Editor's Message to Special Issue of Network Operational Technologies with Awareness Raising

In March 2023, the wearing of masks against COVID-19 was left to individual judgment, and in May 2023, the legal status of COVID-19 under the Infectious Diseases Control Law was also changed.Most of the new normal lifestyle that began with COVID-19 has returned to pre-COVID-19 life.However, telework and online lectures, which were established during the pandemic, have already become part of daily life.Both the information systems which were in use before and in the pandemic will need to be operated.The importance of networks is increasing day by day, and the burden of operations is not decreasing.Fortunately, the technology to monitor and control these systems is also developing.In almost all cases, vast amounts of monitoring data, however, are underutilized and only checked after a failure occurs.Appropriate utilization of this data is necessary for detecting signs of failures before they occur, improving the availability of information systems and reducing the burden on operation.It is also important that information system users are aware of failures and problems and take appropriate actions.Utilization of technology which anticipates what will happen in a failure of the information system in operation is required to minimize damage.This special issue aims to contribute to the development of various operational technologies related to information systems.It was edited mainly by the Internet and Operation Technology (IOT) Research Group.The issue focuses on issues and initiatives which are related to network operational technologies with awareness raising for operators, managers and users, and includes papers on the latest research, development, experiments and operations for the construction and utilization of information and communication infrastructure.The editorial committee actively evaluates papers that solve problems in practice rather than focusing on theory and that are considered useful in other environments.