National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

{{Short description|Japanese research institute}}

{{primary sources|date=December 2007}}

{{redirect|NICT|the Taiwanese translation agency|National Institute for Compilation and Translation}}

{{Infobox Government agency

| agency_name = National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

| native_name_r = {{lang|ja|Jōhō Tsūshin Kenkyū Kikō|italic=no}}

| native_name_a = {{lang|ja|情報通信研究機構}}

| logo = NICT logo.png

| logo_width =

| logo_caption =

| seal =

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| formed = October 1896

| jurisdiction = Government of Japan

| headquarters = Tokyo, Japan

| employees =

| budget =

| chief1_name = President

| chief1_position = Masao Sakauchi

| parent_agency = Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

| website = http://www.nict.go.jp/en/index.html

| footnotes =

}}

The {{nihongo|National Institute of Information and Communications Technology|情報通信研究機構|Jōhō Tsūshin Kenkyū Kikō|NICT}} is Japan's primary national research institute for information and communications. It is located in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan.

NICT was established as an Independent Administrative Institution in 2004 when Japan's Communications Research Laboratory (established 1896) merged with the Telecommunications Advancement Organization. Today NICT's mission is to carry out research and development in the field of information and communications technology.{{cite web|title=Fujitsu Laboratories, NICT and Kyushu University Achieve World Record Cryptanalysis of Next-Generation Cryptography|url=http://www.fujitsu.com/global/news/pr/archives/month/2012/20120618-01.html|publisher=Fujitsu Laboratories|access-date=11 July 2012}} It has a range of responsibilities including generating and disseminating Japan's national frequency and time standards; conducting type approval tests of radio equipment for the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) and marine radar based on Japan's Radio Law; and providing regular observations of the ionosphere and space weather. It also operates the JJY, a low frequency time signal.

In late August 2015, it was announced that a terahertz radiation scanner developed by the institute would be one of the instruments carried by the ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, currently due for launch in 2022.{{cite news |date=24 August 2015 |title=Japan tech to explore Jupiter moon |url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002377117 |newspaper=The Yomiuri Shimbun |location=Japan |access-date=24 August 2015 }}Image:NICT National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.jpg]]