). It is committed to the support of academic activities by promoting on-campus information literacy, and by providing a suitable information technology environment. To ensure the smooth proceeding of educational and research activities, the division also offers comprehensive services using the latest advances in information technology. These services include running the many servers (mail servers, web servers, and more) that form the university’s IT infrastructure; promoting e-learning initiatives such as the computerization of teaching materials and the use of learning management systems; and providing support to departments and organizations in order to make their information and data available online.
The Campuswide Computing Research Division’s role is to support the whole system and to guide its evolution through research, planning, and development activities. Its operations range from evaluating the current system’s efficiency and stability to designing the new structures that will support future e-learning and information technology services.
Academic Information Science Research Division
In addition to supporting academic activities by digitizing and updating indispensable scientific information, and making it available through the internet, the Digital Library Division provides services to make the constantly expanding mass of academic data available online, and conducts related research and development activities. The division also develops and provides access to a large variety of databases including the libraries’ Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC), the ISI Web of Knowledge integrated research platform and citation index, and over 7,000 electronic journals. Moreover, emphasis has been placed on the education of users through regular training courses and the publication of materials for self-study such as the Academic Paper Support Book.
The Academic Information Science Research Division is in charge of using the latest technology to develop big data processing and new services, such as the Web 2.0-enhanced library navigation system, and the “GENSEN Web” automatic domain terminology extraction system. The division performs research on a number of fields deemed to be essential to the future development of a digital library: data mining, machine learning and privacy protection technologies. Research division members are also involved in education and research activities at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Information Science and Technology.
Network Research Division
The University of Tokyo is made up of six campuses and over 50 satellite research facilities around Tokyo. A secure and stable network environment is vital to ensure a smooth flow of the university’s research and educational data. The Network Division is in charge of the construction, operation, and maintenance of the University of Tokyo Local Area Network (UTnet), which serves as the university’s infrastructure for research and education. This division’s vital research and development work is focused primarily on developing advanced network environments.
Supercomputing Research Division
Number of users of the supercomputers of the division is approximately 1,000 every year. They are faculty members and graduate/undergraduate students of universities and researchers of various types of research institutions. The supercomputers are used by these users for various types of purposes, such as academiic research, education, industrial innovation and public welfare. Regular upgrades of the systems ensure the constantly enhanced processing power as well as high-grade services for advanced, large-scale computation. The introduction of a fixed-amount payment system in April 2004 provides flexible usage of the resources by users.
Appointed as cooperative chair to the university’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems in the Graduate School of Engineering, the Supercomputing Research Division plays an important role in graduate studies. While monitoring and assessing trends in computer technology and pursuing research for the future of supercomputing, the division also conducts joint research with researchers at the University of Tokyo and elsewhere, focusing on libraries and system software for high performance parallel supercomputers.
