October 18, 2021 Public Appeal for Applicants for Promotion Support Project on Strategic Intellectual Property, Standardization, and Commercialization for Beyond 5G Era (Re-appeal: Type C)

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) will once again make an appeal for applications from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities, etc. for the following support towards their efforts for strategic acquisition of intellectual property and international standardization of technologies related to ５G advancement and Beyond 5G.

1. Purpose

MIC established the Beyond 5G New Business Strategy Center on December 18, 2020, based on MIC’ｓ Beyond 5G Promotion Strategy―Roadmap to 6G, with major players from the industry, academia, and government sectors to work on intellectual property acquisition and standardization strategically.
The Center supports the efforts of private companies, universities, and other organizations that proactively and strategically promote the formation of markets and new entries, the development of innovative technologies and services, and social implementation by making full use of intellectual property and standardization. Furthermore, the Center provides reference information, offers opportunities for collaboration, and promotes raising public awareness.
From February through March 2021, MIC made a public appeal for proposals for support to activities related to intellectual property and standardization (MIC’s press release, “Appeal for Proposals for Activities to Support Standardization of Intellectual Property at Beyond 5G New Business Strategy Center,” February 5, 2021). In response, MIC received opinions of expectations for strengthening activities for strategic acquisition of intellectual property and standardization concerning technologies owned by small and medium-sized enterprises, universities, and other businesses with limited resources (hereafter referred to as “businesses”), in particular.
In light of the above, as part of the Center’s efforts, the Center will support the strategic acquisition of intellectual property and international standardization of technologies related to 5G advancement and Beyond 5G (hereafter referred to as “Beyond 5G technologies”) owned by businesses and promote the practical application and social implementation of these technologies. Accordingly, MIC has decided to make this public appeal for eligible applicants for support.

2. Overview

In this project, Beyond 5G technologies will be classified into three technology phases: Seed phase, demonstration phase, and activity phase for the acquisition of intellectual property and international standardization, and support will be provided for the acquisition of intellectual property and international standardization according to the phases.
In this period, only Type C (Support for standardization activities) is open for applications.

1. Type A: Commercialization support for seed technologies (approximately five organizations)

Through a maximum of five meetings, one of the following support types will be provided according to the needs of the businesses.

• Support for the development of international standardization strategies for Beyond 5G technologies
• Support for the development of commercialization strategies using Beyond 5G technologies
• Marketing support for Beyond 5G technologies

2. Type B: Demonstration and trial production support (approximately eight organizations)

• Support for costs required for the demonstration and prototyping of Beyond 5G technologies (up to five million yen)
• Advice on the content of the demonstrations

3. Type C: Support for standardization activities (approximately five organizations)

Support for costs required for intellectual property and standardization activities for Beyond 5G technologies (up to two million yen)

In providing support for A, B, and C above, advice will be provided by experts in intellectual property and international standardization, depending on the needs of the businesses.
Beyond 5G technologies are expected to be as follows:

• 1.

  Technologies for the further advancement of 5G’s distinctive features

  • Technologies for ultra-high-speed, high-capacity communications, ultra-low latency, and ultra-multiple simultaneous connections
• 2.

  Technologies related to newly required functions in Beyond 5G

  • Technologies related to autonomy, scalability, ultra-safety, reliability, and ultra-low power consumption
• 3.

  Technologies related to application solutions, etc. to be used in combination with Beyond 5G

  • AI, AR, VR, MR, digital twin, high-definition video, and other technologies related to the advancement of IoT