The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is a public research institution funded primarily by the Japanese government. It has over 40 autonomous research units in various innovative research fields, which are located at nine research bases and several other sites all over Japan. About 2400 resident researchers and thousands of visiting scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and students from Japan and abroad are working at AIST. They are supported by over 700 permanent and temporary administrative staff.

Japanese Industrial Standards Committee is a national standardization body under the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. JISC engages in activities designed to promote both international and domestic standardization in order to enhance economic development and social welfare. More than 500 experts representing academia, manufacturers and service providers work in JISC to develop consensus based standards.