System and Information Science and Technology (SIST) is a fundamental general purpose technology. It affects various fields in science and technology by accelerating problemsolving and new industry creation in many ways. It improves social infrastructures such as energy and transportation, as well as social systems such as administrative and civil services. It also influences manufacturing, agriculture and service industries in terms of efficiency and high added value. Furthermore, it contributes greatly to the progress of science and technology disciplines in general; environment, energy, nanotechnology, material science, life science, clinical research, as well as social sciences.

In this panoramic view report, we took a birds-eye view picture of research and development activities from the viewpoint of both the following four visions and three technology trends in SIST field. Those visions are namely "transformation of industrial structure", "transformation of social systems", "transformation of education and research", and "transformation of utilization of wisdom", and the trends are "smartization", "systematization and integration", and "softwarization and servicization".

We identified strategically important 33 R&D areas under the consideration of criteria such as "emerging technology", "social impact", and "visions and missions". After mapping these 33 R&D areas to the above-mentioned three technology trends, we categorized them into 4 divisions of "Artificial Intelligence and Big Data", "Robotics", "Social System Science", and "Computing Architecture".

A major update from "Panoramic View Report (2017)" is the reform of the strategic R&D areas (we decrease the number of divisions from 6 to 4). In addition to the update of the static panoramic view map of each division, we newly created maps in time series so that readers can understand historical backgrounds more easily and grasp technology trends more clearly.

The national R&D investment strategy with a persuasive scenario to maintain global competitiveness is needed, away from just following the global trend of R&D, given Japan's current social and economic situation and R&D efforts and position in the global competition. In this report, we proposed 4 basic ideas of "strengthening the advantage of technology", "strengthening the advantage of internationally competitive industries", "solving social problems prior to the other countries" and "securing the fundamental technologies to support the social infrastructure". We chose 20 important themes that Japan should promote as a nation, based on those 4 ideas.

In planning R&D strategies in this field, it is necessary to understand not only technology trends but also interactions between society and SIST in various forms. In particular, we should always be aware of the relationship between technological progress and employment, the impact on the gap between rich and poor, ELSI (ethical, legal and social issues) in science and technology. In order to build a sustainable society with appropriate development of SIST, various viewpoints from stakeholders are imperative. This panoramic view report provides essential viewpoints based on our survey and analysis.