(1) Study the ways in which research materials are disclosed in a manner appropriate for the particular stage of the research process
　The availability of research information in electronic form and the rapid development of an environment that allows information to be shared on a global basis have given rise to problems, such as the double submission of papers (one version in Japanese and the other in English) and questions about whether papers already presented in technical committee conferences should be treated as published papers when submitted to more formal transactions. The ongoing wave of globalization has resulted in evaluating research achievements primarily on the basis of the number of citations in English papers. Nevertheless, the ISS has historically been issuing English and Japanese editions of transactions, technical reports of technical committee conferences, and proceedings of both ISS conferences and FIT while the number of paper submissions and the number of participants in technical committee conferences and conferences have continued to decline. We will discuss the languages used in research materials handled in ISS activities, and the scope of their computerization and publication, and study what organizational framework of the ISS is best suited to the research process. The aim is to reconcile the conflicting wishes of researchers to publish papers in English (in a bid to increase the number of citations) and to obtain the latest technical information in their own language.

• Enhance the position and quality of transactions and study the adoption of an open journal policy
　Since scientific papers are the final result of research, it is necessary to ensure that they are accessible to as many researchers as possible. We will study whether it is better to make published papers, which are already in electronic form, freely accessible, and what is the best way to enhance the quality of papers.

• Invigorate technical committee conferences
　Technical committee conferences play a central role in ISS’s research activities. How discussions in these conferences can enhance research quality is an important issue. We will examine how we treat the papers distributed for discussion in these conferences (technical reports), and what language they should use.

• Invigorate ISS conferences and FIT
　ISS conferences and FIT are used at the initial stage of research as forums for discussions with researchers in other fields and for the education of students. We will discuss how they position themselves within the entire research process.

• Invigorate the ISS society magazine and website
　The ISS society magazine and website provide members with opportunities for information exchange. We will discuss how we can incorporate into the magazine and website a mechanism by which information about research trends in other fields can be disseminated efficiently to members.

(2) Transmit information on social issues
　The technical field of the ISS has the potential to come up with solutions to problems affecting social institutions. As a community of engineers working in this field, we will create a mechanism that will allow us to bring our opinions on social issues to public notice in addition to responding to the government’s requests for public comment.

(3) Reinforce services to members
　By continuing to update the ISS website both in Japanese and English, which was initiated in 2012, we will transmit information about ISS activities to members in an easy-to-understand manner, and strengthen information dissemination in English to members in the wider global community.

(4) Reinforce the operational organization of the ISS
　The steering committee will initiate a wide-ranging global discussion of technical group activities and study what form any future vision of ISS’s entire research area should take. We will make good use of electronic conferences to enable committee members to participate in discussions with minimum inconvenience.