The National Police Agency held its first expert panel meeting on Tuesday on countering illegal drone flights amid rising concerns over their potential use in terrorism and other threats. The National Police Agency on Tuesday held the first meeting of an expert panel on measures against illegal drone flights, in light of the growing threat of drones being used for terrorism and other purposes. The panel plans to compile a report by the end of the year on expanding the list of no-fly zones and penalties, with a view to revising the drone control law. The law was established in 2016 in the wake of an incident in which a drone fell on the roof of the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo. It currently bans drone flights within about 300 meters of important facilities such as the National Diet Building, the Imperial Palace and nuclear power plants.

Japan is considering a system to screen and approve providers of fully automated driving services within limited areas, under the supervision of prefectural public safety commissions, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The agency says it aims to submit an amendment to the road traffic law to parliament next spring, as the government intends to start "Level 4" automated mobility services in designated areas of the country, such as along abandoned railroads, in the fiscal year that runs through March 2023. Operating under Level 4 automation, a vehicle always performs the functions of acceleration, steering and braking, including in emergencies, according to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry. A government panel that has been discussing the autonomous driving services, and new mobility concepts such as electric scooters, released its final report Thursday, which will serve as a basis for the police agency's amendment bill. According to the agency, the amendment will stipulate that fully automated driving will be allowed only for vehicles operated in designated areas for the purpose of providing mobility services for passengers, instead of private cars.

Japan's National Police Agency is looking into artificial intelligence and how it can be used to combat terrorism. Japan is looking towards advanced technology to aid in the fight against terroism. As reported in The Japan News, the Japanese National Police Agency (NPA) is planning to begin experimenting with the use of artificial intelligence in anti-terrorism and criminal investigations next fiscal year. The experiments would involve using the characteristics of past attacks in Europe to train AI to identify terrorists in crowded areas, and introducing AI systems to analyze surveillance videos in criminal investigations. The NPA plans to conduct experiments in the three areas: identifying suspicious people and objects targeting large events, determining the model of automobiles and analyzing suspicious financial transactions.