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R&D and Social Implementation Plan Formulated for "Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure Construction" Projects
October 19, 2021
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has formulated an R&D and Social Implementation Plan that summarizes the content of "Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure Construction" projects that will be implemented using the Green Innovation Fund.
1. Background and purpose
Toward the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, METI has established a Green Innovation Fund at a level of 2 trillion yen under the FY2020 Tertiary Supplementary Budget and decided to assign the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to its operation. Based on specific goals shared by the public and private sectors, the government will provide continuous support over the next ten years to companies and other organizations committed to take on challenge toward achieving the ambitious goals as one of the most critical business issues. The support will assist efforts ranging from research and development (R&D) through demonstrations to social implementation of the outcomes.
In order to ensure proper and efficient execution of the fund, the Green Innovation Project Committee under the Industrial Structure Council finalized the Fund Allocation Policy for Each Field. Based on this policy, field-specific working groups established under the Committee deliberate on issues such as the priority and appropriateness of the amount to be implemented by the fund for each project. Then, the divisions and offices in charge of the project at the responsible ministries formulate the content of each project as an "R&D and Social Implementation Plan," and start calls for applicants.
Today, METI formulated an R&D and Social Implementation Plan for "Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure Construction" projects based on discussions by the Working Group on the Field of Industry Structure Transformation.
2. Main content of the R&D and Social Implementation Plan for "next-generation digital infrastructure construction" projects
- Work toward reducing the power loss of next-generation power semiconductors (SiC, GaN, etc.) by more than 50% and reducing their cost to achieve similar cost levels to those of Si power semiconductors, in order to promote their social implementation in the fields where innovative improvements in energy efficiency are required toward carbon neutrality, such as electric vehicles, electric power generation (e.g., by renewable energy) and server power supplies.
- Aim to significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers (i.e., data aggregation hubs) by over 40% through innovative photonics-electronics convergence technology that replaces electrical wiring inside servers with optical wiring.
3. Future schedule
NEDO starts a call for applicants for the "Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure Construction" projects today. For more information, please see METI's press release "Call for Applicants Starts for 'Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure Construction' Projects."
Related material
Division in charge
Carbon Neutrality Project Promotion Office, Environmental Policy Division, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment BureauAbout the details of the project
Device Industry & Semiconductor Strategy Office, IT Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau