White Paper on Telecommunications Questions Companies’ ICT Response

　The white paper on telecommunications turned a sharp eye on corporate response.

　ICT investment by Japanese companies has turned into a situation of 'defensive ICT investment' aimed at realizing operational efficiency and reducing costs.

　US companies analyzed their ICT products and services and found that they are leaders due to their ‘defensive ICT investment’ strategy aimed at strengthening ICT product and service development, and reforming the ICT business model.

　Japanese corporate investment in ICT/GDP is lower than that of the United States, the UK, etc., and it will decline even further during the recession, but there are also survey results that show that the US and the UK invest more during times of recession. In the past 10 years, one reason why the competitiveness of Japanese companies didn’t increase was the low understanding of ICT in corporate management.

　The use of IoT was also analyzed.

　The IoT progress index that shows the state of Japanese use of the IoT is low. Although Japan's communication infrastructure index is at the highest level, the IoT progress index is inferior to that of the United States, China, Germany, and the UK. In other words, even though it is available, it is not being used. This is also a problem of corporate management.

　Japanese firms also have relatively low projections for market expansion using IoT. From 2015 to 2020, the rate of adoption of IoT in most countries is expected to increase 2 to 3 times, but Japan has little intention to introduce IoT, and there is a danger that a gap will open up between Japan and other countries in the future.

　The use of AI was also analyzed.

　In Japan's workplaces, many people say they are not doing anything to respond to or prepare for AI. In the United States, many acquire knowledge and skills of AI, such as learning from the AI side, in anticipation of continuing in their present job.

　However, there is another way of looking at it.

　Resistance to the introduction of AI into one’s workplace and resistance to AI as a work partner tends to be lower for Japanese workers than for American ones. This may be a sign that the spread of AI into the workplace is happening more smoothly in Japan.

　Overall, whether it is ICT or IoT, the awareness of Japanese corporate management is low, which is likely to affect competitiveness. This is an extension of the fact that the white paper has long pointed out that the issue of ICT in Japan is the use of corporate management. It’s a problem for the CEO.

　The infrastructure providers and the users of ICT such as general consumers and young people are cool, but there is a problem with corporate use. The usage policy for both IoT and AI should be expanded if they depict a growth strategy such as Industry 4.0.

　Rather than subsidizing the development side, governments should stimulate the user side with the tax system. The government should lead the way for business by becoming a strong consumer and introducing IoT and AI. I can suggest such a policy.