Two years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and active efforts are now underway worldwide to bring it to an end. In these circumstances, the role of materials science and engineering in ensuring a safe and healthy environment for everyone has become even greater, and environmentally responsible R&D activities that align with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, are in full swing. In particular, the development and implementation of data-based sciences such as machine learning, AI, and informatics are having a tremendous impact, so much so that we must now reconsider the question of what constitutes "data" in the materials context. These issues include how best to perform experiments for rapid and reliable data collection, how to apply computational science methods to materials R&D, and how to extend characterization methods to encompass a wider range of materials. While remaining cognizant of the strengths of different research areas, this year’s Annual Meeting represents a particularly apposite moment to reassess these new challenges. To promote this new dimension from the perspective of basic science in Japan, the meeting will provide a place for researchers and specialists to discuss these topics in an in-depth and cross-disciplinary manner. We will also promote materials innovation from a global perspective, including holding tutorial lectures at the co-sponsored MRM Forum 2022.