Press Releases

Keio University today announced that it would launch the world’s first InterNational Cyber Security Center of Excellence (INCS-CoE) that intends to collaborate with the U.S., UK, and Japanese universities. People invited are the members from the U.S.: Stanford University, UC Berkeley, MIT, University of Maryland Baltimore Country, and Northeastern University; from the UK: University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and University College London; and from Japan: The University of Tokyo, Tokyo Denki University, Institute of Information Security, and Keio University.

Bringing these universities together is a pioneering effort to advance international collaboration, recognizing that a single nation-state or one organization will not be able to solve the problems of growing borderless cyber-threats on its own. As an initial step, the Center will deal with the common challenges beyond the organizational and national boundaries as more neutral positions providing the place including physical space and facilitation functions. Ultimate goals include expansion of this INCS-CoE towards a multi-stakeholder environment aiming for government-private-university collaboration internationally.

Currently, the cybersecurity centers around the world have been established with various missions, goals, and genesis, with different strengths and areas of expertise. In the U.S., individual universities have their own cybersecurity centers, and some also enjoy federal and local government supports, e.g. National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) established by the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In the UK, thirteen (13) universities have been recognized by GCHQ as Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research. In Japan, up to this time, there has been no clear Center of Excellence (CoE) named in cybersecurity while governments, companies, and universities are making efforts to solve the problems.

This new INCS-CoE is being launched with a spirit of international collaboration with a bottom-up approach in order to contribute to the cyber security and safety of the world. The main themes to be addressed in order to confront international cybersecurity threats will include policy, institutional, operational, infrastructure, technology, education, and other key areas. As the basic connotation, the term “center” in CoE will be the place where people from around the world can gather together in a face-to-face environment to solve problems together. Further, the strategic plan of the new INCS-CoE includes regular international cyber security conferences to share the outcomes of the collaborative efforts.

In the near future, the new INCS-CoE will focus on concrete and specific use-cases including but not limited to Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Critical Infrastructure protection, and privacy. Keio University will work together with other participants to continue collaborating internationally with various Centers of Excellences driving and thriving in the fields.