The sharing economy now

I asked the Cabinet Secretariat’s IT Strategy Office about the situation of the sharing economy.

It is a field that is predicted to grow from $15 billion worldwide in 2013 to $330 billion worldwide in 2025, and expectations are rising not only for convenience but also for industry.

However, Japan's intention to utilize it is lower than that of other countries, and the challenge is raising the level of awareness.

The government has held sharing economy meetings from July 2016, formulated private independent rules and models/guidelines, and decided to proceed with a joint regulation model linking the public and private sectors.

In response to this, the Sharing Economy Association has established a structure for certification marks, and as the first step, has certified the likes of Uber Japan and Space Market.

Be that as it may, the government office still lacks nerve.

I would like to raise the number of local governments tackling this to about 10% of the total, approximately 200 municipalities.

The central government wants to increase the use of promotion in addition to that of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The Cool Japan policy and digital education policy took a few years until the ministries, government offices, and local governments involved became proactive. The shared economy is on the way to aiming for that too.

We want to make visible the merits and expand, including improving services for residents, reducing administrative costs, and creating new industries.

Evaluate government offices and personnel who have achieved results, and praise them. 

I think this it is what the private sector should do.