New Moonshot Goals 8 and 9: responding to changes in the social environment

The Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI) has decided on new Moonshot Goals selected on the basis of the MILLENNIA Program. In the Moonshot Research and Development Program, goals are added according to various factors, such as the changes in the social environment. New Moonshot Goals for Japan's future are being created as part of the MILLENNIA Program to tackle the economic and social challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goals adopted in January 2021 were reviewed by 21 teams to validate the goals and society they intended to achieve by 2050, as well as the challenges and scenarios to be addressed to achieve these goals. The teams also verified the achievement of these goals through a survey over the course of six months until July 2021 and summarized it in a research report. Using the support of external experts, a primary assessment of the report was conducted by visionary leaders, and eight teams were selected. Subsequently, five candidate goals formulated through the organization and integration of the social vision and R&D scenarios for their realization were assessed. This resulted in the selection of two goals, now formally adopted by the CSTI.

Goal 8 is the "Realization of a society safe from the threat of extreme winds and rains by controlling and modifying the weather by 2050." Extreme storms and floods caused by typhoons and heavy rainfall are increasing and becoming more severe because of the progression of global warming. Moreover, meteorological disasters worldwide have increased five times over the past 50 years, resulting in an economic loss of $3.64 trillion and more than 2 million deaths. Previously, measures such as damage prevention using structural strengthening, disaster preparedness, and damage mitigation through early warnings in the event of an outbreak had limitations. Therefore, in addition to these measures, R&D on control technologies will be pursued, which can help avoid and mitigate meteorological phenomena that lead to disasters.

Although modification experiments on some meteorological phenomena, such as artificial rainfall for small-scale clouds, have been conducted and some results have been obtained, R&D on the control of energetic meteorological phenomena that lead to disasters such as typhoons and heavy rainfall has not progressed because the separate evaluation of control effects and natural phenomena has been difficult. Recently, significant improvement in technology and performance in the fields of observation technology, meteorological modeling, and computing has markedly increased simulation accuracy. This has opened up the possibility of separately evaluating control effects and natural phenomena when control is performed. Furthermore, the possibility of reducing damage by controlling typhoons and heavy rains (including those caused by linear precipitation zones) by 2030, with realistic operations as a prerequisite, will be demonstrated on computers. Outdoor experiments involving manipulation will also be initiated while widely interacting and coordinating with society, by establishing a wide range of technologies that will contribute to the substantial reduction of damage caused by extreme storms and floods, in addition to developing improved atmospheric models and establishing appropriate theories for such weather control.

Goal 9 is the "Realization of a mentally healthy and dynamic society by increasing peace of mind and vitality by 2050." The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated social problems caused by psychological issues, such as suicide and depression. Although the number of suicides in Japan has declined over the past 10 years, it increased in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Social loss because of suicide and depression is estimated to be ¥2.7 trillion per year. While the use of cyberspace and DX has progressed and human life has transformed, the complex mental conditions of humans (e.g., sensations, feelings, and thoughts) have not been considered. Mental support entails new science and technology. Technologies such as sensors and measurement, computer imaging and analysis, AI/CPS, and big data analysis have developed in recent years, facilitating ambitious R&D with novel rational approaches, mechanisms for which have not been clarified thus far. By 2030, elemental technologies will be created to increase mental comfort and vitality through extraction and measurement of elements (including cultures, traditions, and arts) that are deeply linked to the mind, and the mechanisms of mental change will be identified.

In addition, the problem of social implementation of these technologies will be extensively examined, and the direction of solutions that are widely accepted by society will be clarified. Moreover, through collaboration between humanities, social sciences, and technology, elemental technologies that enable the acceptance of diversity and the sharing of feelings and emotions in communication while widely interacting with society will be created. In the future, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will design a study and development plan that identifies areas where innovative R&D should be promoted to achieve the respective Moonshot Goals. JST is currently searching for a program director (PD) and will subsequently recruit a project manager (PM) for each of the goals.