July 11, 2025 Start of Public Solicitation for Japan-U.S. International Joint R&D Project (hereinafter referred to as " Japan-U.S. Project") of Elemental Technologies and Seed Creation Program under the Innovative Information and Communications Technology (Beyond 5G(6G)) Fund Project (hereinafter referred to as "Beyond 5G (6G) Fund Project")

　The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) initiates a public solicitation for Japan-U.S. Project of Elemental Technologies and Seed Creation Program under Beyond 5G (6G) Fund Project, using the Information and Communications R&D Fund (hereinafter referred to as the "R&D fund") established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) within NICT.

1. Outline of the public solicitation

　MIC established R&D Fund within NICT in March 2023 for implementation of Beyond 5G (6G) Fund Project, and officially began its operation in FY2023.
　Elemental Technologies and Seed Creation Program under the Fund Project requires a certain period of time for social implementation of next-generation information and communications infrastructure, Beyond 5G, and focuses on R&D aimed at establishing elemental technologies and creating technological seeds from a medium- to long-term perspective.
　Based on the joint statement titled "Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G: Secure, Open and Resilient by Design." issued by 10 countries including Japan and the United States in February 2024, NICT has recently joined the information and communication field program named VINES (Verticals-enabling Intelligent Network Systems) implemented by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) as an international partner, and solicits international joint R&D projects of Track2 with a view to social implementation as Japan-U.S. Project that utilizes the Elemental Technologies and Seed Creation Program.
　MIC hopes that this project will contribute to the steady social implementation of Beyond 5G (6G) by establishing elemental technologies and creating technological seeds for Beyond 5G (6G) as well as building a cooperative framework for international standardization together with strategic partners such as Europe and the United States.

2. Solicitation period

　From Friday, July 11, 2025, to Friday, September 26, 2025 at noon JST (All the necessary documents must be received by this time.)
○ Submission period for application documents
・Tuesday, August 26, 2025 at noon JST: A copy of Concept Outline (submitted to the NSF) and other required documents must be received by this time.
・Friday, September 26, 2025 at noon JST: A copy of Full Proposal (submitted to the NSF) and other required documents must be received by this time.

　For details on the public solicitation, please refer to the following web page of NICT.
https://www.nict.go.jp/collabo/commission/B5Gsokushin/B5G_kobo/20250711kobo.html