The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the State University of New York signed a memorandum of understanding on September 30, 2010 on cooperative research cooperation in nanotechnology, electronics and other fields. AIST, along with the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and the University of Tsukuba and with the cooperation of industry, is working to form a global nanotechnology research base, known as Tsukuba Innovation Arena (TIA), in Tsukuba, location of a cluster of leading nanotechnology research facilities and experts. The State University of New York, for its part, established CNSE as a nanotechnology center in Albany, New York, which currently has participation by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Toshiba Corporation, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Tokyo Electron Limited, SEMATECH (SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology) and others. CNSE's Albany NanoTech Complex has become one of the world's best-known research centers. AIST and CNSE have previously jointly hosted international workshops and taken part in other exchanges of personnel and information to advance research base initiatives. To solidify this existing partnership, AIST and CNSE have signed the new memorandum to promote each other's nanotechnology research base's initiatives through joint research, the hosting of personnel exchanges, and joint symposiums in nanotechnology, electronics and other fields, thereby strengthening industrial competitiveness. AIST has a long track record of device technology R&D and industry launches since it was the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology. Building on this history, AIST is expected to make a significant contribution to the activities of TIA. CNSE and AIST plan to consult with each other on specific cooperative efforts and activities they will conduct in partnership.