White Paper on Information and Communication Concerning 5G Technology under the Coronavirus

 ■White Paper on Information and Communication Concerning 5G Technology under the Coronavirus

The White Paper on Information and Communications has been released.

The theme of the special feature topic was “Digital Transformation and Construction of New Daily Life Prompted by 5G.” It looks ahead to new lifestyles and ways of working under the coronavirus and analyzes the impact of 5G. Trends toward "Beyond 5G" are also introduced.

On the foundation of 5G, we have been aiming to improve efficiency and add value to industries using AI, big data, and IoT technologies. However, with the coronavirus, there is an irreversible evolution toward a society where cyberspace and real space are synchronized, based on the premise of protecting human life, showing positive recognition to "create new values.” 

First, regarding the changes in the telecommunications market, it is pointed out that the presence of Japanese companies in the cell phone handset/smartphone market is decreasing. I've long wondered about the policy goal of increasing the number of devices made in Japan, as I believe that the policy should be to maximize the benefits for users, regardless of where they are made. That opinion was ignored for a long time.

Would users, including start-ups, be complaining if the number of products made in Japan dropped to zero?　I don't think so.

Even if the equipment industry loses, it is better if the other user industries that use the technology win.

How can we visualize and analyze the benefits of users? Isn't that the policy theme?

Next, the White Paper recognizes that Japan is an advanced country in terms of challenges, with a declining population and aging society. It recognized that we should actively promote improving employment, quality of life, and labor productivity by introducing and utilizing ICT. This approach is correct.

In other words, the telecommunications policy has moved from the former policy of expanding the telecommunications industry to the policy of using telecommunications.

This year's white paper focuses on 5G.

It features ultra-high-speed, ultra-low latency, and multiple simultaneous connections.

But the reality of it is still not there. We still don't know much about it.

As a result, the white paper is also at the stage of sharing use cases.

The industries for usage are agriculture, infrastructure, construction, and mobility.

They are putting industrial uses forward before personal use. That is a natural order of things.

At the same time, data will play a key role in 5G = IoT.

However, this is not a common perception yet.

It’s because actual examples of business and life using data are still not shared with reality.

It will be a policy issue to show the advantages of data use and distribution for users.

By the way, I found some interesting figures in the basic data of the ICT field.

The domestic production value of the information and communication industry was 99.1 trillion yen, which is 9.8% of all industries.

The contribution rate of the ICT industry to the real growth rate is 40.8%.

The trade value of ICT goods and services is 12.8 trillion yen for imports and 8.7 trillion yen for exports.

However, the impact of the industry is significant. In particular, the treatment of the trade deficit of 4 trillion yen can be a policy theme.

Research expenditure in the information and communication industry is 3.9 trillion yen, 27.4% of corporate research expenditure.

The number of researchers in the ICT industry is 176,000, which is 34.8% of corporate researchers.

It takes up a very large portion of the nation.

Although the government's investment in R&D is often discussed at council meetings, I believe that the more important theme is how to improve the R&D capabilities of the private sector.