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Japan: Technology Implications
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| Overview |
Japan is often cited as a global leader in broadband technology, speed, and price. The serious technological limitations which plague other countries like China and South Korea are less pronounced in Japan. Although there exists a digital divide in Japan, with rural areas not connected to high-speed internet as much as their counterparts living in urban cities, the u-Japan strategy is working towards eliminating this divide. Besides, the ability to reach the Japanese internet user could be severely limited if mobile-content is not readily available. Since a significant number of Japanese internet users access sites through their mobiles, it is crucial that they are able to easily reach websites through their handheld devices.
This page will discuss some of the implications of technology in Japan in terms of strategies and policies by the Government.
| Efforts towards eliminating the digital divide |
The Japanese government has maintained and adapted an aggressive broadband policy since the late 1990s. The development of broadband infrastructure in Japan has been increasing steadily throughout the years as mentioned in the previous section. However, there have been delays in areas where there are poor reception, due to lower investment efficiency. Therefore, it is interesting to note the targets that the Telecommunications Bureau have set with regards to establishing broadband in all regions lacking broadband capability.
Here is a summary:
Source: Berkman Center for internet and society. "Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world"
Source: Ministry of Information and Communication: Telecommunications Bureau, http://www.soumu.go.jp/english/ib/index.html
| Government Investment in Infrastructure | |
| The Japanese government has offered loans and tax deductions designed to incentivize broadband building since the mid 1990s, but its efforts dramatically accelerated in 2000 after the Basic IT Law and the national strategies began. The policies introduced over the next several years included a series of tax incentives, including a highly accelerated depreciation schedule for capital investments in telecommunications. The government-owned Bank of Japan also began to guarantee loans for network infrastructure, which allowed relevant companies to borrow money at a lower interest rate.The 2008 “Strategy on the Digital Divide” built on these efforts, seeking to eliminate “zero broadband” areas as mentioned in the section above. Source: Berkman Center for internet and society. "Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world" | |
| Skill building, education, and demand programs | |
| Several of the policy packages that were part of Japan’s national broadband strategies have included skills and demand programs. For instance, the u-Japan strategy described one of its goals as, “By 2010, 80% of the population to appreciate the role of ICT in solving social problems.” It then spelled out specific policy interventions to promote the use of information technology in health care, public security, education, and the environment. The government also aggressively pushed its services online, resulting in a high percentage of internet-based citizen-to-government transactions. Likewise, content from the entertainment and gaming industries has motivated consumers to subscribe to higher tiers of broadband service. Source: Berkman Center for internet and society. "Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world" |  |
| Safe and reliable use of the Internet Illegal and harmful information on the Internet such as the sexual abuse of minors resulting from the use of dating sites, cyberbullying, death threats posted on bulletin boards, and the distribution of child pornography have posed serious social problems. Joint initiatives between the public and private sectors have been taken toward ensuring a safe and reliable Internet society, along with voluntary assistance in deleting undesirable information, notifications made by private businesses, and promoting the introduction of filtering services and efforts for improving network literacy. In January 2009, the "Safe Internet Creation" promotion program was set up as a comprehensive policy package to deal with illegal and harmful information, and efforts have been made for that purpose. Source: Ministry of Information and Communication: Telecommunications Bureau |  |
| Demanding consumers |
| The Japanese are blessed with some of the most creative technologies in the world. It has to be intuitive, simple and high-quality, not because the Japanese are so tech-savvy, but because they are the most demanding consumers in the world. According to Scuka, more than 100 new phones hit the Japanese market last year as manufacturers tried out new ideas on the public. Some cultural factors, as with any other country, do play a part in Japan's willingness to take up some technologies such as TV on the mobile. As in Europe, this was at first a washout, but as watching TV in public becomes more socially acceptable in Japan, the number of subscribers is rising. Au, the second largest mobile network in Japan, recently signed up its five millionth subscriber to the service. Japanese commute on trains. The average person commutes at least an hour each way every day - that's a lot of eyeball time. Only teenagers in Europe can match this sort of availability," says Scuka. It is this urban lifestyle where convenience is the key, which has necessitated the rise of the all-in-one mobile plus those very funky handsets. By comparison Apple's iPhone is a mere 2.5G plaything. In Japan, which is already into 3G and heading towards 4G, they make mobiles look good and work hard. Source: The Guardian |  |
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| Traditional Media | Social Media | Technology Penetration |
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Read more about Social media in Japan:
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Latest page update: made by joshua.sum
, Nov 18 2009, 8:44 PM EST
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