I was appointed the President of the International Society of Public Economics

■I was appointed the President of the International Society of Public Economics

I was elected as the President of International Society of Public Economics.

The International Society of Public Economics was founded in 1986 as the Japanese branch of CIRIEC, which is headquartered in Liège, Belgium and has branches in 13 countries around the world.

http://ciriec.com/

It started in Europe, so much of their research has apparently been on traditional infrastructure sectors such as transportation and waterworks, but since I am involved, I would like to put effort into fields such as ICT and intellectual property.

I will work so that academic movements on economics relating to digital technology and data become the focus of this society.

I commented as follows during the election for President.

I have been involved in fields closely related to international public economics, but I did not have a very deep relationship with the society.

Electing me as President despite that is likely due to a determination that this organization cannot survive simply by continuing past actions.

As the state of the world changes due to the coronavirus, it has become clear that we are losing the digital battle, and every genre requires new actions. This society is no exception.

I understand that what is expected of me is to bring a breath of fresh air. This means revitalization of the society through responses in new fields such as digital technology and participation of younger generations.

The younger generations should undertake management, so my understanding is that my role is to act as a bridge to them.

I would like to take action based on three pillars: new responses in the digital field, inviting the younger generations to participate, and strengthening international response; however, I am very much a greenhorn so I want to proceed by listening carefully to everyone’s opinions.

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What Will Happen? Media x Content in Japan and the World

■What Will Happen? Media x Content in Japan and the World

I spoke on stage at an event called “What Will Happen? Media x Content in Japan and the World”

Q What did coronavirus do to the music industry?

A Concerts stopped. Music went through the digital wave before any other industry and changed its business model. They let you listen to music through streaming and make money through concerts and merchandise. However, merchandising at concerts and venues was no longer possible, which was another big blow. I would like to ride this out. The most important issue is heading to capture the global market on the net.

Q Will conversion to online proceed rapidly?

A 1993 is when we began collectively call books, music, games, television, and movies content, in anticipation of information becoming data due to digital technology. It was apparent that online distribution would become mainstream. It finally came. Japan is slow. This likely means that Japanese TV and print media were well-made.

Q How do you view the online market?

A Advertisement is influenced by GDP, and GDP by population. Advertising will not grow. Rather, life will shift to the net, including entertainment. Information such as education will also become content, and expenditures on information and communication costs will also increase. This was instantly accelerated by the coronavirus. Japan’s digitalization have advanced five years on the clock. There is no going back.

Q What about fusion between communications and broadcasting?

A Online streaming started in Japan over 10 years after the rest of the world. However, the world industry is one step ahead and progressing toward all-IP cloud technology. All content is uploaded to the cloud and sent to all devices, such as TVs and smartphones, over all transmission channels, such as radio waves and the net. There are rumors that the BBC will relinquish airwave transmissions.

Q Will TV change?

A The field of video is already a data business. The foundation of Netflix is viewership data, and all online advertising is also linked to data. The fusion of communications has ended, and the ability to utilize data will serve as the foundation. However, Japan’s broadcasting stations are still in the test stages for data utilization. TV has held up well, but a billow of change is finally coming.

Q Will the Big Four continue to reign?

A The Big Four has had overwhelming power, but various countries are strengthening regulations and rules, such as antitrust laws and personal information protections. There are also moves in Europe such as newspapers/magazines and Google agreeing to pay content usage fees. The focus of the next one to two years will be how the relationship between content and platforms will change.

Q How do you approach platforms?

A US platforms are competitors, as well as partners in global sales channels. Something similar may happen in China. The news that Netflix will offer funding for anime and that KADOKAWA receive a 30 billion yen investment from Tencent is a very important move.

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Copyright policy compatible with the DX era

■Copyright policy compatible with the DX era

The Council for Cultural Affairs has announced a copyright system and policies that are compatible with the DX era.

Aiming to create a virtuous cycle of content creation, they deliberated on simple, unified rights processing policy.

This laid out direction in a big way.

A system that creates a cross-sector, unified help desk and also constructs a rights information database.

Until a few years ago, discussions on copyright focused heavily on institutional theory and were confined to cliques.

Now, the focus on “measures” such as database and help desk preparation and public awareness has increased.

Is this not a sign that the tie between copyright and economic society has become an important field of policy?

The most difficult problems are things like costs and revenue design, and this entire report will be hollow if we cannot clear that hurdle.

We must also increase the prioritization of policies relating to securing public funding.

I think giving outward-facing messaging for that sake as well, such as by riding along on other large policies, is important.

In that respect, rather than staying within cliques, coordination within Kasumigaseki is also important, such as for data policies and regulatory reforms, so blood, sweat, and tears are required to implement this policy. 

I would like the cooperation of both committee members and other relevant parties.

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NTT’s IOWN and the Olympics

■NTT’s IOWN and the Olympics

NTT R&D FORUM2021. I visited the Musashino Communications Research Center. “IOWN” was the focus this time as well.

It is a technology-driven vision laid out by the President Sawada system.

This is the next big concept after INS from new media in the 80s, VIP from multimedia in the 90s, and NGN from broadband in the 2000s.

Network renovation through “all-optical” that surpasses IPs, and “digital twins” that create models in cyberspace that are the same as in real space.

Technologies such as AI, VR/AR, quantum computers, and biomedical technology will intertwine like nesting dolls.

The pillar standing next to IOWN is Tokyo 2020.

The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were a showcase for all the upcoming technologies in radio, television, and the Internet.

At least, they were supposed to be.

However, there were also some regrettable things, such as 4K and 8K public viewing being blocked.

In such circumstances, NTT did a great job.

https://2020.ntt/jp/tokyo/tokyo/

A sailing competition held offshore was composited in real time as an ultra-wide video with a horizontal resolution of 12K using 5G and the ultra-high-presence communication technology “Kirari!” and transmitted to spectators seats on Enoshima.

It was projected on a huge offshore widescreen with a total length of 55m.

It is a new style of spectating and rooting for your favorite.

A badminton competition held at Musashino Forest.

A special life-size court was arranged at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation and displayed life-size images of athletes playing at a distant venue.

This smoothly recreated in real time not only the sense of depth between the players in the background and the players in the foreground facing each other across the net, but even the shuttlecocks flying furiously at 400 km/h, using a holographic display.

This immersive sports viewing experience feels as if you are watching the competition right in front of your eyes.

A 50 m LED display installed in Sapporo.

Even the facial movements of fans in Tokyo tracking the athletes were conveyed is if they were actually there, sharing the space.

A marathon is run at 5 meters per second. If video of fans is delayed even by a few seconds, the runners will already be gone.

Real-time transmission was a challenge. They did it, didn’t they?

The results and wonders that make you say, “All this was done at the Olympics!” should be more well-known.

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DX and the Digital Agency

■DX and the Digital Agency

When I first heard that the government was creating the Digital Agency, I felt it was 25 years too late for digital technology, but with the explosive power of implemented in one year by passing laws and budgeting and gathering people from the private section, I had hopes that this might work.

I am an advocate for creating a Ministry of Culture to act as a lowest common denominator for handling communications, broadcasting, computers, and intellectual property in an integrated manner, with digital as its core.

In that case, the first thing is to produce small but easily understood results through administrative DX.

By linking systems to My Number, we can quickly produce output that lets the public experience the benefits of digital.

I received a request from Takuya Hirai, the first Minister for Digital Transformation, to turn Smart City Takeshiba in Tokyo, which I am overseeing, into a branch of the Digital Agency and use it as a base for collaboration between the public and private sectors.

iU and the Digital Agency are collaborating to create a curriculum to develop regional DX talent.

We should have the private sector do more and more of the portions where they can help in that manner.

The X in DX means transfer, a transition period.

The goal is for everything to become digital, and if the government digitizes everything, the Digital Agency will no longer be needed.

The goal is for the Digital Agency to disappear.

I want it to go away in about five years.

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Why did Japan not go through DX

 ■Why did Japan not go through DX

Japan is the only one in the G7 with a negative excess mortality rate during the coronavirus pandemic. We became healthy due to coronavirus.

By simply “requesting” that people show restraint, there were even no riots. Overseas, they were littered with protests. We did well.

However, what this revealed was Japan’s digital defeat.

National procedures that can be done online make up 8%. Online teaching is 5%.

The e-commerce rate is 18% worldwide and 8% in Japan.

The delay of DX is directly connected to shrinkage in Japan overall.

Our IMD 1989 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, which was 1st place in the world in 1989, has fallen to 34th place.

Among major countries, Japan is the only one that has undergone a unilateral decline.

Why did we not go through DX?

There have been many efforts, such as e-Japan. But they didn’t work.

Just why?

If we do not think that through, we will miss again.

For some time, Japan’s weaknesses in IT utilization have been thought to lie in the public for medical care/education/government, and management.

Doctors, teachers, government officials, and company presidents were the bottlenecks.

Medical care/education/government and management were the winners in the 70s to 80s.

Japan’s world-leading medical care and world-renowned Japanese management.

That success refused to be changed wholesale into digital.

Not converting what was successful was a rational action.

However, leadership and that generation could not understand that digital is a complete change, not a partial change.

Conversely, there are some genres that have already transformed industry-wide due to DX.

For example, content.

The music industry was hit by a digital wave 20 years ago, shifting from selling records to a business of listening online and making money with concerts and merchandise.

Content distribution is now 2.5 times more popular online than for than packaged content.

This industry transformed from wondering how to use digital to being an entirely digital business.

They are now shifting to data business driven by data and business that incorporates AI.

This will spread to all industries.

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Celebrating Japan Digital Days.

■ Celebrating Japan Digital Days.

October 10th.

Digital Day.

The DIGITAL DAYS SUMMIT was held.

100,000 people viewed the event on Nico Live, Youtube, and other platforms.

Thank you very much.

In conjunction with the Digital Agency’s “Digital Days ONLINE EVENT,” the CiP Council, of which I am a representative, explored the future of “entertainment x digital.”

Kyary Pamyu, Hachioji P, Ichiro Yamaguchi of Sakanaction, and Magical Lovely sent their messages of support.

The opening session was a discussion of the Digital Agency, hosted by Karen Makishima, the second Digital Minister who took office a week ago, among others.

The Digital Agency staff introduced an analog case in which it took an agency employee 90 minutes to get a parking certificate.

Hiroyuki introduced administrative online procedures in France. I though France was the country of inconvenience, but I was pleasantly shocked. 

Now, then, the event we hosted.

Digital performances by VJs, DJs, and VFX artists in a virtual XR space from BLACKBOX, a state-of-the-art distribution studio with permanent 4-sided LEDs.

Live entertainment by DJ CARTOON and YELLOCK was a highlight.

The talks by SUGIZO of LUNA SEA/X JAPAN, Tatsuro and Miya, and Digihari President Tomoyuki Sugiyama were also thrilling.

Many people must have been taken aback by the video of SHAG, a jam band led by SUGIZO.

I was also a speaker at the “Superhuman Sports Session: Digital and the Body.”

Attended by the Superhuman Sports regulars Professor Masahiko Inami of the University of Tokyo, Professor Kota Minamizawa of Keio University, President Yoshiaki Sawabe of 1→10, and Shinji Neki, the Vice Mayor of Paralympic Village.

What is digital human extension? What is the jizai (autonomized) body? What is Tech & Pop sports?

Seven years ago, on October 10th, Physical Education Day, 50 years after the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, superhuman sports made their start.

Physical Education Day became Digital Day. Incorporating the digital into the physical body.

After the new Tokyo Olympics, the next stop is Paris. The year after that, the Osaka Expo.

Let’s connect them in an interesting way.

In preparation for the Digital Days ONLINE EVENT, a “Digital Day Exploratory Committee” was established at the Digital Agency.

Jun Murai was the chairperson and I was the acting chairperson.

Although discussed by a diverse group of members including Yoichi Ochiai and Hiroyuki, the DIGITAL DAYS SUMMIT was planned and implemented almost entirely by private volunteers, mainly from the music industry.

At the end of the event, we welcomed online Takuya Hirai, the first Minister of Digital Media, who was in Kagawa with producer Shogo Mizuno.

He has done a tremendous job in facing the longstanding challenge of public-private partner ship and breaking down stove-piping in the Kasumigaseki area, and successfully implemented this event in one year by allocating the necessary laws, budget, and personnel.

Thank you very much for your hard work.

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