ICOT

Dear Dr. Young,

Since 1982, the Institute for New Generation Computer Technology (ICOT) has been conducting the Fifth Generation Computer Systems (FGCS) Project.

This project was concluded in 1992 after achieving its initial goal, and was succeeded by the two-year Follow-on Project having the aim of disseminating FGCS technology by making major software products of the FGCS Project operational on commercially available computers. Now we are sure that we can successfully finish the Follow-on Project in March 1995. After that, we will cease all ICOT research activities and close the Research Center.

In June 1986, Dr. Gordon Bell and Mr. Hiroichi Hiroshige, the Executive Director of ICOT at that time, exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding, representing the National Science Foundation and ICOT, respectively. The aim of the Memorandum has been to facilitate the sending of researchers by NSF to ICOT.

We are convinced that the Memorandum has certainly contributed to vitalize various kinds of scientific interactions between the two countries. At ICOT, we had stays of Drs. Evan Tick of the University of Oregon and Mark Stickel of Stanford Research Institute, which were most stimulative for our scientists. Further, NSF and ICOT jointly sponsored five successful symposia in the U.S. and Japan between 1987 and 1994. We believe that the joint research between the University of Oregon and ICOT, which started in July 1993, is a remarkable offspring of the Memorandum.

Because of the closing of the ICOT Research Center, however, we have to propose now to terminate this Memorandum.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude for the friendship and support you have extended to ICOT.

It is our hope that your organization will maintain close ties with the computer research community of Japan, where the ICOT scientists will continue their work in the future.

Yours sincerely,