2018年9月4日火曜日

Students, the bureaucrats are not concerned about that.



 The following occurred during a lesson where an IT bureaucrat was invited to speak to the class.
After they gave an explanation of the government's policy of "promoting the development of 4K8K super high definition technologies to enhance realism and empathy" to the class, one student asked, "Why are they choosing to focus on high definition for that purpose?" Their question hit the bullseye.

From the point of view of students working with media technology development, there are various approaches available for enhancing realism and empathy other than super high definition technologies, such as 3D presentation, touch transmission, and social media sharing. Even teachers at school would be found scratching their heads if a student wrote about super high definition technologies as a way of enhancing realism and empathy on an exam. "Why 4K8K?" is a natural question to ask.

The public office responds to this doubt by providing a logical explanation about how 4K8K technologies are expected to enhance realism more than other technology. Otherwise, they would never be able to make it through budget negotiations with the Ministry of Finance, let alone budget inquiries from the National Diet. Their position is one where you are trained to give explanations like a true professional, so it is only natural that they would expect this question to be asked and prepare for it in advance.

However, students. While they would never actually admit it, the government does not actually want to enhance realism. Their objective is "promoting 4K8K," and "realism" exists as a reason for it.

So, why 4K8K? Thinking about that is the theme of this class on IT policies.
The answer is because there’re “industries” who want it to happen, who are supported by the "National Diet” through policy, and because bureaucrats believe that it can contribute to national interests such as international competitiveness. In other words, the policy is more of an industrial policy than it is a utilization policy.

"Does this mean that industrial policies are favored over other ones such as utilization, technology, culture, and international policies?”
No, students, that is not the answer either. If the demand for it as a utilization policy was strong enough, the bureaucrats would follow in accordance.
If the demand for a Safe and Secure Internet Use for Young People is strong enough, despite the demand being unfavorable for the communications industry, the bureaucrats would take the National Diet's intentions into consideration and proceed with its systematic implementation.

Do you think that realism will be considered important for a utilization policy?
Simply ask the people what they want. More likely than not, they will ask for you to lower the communication fees or the NHK license fee before they even mention realism.
Does that mean that realism should be abandoned?
No, because then people would begin to question the bureaucrat's professional foresight.

A skilled bureaucrat is able to make an order of precedence when making a policy, balancing users, businesses, technology trends, and international situations.
Figuring out what to do where requires a sort of creativity. Of course, all jobs require creativity, and bureaucracy is no different.

This class is not aimed at students who want to become bureaucrats. It is a class for media innovators. Be it with a company, a NPO, as an entrepreneur, or any other path chosen, we always need to consider the public interest. Think about what form the public interest will take when turned into a policy, what mechanism it will become, and how the other party will react to it.

Of course, it is equally beneficial to simulate services, businesses, and positions involved with companies,  entrepreneurs, and other entities as it is to simulate making policies as a bureaucrat. When doing so, join in and learn from real business persons and entrepreneurs. The school's job is to provide a place to make that happen.

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