The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (情報通信研究機構, NICT) is Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's national research institute for information and communications. It is located at 4-2-1 Nukui-Kitamachi, Koganei, Tokyo

Koganei, Tokyo

is a city located in Tokyo, Japan. As of July 1, 2011, the city has an officially registered population of 116,055 with 56,296 households and a population density of 10,243.16 persons per km²...

 184-8795 Japan.

NICT was established 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. It has a range of responsibilities including generating and disseminating Japan's national frequency and time standard

Time standard

A time standard is a specification for measuring time: either the rate at which time passes; or points in time; or both. In modern times, several time specifications have been officially recognized as standards, where formerly they were matters of custom and practice. An example of a kind of time...

s; conducting type approval tests of radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 equipment for the Global Maritime Distress Safety System

Global Maritime Distress Safety System

The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System is an internationally agreed-upon set of safety procedures, types of equipment, and communication protocols used to increase safety and make it easier to rescue distressed ships, boats and aircraft....

 (GMDSS) and marine radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 based on Japan's Radio Law; and providing regular observations of the ionosphere

Ionosphere

The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere, comprising portions of the mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere...

 and space weather

Space weather

Space weather is the concept of changing environmental conditions in near-Earth space or thespace from the Sun's atmosphere to the Earth's atmosphere. It is distinct from the concept ofweather within the Earth's planetary atmosphere...

.

See also

• Independent Administrative Institution
  Independent Administrative Institution
  An Incorporated Administrative Agency or in lay terms an Independent Administrative Corporation or Independent Administrative Institution is a newly designed type of legal body for Japanese governmental organizations regulated by the Basic Law on Reforming Government Ministries of 1998...
  
   (IAI
  Independent Administrative Institution
  An Incorporated Administrative Agency or in lay terms an Independent Administrative Corporation or Independent Administrative Institution is a newly designed type of legal body for Japanese governmental organizations regulated by the Basic Law on Reforming Government Ministries of 1998...
  
  ), 2001
• List of Independent Administrative Institutions (Japan)