Introduction

The Advanced Mobility Research Center (ITS Center) of Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo (UTokyo) was established in April 2009 for the promotion of research and development of ITS related subjects, and the Center was reformed in April 2019. The missions of the Center were defined as promotion of the research and development (R&D) and implementation of the advanced transport system based on automated driving, design of social mobility using big data, integrated mobility design including road and railway public transportation.

Collaborative activities are important for the research and development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), which is an integration of related or various different research fields and cooperation with international and domestic universities and research institutions in addition to local and national governments. The center continues to contribute for developing human resource for ITS, by holding “Special Course for Working People”, “ITS Seminars”, and lecture courses in the graduate school (Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, UTokyo. It also promotes several collaborative research with private and public sectors with cooperation of variations of research fields and social implementation experiences of the center.

The Mobility Innovation Collaborative Research Organization (UTmobI) was established in July 2018 led by the ITS center with collaboration of three faculty and institutes in UTokyo. It was further enhanced by including five faculties and institutions in UTokyo in July 2019. It devotes to establish integrated systematic knowledge for the mobility-innovation.

In April 2025, our center added members and upgraded into the “Harmonic Mobility Research Center (ITS Center).” The Harmonic Mobility Research Center aims to achieve four types of “harmony” to align the outcomes of our mobility research and development with society, contributing to achieve a sustainable future.

• Harmony with Technology: Pursuing efficiency and optimization by integrating mobility technologies such as automated driving vehicles, railways, and traffic signal control systems.
• Harmony with People: Aiming to design human-friendly interactions, including urban planning that accounts for intuitive user interfaces and pedestrian safety.
• Harmony with Society: Advancing mobility technology research that incorporates ethical, legal, and social perspectives (ELSI), while promoting interdisciplinary approaches in research and development.
• Harmony with the Environment: Developing energy management and mobility systems that contribute to carbon neutrality to achieve a low-carbon society, ultimately fostering sustainable urban development from both environmental and economic perspectives.

In our research and development as well as in the practical implementation, we continue to work closely with relevant ministries, agencies, and local governments. We actively promote collaboration with researchers from diverse academic disciplines as well as with other universities and research institutions both domestically and internationally. Furthermore, leveraging our unique strengths—such as its focus on cross-disciplinary approaches, integration of industry, government, academia, and citizens, and regional partnerships—we are driving numerous collaborative projects across these sectors while continuing social contribution activities.

NAKANO, Kimihiko
Professor

was born in 1972. He received Doctor of Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2000. After working at Yamaguchi University as a research assistant, lecturer, and associate professor, he transferred to this institute in 2006 as an associate professor, then promoted to be a professor in 2018. He became a director of the Harmonic Mobility Research Center in April 2025.