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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