Question:
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) is already in operation. How do you think this system will be developed in the future?

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I expect that ITS will be developed in the direction of "super infrastructure". Existing infrastructures are independent of each other as stand-alone infrastructures for transportation, information, security, finance or medical systems. The "super infrastructure" is an integrating infrastructure that will provide the common backbone functions of each of these individual existing infrastructures while eliminating the waste of duplicated functions, reducing costs, and facilitating integrated operation.

I expect that ITS will be developed in the direction of "super infrastructure". Existing infrastructures are independent of each other as stand-alone infrastructures for transportation, information, security, finance or medical systems. The "super infrastructure" is an integrating infrastructure that will provide the common backbone functions of each of these individual existing infrastructures while eliminating the waste of duplicated functions, reducing costs, and facilitating integrated operation.

Let us imagine a future example of a truck passing through a highway ETC gate. By wireless communication between a truck and the ETC gate, the toll gate identifies the truck, checks from which bank account to draw the toll fee, accesses the bank computer and makes the transfer. At the same time, the information on the location of the truck is reported to the company awaiting delivery of its contents, via an information center. Estimated arrival time will be reported to the production control section to consider it in their production planning using the delivered components.

Electronic Toll Collection System -from Ministry of Construction homepage

In this way, I suppose ITS will be developed linking a wide range of applications in addition to transportation, as part of a multi-purpose, integrating "super infrastructure" network. Therefore, when thinking about an ETC business, it is also important to consider the related fields, which might create larger markets. Another point to consider regarding ITS as a business is that it is a forerunner of a "new style business" versus the business models developed since the Industrial Revolution. In the older model, commercial banking represented a "new style business" because it empowered individual businesses in individual markets to expand by providing the extra-core resources necessary to support expanded commerce. As a "new style business" in the emerging multimedia age, ITS requires the creation of a business equivalent to commercial banking in the passing age, to meet the demands of the new essence of business: creating a new product concept and establishing it as the global standard.

Question:
From an academic perspective, ITS seems to be a little different than existing electrical engineering or communications engineering. What is your view on this?

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From an academic point of view, ITS represents a new academic field in the 21st century. In the 20th century, the academic world was developed by segmentation into specialized fields. In the 21st century, we expect that a new study will be born which will try to answer the complex issues with multi-faceted aspects. For example, in order to answer a question like "what kind of transportation system should be developed in a certain area?", we need to consider and incorporate multiple academic fields including various engineering disciplines, politics, and economics, among others.