Challenges for a new generation network

First, I would like to look back over the past five decades, during which we have witnessed dramatic technological changes in information and communication technologies (ICT). I want then to share with you my thoughts on what role ICT should be playing in our society over the next 50 years. Then, from the view point of ICT, I will discuss several challenges we will face in developing a new generation network (NWGN), which is envisioned as a post IP network. In pursuing the NWGN program, I have come to believe that we need collaborative research with specialists from various fields. I will introduce, as an example, our interdisciplinary research project currently being pursued by NICT and Osaka University.