Kyoto Computer Guraduate Institute of Informatics (KCGI) celebrated its 22nd anniversary on November 1, 2025, and held a commemorative ceremony on November 14, 2025, at the 6th floor main hall of KCGI Kyoto Ekimae Satellite and Kyoto Computer Gakuin (KCG) Kyoto Ekimae Campus.At the commemorative ceremony, Dr. Ryunosuke Tateno, Director of the Field Science Education and Research Center of Kyoto University, which recently signed a collaboration agreement with KCGI and KCG, gave a lecture entitled "Fusion of Information Technology and Field Science: New Challenges of Forest-Satoumi Linkage Studies toward Reconstruction of Relationship between Human and Nature".In 2025, KCGI changed its name to "The University of Informatics" and increased its enrollment capacity to 1,000 students for the new academic year in April, 12.5 times its initial capacity.At the anniversary ceremony, students, faculty, and staff recalled the pioneering spirit that is the founding spirit of the rapidly developing KCG Group and pledged to make further progress.
In his lecture, Director Tateno introduced himself and his research, and gave a detailed overview of the Field Science Center and its research, education, and social cooperation.He explained the need to integrate information technology, in which the KCG Group has cutting-edge knowledge, with field science.He added, "I think this is the first collaborative agreement in the world, let alone Japan, for information technology and field science.We will make a transdisciplinary contribution through the collaboration of IT personnel and field scientists," he said, emphasizing the significance of the project.He also expressed hope for student exchange between Kyoto University and KCGI/KCG, saying, "We have mountains, boats, and uninhabited islands, so we want KCGI/KCG students to have hands-on training at these sites that they would not normally have.
KCGI/KCG and Field Science Institute signed a collaboration agreement on October 30, 2025, aiming to integrate the IT field and field science.The Field Science Laboratory was established in 2003 as an intramural joint education and research facility by integrating the facilities of the Graduate Schools of Agriculture and Science at Kyoto University, which have long been the sites of education and research in the forested area, the satoyama area, and the marine area.While elucidating the interactions of various ecosystems from forests to oceans from the viewpoints of organisms and materials, we also analyze the activities and cultures of the people who nurture these ecosystems, and advocate "Morisato-Umi (forest-satoumi) Linkage Studies," an integrated academic field that considers how to deal with nature with an emphasis on the environment.The two parties to this agreement intend to promote the application of information and communication technology in cooperation and collaboration with each other in the field of forest-satoumi inter-ring studies, and to contribute to the development of education, research, and social cooperation activities.
After graduating from the Faculty of Agriculture at Kyoto University, Dr. Tateno majored in regional environmental science and forest ecology at the Graduate School of Agricultural Science at the same university, and received his Ph.After working as a researcher at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, assistant professor and associate professor at Kagoshima University, and associate professor at Kyoto University, he became a professor at the Field Research Institute in April 2021 and director of the center in April 2024.He specializes in forest ecology and ecosystem ecology, and has been conducting research on nitrogen cycling in forest ecosystems, mainly in domestic and foreign forests.We are promoting the trans-disciplinary projects on forest-satoumi linkage studies and satoyama-umi co-creation, which are being undertaken by the Field Science Center, in cooperation not only with researchers but also with companies and citizens.
KCGI opened in 2004 as Japan's first IT professional graduate school, inheriting the pioneering spirit of KCG, Japan's first computer education institution founded in 1963.The Graduate School of Applied Information Technology has established the Department of Web Business Technology, specializing in two areas: information technology and management, and upon completion, students are awarded a Master of Information Technology (Professional), the highest degree in the field of IT applications.The specialized subject groups are: Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Web System Development, Network Management, Global Entrepreneurship, ERP, IT Manga/Animation, Tourism IT, and IT Entertainment.In addition to students in Japan, many international students from Asia, Europe, Africa, and Central and South America gather here to study, aiming to become highly-skilled professionals who will lead the IT industry in the world.
