Message from the President

The KDDI Foundation is a public interest incorporated foundation that has a basic philosophy of "taking the benefits gained through information and communications and sharing these with society from an international viewpoint, while also contributing to harmonious and sound development across the world through information and communications." In the era of VUCA (*), when predicting the future is extremely difficult, our philosophy is also compatible with the SDGs in terms of striving for a better, sustainable world.

The KDDI Foundation carries out programs and projects in four fields, namely granting, awarding, international cooperation, and ICT promotion. First, our grant programs support research studies and social activities in humanitarian and scientific fields, as well as human resource development activities for students from developing countries along with junior-high and high school students. Second, our awards program honors researchers who have attained distinguished achievements that lead the formation of a sustainable society. Third, our international cooperation projects provide educational and cultural support, such as in efforts to reduce the digital divide and to construct schools primarily in developing countries through the construction of information and communications infrastructure. To date, we have provided support in developing countries, such as Cambodia, Nepal, and Myanmar, and Mongolia. We also work to train and educate leaders who will carry their countries forward in the future, thereby contributing to correcting international disparities. Lastly, our ICT promotion projects aimed at contributing to the promotion of an advanced information society include various workshops to nurture human resources well-versed in mobile systems. In addition, we also compile and distribute annual reports on domestic and overseas trends in satellite communications and broadcasting.

Since the time of the predecessor organization of the KDDI Foundation, we have developed these programs and projects based on half-century-old social contribution projects, and they have met the needs of the changing times. We believe that utilizing the human networks of researchers and engineers that we have built over many years through cooperation in information and communications technology and coordinating with international organizations, local government agencies, and NPOs will significantly help address unpredictable and radically changing social issues. We very much look forward to your continued cooperation and support.

Shigehiro Ano, Shigehiro Ano, President, KDDI Foundation