Mission of SSI (The Society of Socio-Informatics)
The Society of Socio-Informatics (SSI) is a non-profit membership association that is open to all people who consider “Socio-Informatics” as “challenges our society is now faced with”and endeavor to tackle those challenges with an intellectual spirit. We are open to those of academic institutions and also those of enterprises, governments and all the people who find challenges or problems in daily practice. We believe our openness enables us to reexamine various concepts of “knowledge” in our society and design a prosperous future, another mission of SSI.
President’s Welcome
Tadamasa KIMURA
Rikkyo University
April, 2024
From the fiscal year 2023, I have been appointed as the President of the Society for Socio-Informatics (SSI). The members of SSI have been engaging in research activities that expand the possibilities of our society, identify issues, and explore solutions based on deep insights into the relationship between society and information. As a member myself, I have always been greatly intellectually stimulated by these activities.
SSI is recognized as a network-based organization that generates dynamic research activities through the creativity and ingenuity of its individual members, unconstrained by the frameworks of existing academic fields. With the support of Vice Presidents Dr Jiro Kokuryo and Dr Kuniko Sakata, as well as the directors and council members, I hope to contribute, even in a small way, to the development of SSI as a platform for active research activities and exchanges among members.
In Japanese academics, the field of “Shakai Joho (社会情報, Socio-Informatics, Social Informatics)” was institutionalized in the early 1990s (in 1991, the Faculty of Socio-Informatics was established at Sapporo Gakuin University, and in 1992, the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Tokyo was reorganized into “Shakai Joho Kenkyujo” (the Institute of Socio-information and Communication Studies). In 1996, Nihon Shakai Joho Gakkai was established, which was reorganized into the Society for Socio-Informatics in 2012, continuing to the present day.
In “Yoku Wakaru Shakai Joho Gaku (Introduction to Social Informatics)” (2015, Minerva Shobo), edited by Dr Toru Nishigaki and Dr Mamoru Ito, who played a central role in the reorganization, Social Informatics is defined as “the study that theoretically and empirically clarifies the characteristics of the totality of information phenomena in society” (ibid: ii). In the 21st century, as the digitalization of society have progressed explosively, and breakthroughs in deep learning and LLMs have dramatically accelerated innovations in data analysis and artificial intelligence, Social Informatics is recognized as an academic field that plays an important role in addressing both significant benefits and serious challenges to human society.
Marking its 10th anniversary in 2022, I revisited the concept of “Socio-Informatics” in Japanese higher education and confirmed that there are various educational organizations, including departments, faculties, majors, courses, and programs, across junior colleges, universities, and graduate schools that incorporate Shakai Joho in their names and are actively engaged in research and educational activities (22 organizations were identified). The importance of the concept of “Socio-Informatics” has been reaffirmed, with the establishment of the “School of Socio-Informatics” at Wakayama University in 2023 and the “Department of Socio-Informatics” at Tokyo University of Technology’s School of Computer Science in 2024.
SSI has developed systems to actively support the activities of its diverse members, including research support and recognition for young researchers, regional branch activities, and the research division system for new research endeavors, starting with the Master’s Thesis Presentation Conference (co-hosted with Japan Association for Media, Journalism and Communication Studies). On the other hand, the concept of “Socio-Informatics” is highly inclusive, multi-layered, and complex, and research activities are diversifying, making mutual exchange important, and posing challenges in conveying its appeal to high school and university students, including how to teach and what curriculum to adopt.
Therefore, at the SSI Annual Conference in September 2023, a workshop was held inviting universities and graduate schools that include “Socio-Informatics” in the names of their departments, faculties, majors, courses, or programs to exchange opinions and interact, focusing on curriculum and teaching methods, as well as the development of research activities. Fortunately, the workshop became a lively opportunity for exchange, and I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the professors from each university who spoke at the workshop and to all participants.
From a technological perspective, the development of the network society from the 20th century to the 2020s can be seen as having brought about significant changes in our living spaces through the cumulative development of four technologies: digital, network, mobile, and AI. I firmly believe that Socio-Informatics is a field that approaches the totality of information phenomena in such a society, delves into issues and possibilities, and can contribute academically and socially through research. Together with the members, I aim to promote interdisciplinary cooperation and knowledge sharing, and to foster innovative ideas, thus contributing to the development of the society as a place where such ideas can flourish. Although there are many areas where my efforts may fall short, I sincerely appreciate all those who sympathize with the ideals of the Society for Socio-Informatics and participate in its activities.