System and Information science and technology (SIST) is a fundamental general-purpose technology. It affects various fields in science and technology by accelerating problem-solving 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 including environment, energy, nanotechnology, material science, life science, clinical research, as well as social sciences. The role of technology is also becoming important in national security, and SISTs are revolutionizing the diplomacy, military, economic, and other conventional state crafts.

In this panoramic view report, we took a birds-eye view picture of the research and development activities from the viewpoint of both the following three visions and three technology trends in the SIST field. Those visions are namely "advanced integration of the cyber and physical worlds", "data-driven and knowledge-intensive value creation", and "solving social issues and realizing a human-centric society", and the trends are "digitalization and connection of everything", "smartization and autonomization of everything", and "aligning with social needs and ensuring human autonomy.".

We identified strategically important 52 R&D areas under the consideration of criteria such as "emerging technology", "social needs and vision", and "impact on society". As shown in Figure, we categorized them into 7 divisions of "Artificial Intelligence and Big Data", "Robotics", "Social System Science", "Security and Trust", "Computing Architecture", "Communication and Network" and "Mathematical Sciences".

A major update from "Panoramic View Report (2023)" includes the addition of the results of quantitative analysis based on the number of papers and patents and the addition of economic security issues to the R&D areas, and the change of " securing the fundamental technologies to support the social infrastructure " to " securing key infrastructure technologies for economic security " among the four basic scenarios to consider national R&D investment strategy. In addition, the latest research and development information has been added to the Artificial Intelligence and Big Data division.

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 four basic scenarios of "strengthening the advantage of technology", "strengthening the advantage of internationally competitive industries", "solving social problems prior to the other countries", and "securing key infrastructure technologies for economic security". We chose 11 important themes based on those four scenarios (see Table).

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 the appropriate development of SIST, various viewpoints from stakeholders are essential. This panoramic view report provides some of those viewpoints necessary for that based on a neutral survey and analysis.