The National Institute of Informatics (国立情報学研究所, Kokuritsu Jōhōgaku Kenkyūjo?, NII) is a Japanese research institute created in April 2000 for the purpose of advancing the study of informatics. This institute is also devoted to creating a system to facilitate the spread of scientific information to the general public. The NII is the only comprehensive research institute in Japan in informatics. It also oversees and maintains a large, searchable information database on a variety of scientific and non-scientific topics called Webcat.