February 17, 2026 Approval of the Establishment of the Industrial Wireless Technology Collaborative Innovation Partnership (IWT)

- Japan’s First Collaborative Innovation Partnership Dedicated to Wireless Communication Technology for Industrial Applications

　For the establishment of a collaborative innovation partnership to conduct research on industrial wireless technology, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) received an application from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and four other parties. As the application was found to conform to the provisions of Article 13, Paragraph 2 of the Collaborative Innovation Partnership Act (Act No. 81 of 1961), the MIC approved the establishment.

A summary of the application for approval to establish the collaborative innovation partnership is as follows:

• (1) Name
  Industrial Wireless Technology Collaborative Innovation Partnership (IWT)
• (2) Purpose
  Industrial ICT systems often face difficulties in maintaining stable wireless communication. To address this issue, it is necessary to establish wireless communication technologies specifically designed for industrial environments, thereby improving the productivity of these systems. To meet this need, the IWT aims to provide a platform through which its members jointly conduct research on such industrial wireless technologies and work to further enhance and disseminate the developed technologies.
• (3) Founding members (in no particular order)
  NICT (TOKUDA Hideyuki, President)
  Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ASAMI Toru, President and Representative Director)
  Silex Technology, Inc. (MIURA Nobuhiko, President and Representative Director)
  Toyota Technical Development Corporation (KAGAWA Yoshiyuki, President, Representative Director and Chief Executive Officer)
  Murata Machinery, Ltd. (MURATA Daisuke, President and Representative Director)
• (4) Details of research and testing
  Research on fundamental technologies for industrial wireless communications
  Design and industrialization research of industrial wireless communication modules
  Study and definition of communication specifications for standardization