What are "technologies that allow human beings to live safely?" Thinking of overall designs that include the social system is precisely what will allow us to protect the safety of our IT society and provide resilience in today's day and age. Intellectuals possessing fundamental knowledge and skills as well as depth as human beings will create our future society.

In several areas of the world, countries that are currently subject to collective security due to the collapse of their national governments have become hotbeds for terrorist organizations. This situation presents a serious risk of international tumult and crisis. The role of academics and scholars is to present policies that can anticipate and prevent this potential crisis before a terrorist strike occurs.

There are areas in the fields of safety and security where, increasingly, “the spheres in question are starting to overlap.” Researchers in various fields are setting common goals to solve problems, are accepting each other’s opinions and points of view, and are conducting extensive discussions and investigations, with several possibilities in mind.

One large risk can lead to multiple further risks. How do we respond to an inevitable risk and recover from it rapidly? Japan is seeking a strategy for prioritizing risks and efficiently distributing limited resources.

“Safety” changes with the times and circumstances. In the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake, risk is diversifying in Japan, and we must reflect on the question: “what is safety?

In Japanese, “resilience” is dan in dansei or danryoku, which is a literal translation. To explain resilience in more easily understandable terms, its meaning is something like “recovery property” or “recuperative power.” Initially, “resilience” came into use, a long time ago, a technical term in...