9 SPring-8 held an international peer review meeting called SPARC (SPring-8 Academic Research Council) in November 2008. This was the first peer review of the achievement of SPring-8: in the past reviews, the achievements were reviewed as one of the materials for the reviewing administration and operation. The report of SPARC is open on a SPring-8 web site. I asked SPARC to select the best ten results in 10 years since inauguration and also to give us suggestions how to explain them to the public. Nowadays, the accountability to the public is as important as the reputation among scientists. We have published the SPring-8 Research Frontiers, which demonstrates the growth of the achievement in both quantity and quality. I believe that the Research Frontiers is appreciated by the science community but I am afraid that its contents are still too difficult for the public to understand. The industrial utilization of SPring-8 has recently established good reputation in the public. The booklet which very compactly introduces the successful applications is favorably accepted by the public society including the Government and industries. We are now planning publication of an academic version for the public on the basis of the SPARC’s selection. Plans of construction of the X-ray free electron laser and relevant innovation of the present storage ring are being provided for a coming decade. I am sure that SPring-8 has enough potential to materialize these plans. But we should be keenly aware that the plans would gain the financial support if the present results as well as the future plans of utilization can convince not only the academia but also the public. Akira Kira Director General SPring-8/JASRI Preface
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