Category: News

On 13 May 2025, SOI Asia Director Professor Keiko Okawa, Dr. Achmad Husni Thamrin and Dr. Eliko Akashi, and APNIC Foundation Project Officer Dr. Marcos Sadao Maekawa visited the National University of Laos (NUOL) in Vientiane. The primary aim of the visit was to renew and strengthen the long-standing partnership between Keio University and NUOL, which dates back to the early 2000s.

Reconnecting with the NUOL Community

The morning session began with a warm reunion with former SOI Asia interns who are now key academic leaders at NUOL—Dr. Khamphao Sisaat, Head of the Research and Academic Services Division, and Dr. Somsanouk Pathoumvanh, Head of the Lao-Japan Technical Training Center. Both had participated in SOI Asia’s operator training internship program at Keio SFC over two decades ago.

Okawa and Thamrin introduced recent SOI Asia initiatives, including the Asia Pacific Internet Engineering Program (APIE), Evidence-Based Approach (EBA) Project, and the Community-Based Research (CBR) projects. Additional discussions included topics such as the Inxignia micro-credential platform, and the collaboration with ARENA-PAC.

The delegation also learned about the current state of network infrastructure in Laos. While satellite connectivity options like Starlink are not yet available, NUOL is connected via land-based infrastructure—mainly through Thailand—which provides a solid foundation for future collaboration. Improving bandwidth was highlighted as a priority for enabling participation in SOI Asia’s online programs, as well as for supporting future collaborative research initiatives. The team also visited the former SOI Asia antenna, which still remains on campus, and toured the NUOL-Japan Center established by JICA for IT and network training.

Later in the day, the delegation visited NUOL’s main campus to meet with Vice President Prof. Dr. Phouphet Kyophilavong, who recently took on a leadership role to strengthen NUOL’s IT strategy. With a Ph.D. from Osaka University and experience at Kobe University, Prof. Kyophilavong shared the Lao government’s current direction of promoting digital technologies as a driver for national economic development, transitioning from a traditional focus on agriculture and manufacturing.

During the meeting, SOI Asia representatives reaffirmed the importance of renewing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Keio University and NUOL to enable student and faculty participation in ongoing and future programs. The session was also attended by representatives from the university’s International Affairs Office, IT Center, and Faculty of Engineering.

Looking Ahead

The visit is expected to accelerate the formalization of a new MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Keio University and NUOL, which is already in progress. Once renewed, the agreement is anticipated to open new opportunities for collaboration, including participation of Lao students in programs such as APIE and EBA, and involvement of faculty members in regional research and education initiatives.

After the visit to NUOL, the team also met with Mr. Saysomvang Souvannavong, the National Coordinator of the APNIC Foundation’s SWITCH! program in Laos. Mr. Souvannavong shared an overview of the local Internet landscape and his multi-faceted role in key national initiatives, including LANIC and LANOG. The discussion highlighted opportunities for SOI Asia to support capacity development efforts in the country and provided valuable insights into how SOI Asia’s mission can align with and contribute to Laos’ national Internet development priorities.

The sub-project of SOI Asia called the Digital Humanities Asia/And Science Hub (DHASH) team held an in-person meeting on the 5th of March 2025 at Hiyoshi Raiosh. This was a preliminary meeting ahead of the 59th SOI Asia meeting, which occurred from the 6th to the 8th of March.

The DHASH project is a collaboration project from four universities, respectively from Universitas Syiah Kuala  (USK) in Indonesia, Preserving Aceh’s Royal Legacy: A Mixed Reality Digital Archive of Aceh’s Historic Tombstones; Universitas Brawijaya (UB) in Indonesia, 3D Documentation of Malang’s Ancient Temples; Tribhuvan University (TU) in Nepal, Preserving Traditional Nepali Instruments into VST Plugins: The Sound of Sarangi and Keio University in Japan, developing interactive and informative digital archives using Voyager [1] and Omeka [2] for the mentioned cultural heritage.

The team members from Indonesia and Nepal flew into Tokyo the previous day. On the 5th, the team engaged in fruitful and productive discussions about project updates at each site, lessons learned, and future directions.

The DHASH project aims to build an Open Science Infrastructure (OSI) tailored to support the digital humanities movement within the Asia-Pacific region. This initiative goes beyond establishing reliable infrastructural services; it’s about nurturing a community-driven framework that integrates open principles into research methodology and knowledge dissemination. To build a resilient society, we are committed to making scholarly resources more accessible, thereby expanding Internet access to humanities resources, especially in the cultural heritage domains. This will help remove barriers, enabling researchers and the public to engage with the cultural heritage of the Asia-Pacific region through digital archives and exhibits.

During the meeting, each site presented their projects and provided updates on activities since the last report in December of the previous year. Members actively engaged in discussions after each presentation, sharing their challenges and solutions. After a lunch break, Dr. Goki Miyakita, the DHASH project lead, led a workshop introducing the software Voyager, which is used in creating digital archives for the project. The workshop demonstrated how to use Voyager and discussed its advantages in digital archiving.

The meeting then continued in a discussion format, where significant questions were raised: From a community perspective, what are the goals of data sharing? What are the community’s expectations? What is the most significant takeaway from engaging in and conducting this project? These questions are crucial as they help us understand the local community’s perspective and involve them more in the DHASH project, especially since digital humanities in the cultural heritage sector are deeply connected to the community. Without community engagement, there is no culture.

The initial results are promising, but it is vital for us and all project members to remember why we are doing this and the social impact and value the project brings. It’s easy to lose sight of a project’s significance when deeply involved, so focusing on our meaningful goals is crucial. This is also a reminder of our great responsibility in digitising cultural heritage: we are not just providing information but also recreating knowledge and narratives for current and future generations. While aiming to provide comprehensive information, we acknowledge that there are aspects we are still uncovering. As scholars and practitioners, we must recognise our significant responsibilities and admit that there is still much to be done. This project is just the beginning of more significant and impactful research. We, the DHASH team, are eager to see it flourish and attract many more researchers, the public, students, and scholars. We view it as a valuable opportunity for them to develop further and collaborate with us on a larger and more sustainable scale.

The meeting concluded with discussions about future plans, including the need to establish a workable schedule for conducting workshops at various sites and determining the best times for the Keio team to visit and collaborate on these workshops. It was a fruitful meeting, and team members greatly appreciated the opportunity to come together physically and discuss matters in detail. We are very optimistic about the future of the DHASH project.[1] https://smithsonian.github.io/dpo-voyager/introduction/installation/
[2] https://omeka.org/

The SOI Asia Haneda Campus has officially opened at Haneda Innovation City, Ota City, Tokyo, marking a new milestone in international research and education collaboration. An opening ceremony celebrated the newest milestone for SOI Asia, reinforcing its commitment to fostering collaboration, education, and research across the Asia Pacific region.

The inauguration ceremony, held on March 8, 2025, welcomed distinguished guests including Mr. Masaaki Taira, Minister for Digital Transformation, H.E. Mr. Heri Akhmadi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to Japan, and Mr. Akimasa Suzuki, Mayor of Ota City. The event featured a keynote by Professor Jun Murai, emphasizing the importance of high-speed research networks in advancing global academic partnerships.

As the headquarters of SOI Asia, the Haneda Campus will play a pivotal role in fostering cross-border collaboration among universities and research institutions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Read the full announcement here: https://www.ccrc.keio.ac.jp/20250308newsen/

On March 4, 2025, during the opening ceremony of APAN 59 held at Pacifico Yokohama (Yokohama, Japan), SOI Asia and APAN (Asia Pacific Advanced Network) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation and collaboration between the two organizations. This strategic partnership aims to foster knowledge exchange, support capacity-building initiatives, and strengthen the research and education community across Asia.

Keiko Okawa, professor at Keio University and director of SOI Asia, delivered a keynote speech during the opening ceremony, highlighting the impactful trajectory of SOI Asia and its contributions to the education and research community in Asia.

SOI Asia has played a crucial role in connecting higher education institutions, particularly in Southeast and South Asia, facilitating collaboration and sharing valuable resources among academic and research communities. Okawa also stressed the importance of human resources development and community-based efforts as essential pillars to build, maintain, and engage communities in a sustainable way.

At the end of the session, SOI Asia’s Okawa and Shinji Shimojo, chairman of APAN board of directors and a professor at Aomori University, signed the MoU. The agreement outlines key areas of cooperation, including the exchange of technical knowledge, documentation, and best practices, as well as collaboration in capacity-building initiatives such as workshops, webinars, and other events.

This partnership is expected to bring significant benefits to the academic and research communities in Asia, promoting cross-border collaboration, strengthening the presence and development of RENs and enhancing opportunities for knowledge sharing and professional development.

At APAN 59, SOI Asia will also conduct a workshop session on day 5 to introduce Community Research Framework. Called Community Based Research or simply CBR, this scheme was designed to promote inter-university collaborative research activities and students’ involvement in the research activities.

For more information about APAN 59, please visit the website: https://apan59.apan.net/

Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI)—Cyber Civilization Research Center (CCRC), home of SOI Asia, has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UNESCO to promote a shared vision of mobilizing scientific and technological knowledge through the Internet. This joint initiative is titled Mobilizing Science Knowledge for Sustainable Development in East Asia and wider Asia-Pacific through ICT and Open Science.

This MoU establishes a framework for collaboration where SOI Asia offers its infrastructure and technical resources to support higher education advancement through Internet technology and expand access to knowledge across the region. The goals of this initiative are:

• Strengthen scientific and technical literacy by bringing together regional universities to broaden educational reach, and strengthen the role of ICT and open science in sustainable development.
• Enhance education processes and expand access to materials in higher education across the region.
• Introduce innovations and open science principles into teaching science, technology, and engineering to leverage scientific knowledge.
• Increase public access to knowledge by fostering connectivity among educators and researchers, and developing human resources across Asia and the Pacific through open science initiatives.

This MoU builds on a collaboration between Keio University, through SOI Asia, and UNESCO that officially started with a previous MoU signed in 2008. The partnership represents a deepened commitment to combining resources and expertise to address global challenges through education and scientific innovation. SOI Asia and UNESCO aim to create a more sustainable future for the Asia-Pacific region by leveraging resources and expertise, driving scientific knowledge, and amplifying learning opportunities.

For more details about UNESCO’s Open Science initiative and the Cyber Civilization Research Center, visit:

UNESCO – Open Science website
CCRC website

Since 2021, SOI Asia has offered the APIE (Asia Pacific Internet Engineer) program to partner universities across Asia to develop Internet talent. Recently, a part of this program has been adopted as regular formal course material at Vietnam-Japan University (VJU).

The online courses “Understanding the Internet” and “Operating the Internet” included in the APIE program have been utilized in the required course “Computer Networks and Communications” (instructor: Quang Trung Lu, lecturer) for 43 third-year of undergraduate students in the Computer Science and Engineering (BCSE) program at VJU, starting in October 2024. 

Students who complete these courses will not only earn credits from VJU, but also receive digital certificates that conform to the Open Badges standard issued by SOI Asia on its digital certificate platform INXIGNIA. The digital badges provided through INXIGNIA can be attached when applying to various SOI Asia programs or used as proof of skills and learning history on business platforms such as LinkedIn.

The APIE program generally accepts students twice a year and consists of the following components.

1. APIE Online: Self-paced learning through two online courses offered by Keio University on FutureLearn.
   • Course #1 “Understanding the Internet” (4 weeks)
   • Course #2 “Operating the Internet” (5 weeks)
2. APIE e-Workshop: A series of six seminars and hands-on sessions held bi-weekly on Saturdays via Zoom. These sessions provide opportunities for reflection on learning and community building while progressing through the online courses.
3. APIE Camp: A five-day camp-style program for students who completed the APIE Online and APIE e-Workshop. Hosted by partner universities in Asia, this camp brings together approximately 20-25 students from various Asian universities, including Keio, for collaborative learning.
        
4. APIE Advanced Camp: A five-day residential program open to students who completed the APIE Camp. This camp, held mainly in Japan, gathers approximately 20-25 students from several Asian universities, including Keio, for further collaborative learning.

To date, over 1,400 students from 18 universities across 10 Asian countries have registered for the APIE program, resulting in more than 1,000 digital badges (certificates) being issued. Additionally, the “Understanding the Internet” course offered through APIE Online is available to the public worldwide, with approximately 1,200 students from 99 countries.

Students from VJU who completed APIE Online as part of a regular formal course can continue to participate in other courses, including in-person courses such as “APIE Camp” and “APIE Advanced Camp” by participating in the “APIE e-Workshop” mentioned above after the class period and continuing their study. These APIE courses are offered as extracurricular activities at JVU, providing students with practical skills and knowledge as well as opportunities to build a professional network with peers from SOI Asia partner universities in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, along with researchers and active network engineers in the Internet industry. This experience is also expected to offer valuable insights into future career paths.

SOI Asia is a platform for inter-university education and research cooperation, launched in 2001 led by Keio University.  As of 2024,  29 universities and research institutions are participating in the APIE program. The APIE program, supported by the APNIC Foundation, began in 2021 as part of SOI Asia’s initiatives, in collaboration with partner organizations like the WIDE Project and AITAC (Advanced IT Architect Council), with a mission to nurture the next generation of Internet professionals. 

Today, the development of Internet infrastructure technologies and network operations tends to attract less attention from young engineers compared to emerging technologies like smartphone applications, generative AI, blockchain, and quantum computing. 

However, with approximately thirty percent of the global population still lacking Internet access, despite a worldwide penetration rate of around seventy percent¹, there remains a strong demand for more engineers in the Internet sector. The APIE program aims to equip university students with knowledge of the Internet’s history, design philosophy, practical skills, and career pathway planning, fostering talent to support research and operations in the Internet field, primarily across the Asia-Pacific region.

Vietnam-Japan University was established in July 2014 as the seventh member university of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, under the initiative of the Japanese and Vietnamese governments. Its mission is to foster future leaders and professionals, promote sustainable development, and enhance knowledge transfer between Japan and Vietnam. With “Liberal Arts” and “Sustainability Science” as its educational philosophy, VJU currently offers a wide range of academic disciplines, focusing on interdisciplinary social sciences and advanced engineering and technology. Specifically, VJU offers eight graduate master’s programs (Area Studies, Business Administration, Public Policy, Global Leadership, Nanotechnology, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Climate Change and Development) and six undergraduate programs (Japanese Studies, Computer Science and Engineering, Civil Engineering, Smart Agriculture and Sustainability, Food Technology and Health, Intelligent mechatronics and Japanese production). As of 2024, the university has approximately 1000 students and is steadily growing as a medium-sized comprehensive university that nurtures human resources to actively contribute within Vietnam and internationally.

(1) https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/facts-figures-2023/

The APIE program’s story was published on the Asia Pacific Advanced Network‘s blog, APAN PULSE (Perspective, Updates, Learning, Stories & Experiences). This platform is a collection of stories highlighting APAN members’ contributions and how they impact and inspire greater engagement and collaboration within the community.

The blog post was written through the lens of Shun Arima, the videographer in charge of APIE courses and documentation video content.

This story could not have been told without strong collaborations and young talents willing to participate in the constantly evolving Internet.

SOI Asia operates the APIE program in partnership with APNIC, the WIDE project, and AITAC. The APNIC Foundation funds and supports APIE activ­ities.

Learn more about the story of APIE:
https://pulse.apan.net/the-story-of-the-apie-program/

The parabolic antenna that had been installed in Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus (Japan) and serving for Asia-wide Satellite Internet communication for a long time – a C-band earth station facility – was decommissioned on August 3, 2022. 

It was a large antenna with a diameter of 7.6 meters and a transmitting power of 100 watts, which is rare in the private sector.

This parabolic antenna was installed in October 1999 to demonstrate research on satellite Internet. It was part of a joint research project by Keio University, Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), the Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (now the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, NICT), and Japan Satellite Systems Inc (now SKY Perfect JSAT Corp). This joint research was named the AI³ Project (Asian Internet Interconnection Initiatives Project) and was headed by Professor Jun Murai of Keio University and Professor Suguru Yamaguchi of NAIST.

AI³ recruited joint research partners from universities in the Southeast Asia region, and the partner institutions also installed C-band earth station facilities to connect to SFC via the Internet. Ultimately, 13 countries were connected to this antenna, creating a communications infrastructure covering all of Southeast Asia. (Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nepal, East Timor, Singapore, and Mongolia)

There are three main outcomes of AI³.

First, a great deal of research has been done on satellite Internet. The AI³ network served as a test bed for satellite Internet research, which is rare in the world.

Second, AI³ contributed to the deployment of the Internet in Southeast Asia, where the Internet boom was already underway in Japan in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but many countries in Southeast Asia were “just getting started”. In some countries, Internet access through these antennas was the catalyst for Internet diffusion.

Third, AI³ contributed to the development of human resources in Southeast Asia; many of the Southeast Asian researchers involved in AI³ are now active in research institutes, government agencies, and private companies as “first-generation Internet researchers” in their countries, supporting the Internet in this region.

The AI³ network and the antennas that were at the core of the AI³ network have produced many results, but as the facilities became obsolete, it became necessary to rebuild or decommission the equipment. The “5G interference problem” influenced the decision to decommission the antennas. The antenna was found to be hindering the introduction of 5G in the vicinity of SFC because the frequencies of the C-band used by AI³ and those used by 5G are close to each other, causing interference.

We repeatedly discussed whether the valuable testbed network should be discontinued for 5G, or whether it should be allowed to continue since we have a vested interest in the use of the radio waves. We then decided to give priority to 5G for the happiness of SFC and its neighbors.

The antenna, which had produced many research results, supported the development of the Internet in Southeast Asia, and had been a symbol of SFC for many years, quietly ended its role on August 3, 2022 during the campus summer break. The radio waves that were used for research and for Southeast Asia will now support the daily lives of everyone at SFC in the form of 5G cell phone use.

The AI³ research community will move on to the next phase of the research utilizing space & non-terrestrial communication technology in various ways for 100% internet coverage of the earth.By Haruhito Watanabe, senior researcher
Keio Research Institute at SFC

Japanese version of this article was published on Keio SFC’s website: (Click here)

Please enjoy antenna photos:(Click here)

We are excited to announce that the EBA (Evidence Based Approach) Project a new sub-project of SOI Asia, is about to start in April 2022.

The EBA Project, aims to foster the Asia Pacific wide collaborative community among Universities for designing evidence-based resilient future society. The root of this Project, The EBA Consortium, started in 2012, with Keio University (Japan) and universities in Southeast Asia, supported by the Re-Inventing Japan Project of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. 5 years under this support, the Consortium had conducted many programs to foster students capable of identifying and tackling emergent issues in Asia, based on the evidence and analysis.

From 2022, the successful EBA Consortium activities resume under SOI Asia as a new program to promote collaboration and capacity building for solving issues in Asia and the Pacific. Collaborating with EBA, SOI Asia aims to achieve a new phase of research and development.

EBA Project: https://eba.soi.asia/