Sony Computer Science Laboratories have been proposing "open systems" as a consistent research theme since its establishment. Here, "open systems" are used as opposed to "closed systems". Conventional technology has so far provided solutions to problems by defining the area of the problem, decomposition of the problem, and abstracting it. However, we now face situations where we have to solve problems that cannot be defined and isolated. General examples include problems related to society, economic phenomena, and everyday life. As for computer systems, huge systems such as the Internet and human-computer interactions are examples. In terms of the Internet, network topologies and services are constantly changing. Thus, such a system cannot be predicted even when there is enough knowledge about each element system. In order to provide a truly user-friendly environment, it is necessary to learn more about users, i.e., human beings. However, human beings are extremely multifaceted and their behavior is strongly dependent on the varying situations in which they find themselves. It is impossible to understand and define human behavior based only on a reductionistic analysis. That is also true for the issues on global ecology and sustainable society.

In pursuing these larger themes, Sony CSL proposed a new scientific methodology called Open Systems Science, which introduces the perspective of "management" against temporal changes in addition to the perspectives of "analysis" and "synthesis". Based on this idea, researchers pursuing purely scientific research utilize massive computing power to compute the real world and solves problems, whereas researchers working on the application-oriented research exploit computers to implement systems embedded in the real-world. Such complementary approaches help researchers inspire each other, and forge new research domains, new research paradigms, and new technologies.