2023年4月16日日曜日

Open Data Handyman Award

 ■ Open Data Handyman Award


Open Data 2020 Self Award Online Award Ceremony.

This is the eighth time that VLED has own its own awarded open data initiatives.

Last time, it was regrettable that the ceremony was canceled due to the influence of Coronavirus.

This time, it was held online somehow, and I served as the chief judge again this year, and gave my greetings.

As an effort to award own its own,

“Thank you for the award,” is the first thing that I want to say.

The "Basic Bill for Forming a Digital Society" has been submitted to the Diet, and the establishment of the Digital Agency is also underway.

Finally, for the first time, I recognize that digital has become the most important issue of national policy.


Even though the e-Japan strategy was put up 20 years ago, the importance of the policy remained low and did not move.

This is the last chance.

In particular, the importance of data has been recognized in recent DX discussions.

We hope that open data will contribute to DX in Coronavirus and form a rich digital environment.


So far, self-recognition has been in a wide variety of genres such as administration, disaster prevention, education, life, tourism, and business, and the lineup has become diverse, including the government, local governments, public interest corporations, corporations, and individuals. 

However, the presence of “academics” among “industry, government, and academia” is still weak.

I accept it as a warning to myself.


Many of the awards this time are related to Coronavirus countermeasures.

It's a reflection of everyone's efforts to fight Coronavirus, and it's a matter of course.

That effort must continue.

I pray that open data will be useful for after-Coronavirus and with-Coronavirus.


Grand Prize

Tokyo Novel Coronavirus Infectious Disease Control Site

Tokyo Strategic Policy Information Promotion Headquarters

Committee member's comment: As an open source project for public services, it was an excellent example even from a global scale. The result was that the power of open data and civic tech was widely known to society. And so on.


Excellence Award ①

Shin Telework System / Municipal Telework System

Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan Agency for Local Authority Information Systems, NTT East Japan

Committee member's comment: I highly appreciate the technical solution to the network infrastructure problem, which is the biggest barrier to telework during the new Coronavirus crisis, and the fact that it is being provided as an actual service that is used by more than 100,000 people. And so on.


Excellence Award②

COVID-19 Infection Prediction (Japan Version)

Google

Committee member's comment: In addition to data visualization, we are making advanced use of prediction by AI. / CSV open data utilization example by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare! / I think that the significance of making global infection predictions and publishing them is great. And so on.


In addition, six contribution awards were selected, and the "Complete Award" was given to Aomori, Ishikawa, and Shizuoka prefectures for having all local governments in the prefecture working on open data.


As a sponsor award, from my side, in addition to the Fusion Research Institute Award, Digital Risk Association Award, and CiP Council Award, this year also included the establishment of the iU Award.

The first iU Award was awarded to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology at "GIGA School!"

Thank you for the award!


Finally a general review.

Coronavirus projects such as measures and predictions of infectious diseases, local government telework, etc. stood out.

The winners are local governments, governments, public interest corporations, corporations, and snacks. I could see everyone working together.

"Useful" data for ending Coronavirus.

Next year, I want to see "fun" and "happy" data after Coronavirus!



2023年4月9日日曜日

Intellectual Property Headquarters Copyright Task Force: Part 2

■ Intellectual Property Headquarters Copyright Task Force: Part 2


Intellectual Property Headquarters Copyright Task Force, Interim Summary, Continued.

Based on the bold recognition explained in the first part, the second half, "Compatibility between measures to facilitate use in response to the digital age and protection of rights holders' interests," organizes the issues of each theory.

Formulation of usage guidelines that balance the development of UGC and respect for rights holders. Promoting the development of a rights information database. Optimization of content production transactions. These are the kinds of items discussed.

It also suggests reviewing the provisions of the copyright law regarding situations where analog and digital, real and online have different effects on the interests of rights holders.

Regarding the difference in rights between broadcasting and the Internet, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has taken the initiative to take steps to address this issue. It will be interesting to see if there are other cases like this.


The point to pay attention to is the mention of “utilization of soft law.”

The legal system, i.e., hard law, was emphasized in copyright, and disputes tended to be left to the courts. However, with digitalization dramatically changing the environment for producing and using copyrighted works, and the amount of coordination and consensus-building that has exploded, the limits of relying on legislation and the judiciary are clear.

In discussions on legal revisions, there are more and more occasions where the formulation of guidelines with the participation of relevant parties is required.

This time, he expressed his recognition that he would "promote consensus building among parties with the involvement of administrative agencies as necessary" and "create innovation in the combination and interrelationships of soft law and positive law."

Okay.

So, what we discussed this time was about "promoting centralized and smooth rights processing."

We discussed the following four schemes for facilitating the use of content:

1) Restricted Rights with Compensation

2) Mixed type (centralized management and limited rights with compensation)

3) Extended Concentration License

4) Fundamental review of the arbitration system


1) is a conventional method, 2) is a system that we are trying to create with broadcasting network distribution, 3) is a system that has been introduced in Europe but has not been introduced in Japan, and 4) is a modification of the processing method.

In particular, 3) handling of extended centralized licensing became a point of contention.

Coordination among ministries and agencies was more difficult than among committee members, and it was tangled up to the end.

While coordinating with the intellectual property secretariat, which is promoting bold discussions, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, which is responsible for the system, the Regulatory Reform Council and the Liberal Democratic Party also joined in to find a common ground.

In the end, the time was up, and the task force members made an "interim summary."

I will leave out the legal issues as they are too technical.

In my own way, paraphrasing this very roughly, I think the difference in this new scheme is not in terms of interests or benefits, but the difference in attitudes toward the system itself, before reaching the argument of legal correctness.

Rights protection on the right, promotion of distribution on the left, that kind of stance.

Is it the line of responsibility of maintenance of the existing system vs. the Garapon system?

In the meantime, the Intellectual Property Headquarters came in and asked for opinions.

And that's why I didn't give an answer as to what to do.

In this respect, the form is different from the piracy debate.

It was a confrontation between the two protections of copyright and confidentiality of communications, and it was a reconciliation of interests rolling before our eyes that divided the industry and the ministries in charge.

This time, it is a philosophical effort to anticipate future issues and prepare a system.

The full-fledged discussion with stakeholders will start from now on.

However, it is epoch-making that a fundamental review of the arbitration system was shown through discussions this time.

The arbitration system for cases where the right holder is unknown has been reviewed, but in order to promote a wider range of use, the involvement of the government will be eliminated and outsourced to the private sector. It will also digitize applications and relax requirements. That is what will happen. This will be a specific institutional project in the future.

A broad outlook for the future and an immediate system/environmental improvement to resolve current issues.

As socio-economic DX accelerates, how to deal with copyright often becomes a two-way street.

Thank you for your continued support.

In addition, I felt that the resolution of the content problem by partial adjustment of the copyright system has reached its limit. A comprehensive media policy approach that includes communications and broadcasting systems and IT policies is necessary.

To do this, we need a cross-ministerial group of about six ministries.

I think it is a good theme to think about at the time of reviewing Kasumigaseki, including the establishment of the Digital Agency.


2023年4月2日日曜日

Intellectual Property Headquarters Copyright Task Force: Part 1

 ■ Intellectual Property Headquarters Copyright Task Force: Part 1


A task force to examine the way copyright systems and related policies should be in the digital age.

A meeting of the Intellectual Property Headquarters, chaired by the chairman, has put together an "interim" report.

The final meeting did not wrap up, and there were two extra meetings, and then finally.

It reminds me of the bootleg task force that ruptured two years ago.

Maybe it’s the leader’s fault again. While I think about that…

https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/titeki2/tyousakai/kousou/digital_kentou_tf/pdf/tyukan_torimatome.pdf


This task force was held in parallel with the Agency for Cultural Affairs council discussing the copyright system for simultaneous distribution of broadcast programs.

While the Agency for Cultural Affairs handles the current legal issues, the Cabinet Office/Intellectual Property Headquarters will set the direction for the next important issue.

It's a division of roles.

So this time, the Intellectual Property Headquarters took a big step.


The report is divided into situation awareness in the first half and the policy in the second half.

The first half, "Changes in the environment surrounding the content industry," is based on 1) distribution, 2) consumption, 3) changes in the creative environment, as well as 4) the rise of global platforms, 5) the new significance of existence in the digital economy and society, and 6) showing future prospects.

I paraphrased it and explained it like this at the meeting.

MIT Professor Negroponte wrote in "Being Digital" 25 years ago that the production and distribution of content will completely change with digitalization, and the prospect that both rights holders and users will benefit is something that they saw since the start.

However, the items noted in 2), 3), and 4) were not clearly visible at the time, but they happened afterwards.

2) Content becomes not only final consumer goods but also intermediate goods that activate communication and communities.

3) Production becomes easier, and content itself and creators increase explosively.

4) The global platform will become stronger. Everyone, including professional creators and content companies as traditional players, and amateurs. The axis shifted to the platform that bound them together.

These things happened in Society 4.0. It is a problem awareness issue that we have not yet been able to respond to this.

Furthermore, 5) is the point this time.

In Society 5.0, content will become a data business.

Content will become a resource for a data-driven society. Smoothing the production, distribution, and consumption of content and removing external diseconomies are not the microeconomic theme of the growth of the content industry, but are related to the growth of the industry as a whole.

In other words, it means that content policy will be positioned in economic policy.

Until now, contents have been separated from the value chain of the economy as a whole, and have been discussed in terms of individual industry theory. There was a strong aspect that it was handled in the context of a half-baked cultural economic policy.

However, it will be incorporated into the economic system as a major player in a data-driven society.

Therefore, I am saying that the policy position of why we should talk about content now will change.

That is how I interpret things.

That's my interpretation. Specifically, the report was read as such.

(Continued in Part 2)


2023年3月26日日曜日

Start of education platform “Laugh & Peace Mother”

 ■ Start of education platform “Laugh & Peace Mother”


The online service "Laugh & Peace Mother" that distributes "play and learning" content has started.

A platform by three companies: Yoshimoto Kogyo, NTT, and Cool Japan Organization.

I have been cooperating with the launch as an advisor.

Laugh & Peace Mother is an app that delivers a variety of content that values what children want to do.

There are more than 500 "movies" that nurture a wide range of curiosity, "touch movies" that change the story by touching and selecting, and more than 20 "apps" that teach skills such as arithmetic, language, and programming.

In addition, we have prepared online classrooms taught by experts in the field of education, athletes, talents, and comedians, and you can choose and participate in various genres of classrooms where you can acquire the “zest for living” that you cannot learn at school.

Content production is led by Producer Junya Komatsu of "I'll be scolded by Chico-chan!"

The plan was announced at the 2019 Okinawa International Film Festival.

Coronavirus was also an obstacle, and it took two years to prepare.

"Yoshimoto and NTT to build a super-educational platform"

http://ichiyanakamura.blogspot.com/2019/05/ntt.html

When the service started, an event was held in which entertainers and video creators such as Naomi Watanabe, Yuriyan Retriever, Natsuko Yokosawa, Kirin, and Kawashima participated.

I gave a greeting at the beginning.

Digital power is needed as the world is suffering from Coronavirus.

Smartphones are the center of work, life, and study.

After Coronavirus, the world will be different than it was in the past, a new age of AI and robots.

Previous knowledge is no longer useful.

What children need is the power to keep learning and the power to create.

Do this digitally.

Coronavirus has made it clear that schools are lagging behind developing countries in digitization.

However, Japanese children are very good at playing and learning digitally with video and programming.

This is a country of anime, games, and Hatsune Miku.

With Coronavirus, it's important to learn at home.

At school, finally one PC will be used by each student.

Service, timing, and correctness start there.

Laugh & Peace, Laugh and Peace.

It's a huge global billboard, but it also has a mother and a mother. strongest naming.

Laugh & Peace Mother. Smiling mother of peace.

Please enjoy learning.

Already, Yuriyan, Chocopla Nagata, Robert Yamamoto, Mou-Chugakusei, 3 o'clock heroine, and others have opened online classes such as programming and making digital picture books.

An annual digital picture book award ceremony is also held.

Karateka Taro Yabe, Kiri, Yuuichi Kimura, and Koji Ishikawa are among the judges.

Alright, let's get started.

Let’s go!


2023年3月19日日曜日

Charlie Hama, thank you very much.

■Charlie Hama, thank you very much.


Mr. Charlie Hama passed away.

“…isn’t it?”

He was a great person who won the 1991 "New Word / Buzzword Award."

To think that Yuji Hama, the person in the Hanakikyo group who said to Miho Nakayama (not the other Miho Nakayama),

“Isn't it Miho-san?" would become a national figure.

It's been 30 years since then. Thank you.

bit.ly/3xcNvWQ

"You are here and so am I."

Another representative gag of Mr. Hama.

iU , IU. I and You. You and me.

When iU was decided as the name of the university, I wanted Mr. Hama to say that.

I asked for the favor at the now-defunct Nishiumeda Kagetsu Theater in Osaka.


From Yoshimoto Kogyo

"You're eccentric."

That’s what I heard.

I asked for a polite explanation so as not to be rude.

"It's okay," they readily agreed.

Then, "Please make a sketch."

Ahaha…

However, it was not a joke, it was made for real.

A sketch that says, "You are here and so am I"


There is a harshness (?) in which shoes are scattered in front of the Gion Kagetsu dressing room and kicked away.

On the other hand, there is a kindness that buys ten pieces of Kyoto soul food "Carne" at the neighborhood bakery "Shizuya."

But there is a strictness (?) that Chidori, Daigo, and Diane don't have.

When I go to Gion Kagetsu, I buy ten carnets and give them.


Eccentric person +him, it may be the last chance to meet,

so I had him do, “...isn’t it?"

On this day, he played a bit of a police officer, and even in the new comedy, there were almost no lines.

A year later, he was hospitalized and died the following year


The i in iU is the I in Information, Innovation, Imagination, and International.

And the “Ai(love)” from a loving university.

As well as the I in “you and I.”

It is not the I in Ichiya.

Hitoshi Matsumoto once mentioned Hama-san's "Gomenkusai" as his favorite one-shot gag.

I like it and still use it often. I have never paid a copyright fee.

It has nothing to do with iU, but I also received this incidentally.

iU 's PR "You are here and so am I" started with the original owner, Hama-san, and has since been received by various comedians.

We will connect.

Thank you very much, Mr. Hama. 

(A scene when I went to pick up Mr. Hama's sound.)


2023年3月12日日曜日

Revision of the Copyright Act to complete the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting

■ Revision of the Copyright Act to complete the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting


A bill to revise the Copyright Act has been submitted to the Diet.

These are measures to make it easier to send library materials online, and measures to facilitate simultaneous online distribution of broadcast programs.

I have been particularly involved in the latter debate.

I hope it will be institutionalized.


There are four measures for simultaneous broadcast delivery.

1. Expanding distribution rights restrictions

2. Creation of permission presumptions

3. Compensation for non-centralized content and content not requiring permission

4. Expansion of arbitration


1. Allow distribution of things that can be broadcast without permission, such as school education programs and parliamentary speeches.

2. It is presumed that those who have received permission to use for broadcasting will also have permission for distribution, unless there is a specific indication of intention.

4. Expand the arbitration system to include distribution.

We will line up the mechanisms that are handled differently for broadcasting and distribution.


And I think 3 is more important.

This facilitates the use of records/demonstrations and video demonstrations that are not centrally managed and require individual licenses for distribution.

Records and demonstrations do not require permission for broadcasting, but permission is required for distribution. However, things that are centrally managed are processed smoothly.

This revision is a mechanism that allows content that is not centrally managed, so-called outsiders and non-members, to be used without permission if compensation is paid.

It is the invention of a system called "mixed type" that mixes centralized management and rights restriction with compensation.

For video demonstrations, permission is required for broadcasting, but there are exceptions that do not require permission for rebroadcasts. For rebroadcasts that are not centrally managed, we will create a mechanism that allows them to be OK without permission as long as they pay a fee.

As a result, the copyright system corresponding to the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting will be established.

It has been nearly 30 years since the term "communications/broadcasting convergence" was coined.

Broadcasting online distribution is common overseas, and only Japan was not able to watch it online at the same time.

NHK will finally start in 2020. When I was summoned to the Diet deliberations on the revision of the Broadcasting Law, I testified that it was 12 years late.

The revision of the copyright law this time was even slower.

There were many moments to discuss. 

1997 was when we made the transmittable right. In 2001, the Telecommunications Service Use Broadcasting Law was created. In 2010, the communication broadcasting legal system was changed to Garapon.

But the broadcasting side is reluctant, and it has been pointed out that copyright is a problem in the last 2-3 years.

It has been 10 years since radio simultaneous delivery began via radiko . We are still waiting until the start of TV simultaneous distribution.

Seen from the outside, this is an urgent issue for a country defeated in the digital war, and we should keep pace with overseas systems.

However, in order to move forward, we first need to collect and coordinate the opinions of all stakeholders.

In addition, this case is also linked to the legal system of telecommunications and broadcasting.

One of the causes of the problem was that the copyright system and the Communications and Broadcasting Law had been separately discussed.

Copyright is a private conflict of interest issue, a “meaty” world.

Business and politics.

It is fiction, such as entrusting it to a third-party council such as academism.

As I keenly felt during Dubbing 10, the government does not have the power to solve it.

Stakeholders' managers can reach an agreement with the boss of the other party they are confronted with, and make people say, "Hey, that's okay," through politics.

The system is then dropped into the Council → Government → Diet.

If we don't move things forward outside the conference room of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, we won't move forward.

I didn't think that the institutional theory would be settled smoothly.

I felt that the broadcasting side's sense of humanity was weak.

The benefits of revising the system should be shown to rights holders and consumers more.

We should show more seriousness in facing the reform of the system.

However, with a sense of urgency, we were able to come to a conclusion without the turbulence we had expected.

It seems that the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications have put in a lot of work.

At a meeting of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, I commented, “I appreciate the response of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which coordinated this troublesome matter in a short period of time and even drafted a bill.” Sometimes I give praise.

“I have seen many times that the Cabinet Legislation Bureau has become a wall and struggled to coordinate within the government regarding the formulation of the bill. I hope that this case will proceed smoothly,” I added.

In addition, with the involvement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, guidelines will be formulated for presumption of permission, and a similar scheme for compensation will be established. I added, “The copyright system was weak in terms of joint regulation and soft law between the public and private sectors.”

Enactment of hard law, development of soft law. This will put an end to a long-standing problem.

The important thing is for the broadcasting industry to make full use of the system and make a serious effort to respond to the Internet as a business.

The die has been cast.


2023年3月5日日曜日

R&D Forum in the reorganization of NTT.

■R&D Forum in the reorganization of NTT.


We visited the NTT R&D FORUM.

People are sparse due to Coronavirus. The atmosphere is different from usual.

The difference in air may be because it was after the announcement of DOCOMO’s wholly owned subsidiary.

The spin-off in 1992 turned toward integration.

The R&D structure that was divided between the holding company and DOCOMO will probably be merged.

What's going on, NTT?


When I visited last time, I witnessed the momentum of the newly appointed Sawada-Kawazoe team leading NTT through technology.

I saw serious eyes facing the AI/IoT era through Kirari!, a comprehensive technology for extraction, synchronous transmission, and reproduction, and the smart city demonstration in Las Vegas.


I was in the government office during the period from NTT's privatization to its reorganization, and it was all about the battle over the division.

Even after DOCOMO started i-mode in 1999, the point of contention was the policy of curtailing competitiveness.

Domestic competition was considered first.

(With virtual Nishikori on Kirari!)


However, in 20 years of IT, GAFA is sweeping the service and trying to advance the infrastructure field.

Manufacturers have also lost their competitive edge.

Domestic competition in telecommunications is not progressing, and the country is rushing to reduce the price of mobile phones.

Made in Japan is completely falling apart.

Domestic policy was buried in this world.

(Telemedicine with a wearable stethoscope)


The government's approval of the move to become a subsidiary of DOCOMO, despite the resistance of competitors, is due to the fact that Japan today approves of the selection of allowing the strong NTT to strengthen its technological development and overseas and new market expansion.

(Spatial system for sharing enthusiasm between spectators in remote locations)


There are two keys for NTT, which is looking to integrate DOCOMO and Comcom (Communications, Comware).

Technology and collaboration. Vertical and horizontal. Technology driven and new market development.

Specifically, IWON and Smart City.

(Speaker that sounds as clear as headphones only for you)


IWON was a focal point in this FORUM as well.

It is a technology-driven vision set out by the Sawada system.

A big idea following 80's new media INS, 90's multimedia VIP, and 2000's broadband NGN.

(Optical disaggregated computer)


Network innovation with "all light" that goes beyond IP, and "digital twin" that creates the same model in cyber space as in real space.

There, technologies such as AI, VR/AR, quantum computers, and biomedical are intertwined like nests.

You can feel the spirit that exceeds GAFA and BAT.

"IWON Concept"

http://ichiyanakamura.blogspot.com/2020/11/iown.html


Another pillar, collaboration.

It is indispensable for developing the next big industry such as smart cities.

The concept of Susono City, which is developed with Toyota, is typical.

I would like to see a data strategy as a public infrastructure company that is different from Google's withdrawal from the Toronto plan.

I'm also curious about the recently announced large-scale partnerships with NEC and Mitsubishi Corporation.


5G spread, domestic communication competition, GAFA competition, AI/IoT strategy, communication/broadcasting convergence, and NHK reform.

NTT's reorganization is an action to step into technology and new market development.

We want our competitors to have a competitive strategy.

NTT is still a special corporation. I think it's about time to put complete privatization on the political timetable.

(Thunder system)