Brilliant students from Peking University viewing Japan

　I visited Peking University at a time when the political issue concerning Senkaku Islands was smoldering. I was asked to conduct three series lectures about media policies in Japan. The target audience was made up of 20 PhD students. Here are their questions and my quick answers. 

・What are methods to make the government release information to the public? 
  Institutions regulating the government, such as the Freedom of Information Act are basic methods that give the right to claim to the public. However, due to the movement of open data in recent years, there are also methods to urge for the government and local bodies to work with the private sector. It is a sunshine policy that can encourage the government and bureaucracy, while also giving due credit to departments that have shown good results. I think this is more effective in the case for Japan. 

・Will the privatization and restructuring of NTT spread to other industries?
  The privatization of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation and Japan National Railways has been carried due to other cases such as in the case of the postal industry, where privatization has encouraged and spurred greater competition. However, it is important to note that the applicability varies depending on the competitive environment and technological progress. Although improvement of the competitive environment for the power industry has become an issue today, triggered by the nuclear issue, it does not mean that the same analogy can be applied here as well. 

・Will automatic translation technology improve the presence of China? 
  According to a research conducted by Technorati in 2007, blogs around the world are in the following languages: 37% Japanese, 36% English, 8% Chinese. The reason why Japan was number one in the world is due to information being readily shared by youngsters using mobile phones. This time, as I was walking in Beijing, I realized that many people are using smartphones. By estimates today, more people are going to use the Chinese language in the future, right? Also, information in Chinese can be automatically translated into different languages and be circulated around. Hence, presence of China will definitely be raised. 


・What role do universities play in fostering new industries?
  Japan has not been able to achieve results like the United States, where universities like Stanford, Harvard and MIT have created platforms from numerous IT companies and services. We require not only traditional education and research, but also social and economic platforms which can function as a breeder reactor for industries of the next generation. I hope Peking University can also work with us to create something new. 

・What about the strengthening of copyright protection that is robbing Japanese of learning opportunities? 
  I know that some of you are learning using free content like anime. In Japan, however, we have more constraints. But from our perspective, the protection laws in China are too weak. There are also many problems if you look at the perspective from right holders in Japan. As the amount of content flowing across national boundaries is increasing at an exponential pace, international coordination is now an important issue. We hope all of you can think as a leader too. 

  I am sure there will be more political issues that will shake our countries’ relations in the future. What can we, as academicians achieve in such circumstances?  I would like to discuss this with everyone again in the future. 

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At an Elementary School in Nepal

Situated at an elevation of 1330m, a city with 5 million people. The capital of Nepal,Kathmandu.

It is a town where there are more gods than people. Overwhelming Islam, 80% of the people belong to Hinduism, a religion which flowed from India. Across the Himalayas, Buddhism from Tibet constitutes a 10%. Indigenous faiths are also mixed together, forming a very unique Newar culture. 36 different communities reside together. 

The GDP per capita, at $650, is smaller than Tottori Prefecture and the country is considered to be one of the Least Developed Countries. Power outages happen often. The country functions like an old Switzerland, specializing in a mercenary industry which sends troops to overseas regularly. It is surrounded by great powers and hold mountain ranges which seem to serve as the roof of the world.
  However, a hot air is surging. The vulgar hustle and bustle of this city which I love so much is similar to Hanoi, Istanbul, Xian and Casablanca. As the population is bigger even when compared to Osaka, I can always feel a rush of energy gushing from this city. 

  I visited a public school called Shree Rudrayanee Secondary School. Spectacular rice terraces appeared in front of my eyes, where mothers can be seen picking the harvests. At the other side, the white continuous summits of the Himalaya Mountain can be seen. Walking through the village and the gates where 260 kids aged 4 to 16 are greeting me enthusiastically, I began to realize that the building looked like it was going to collapse and it had poor facilities. 

However, the children were all dressed in fine English-style uniforms, with striped neckties and black leather shoes. They all spoke in English. It seems that public schools in Nepal are like this. 
They looked straight into my eyes without worries. They looked at me using the computer as if they had never seen anything like that before. Thank you everyone for playing together with me. Thank you for the 2 year-old Sanjey who ate my business cards. Let us meet again somewhere, sometime.

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The re-union of Internet and TV

　The Internet & TV, broadcasting & communications. The linkage process has begun in full. The IT and electronics exhibition, ‘CREATEC’, was in a single ‘Smart’ color. Various types of smart televisions can be seen there. Digital broadcasting has not only become more beautiful but also smarter. The combination of television and internet, together with television and smartphone has led to a more interesting and convenient lifestyle. This is no longer at a proposal stage, but a realistic service that is being offered today. 
 Not only smart televisions, there are also smart appliances, smart houses, smart city and others. Information-related industries like communication and makers are apparently exploring new strategies under the name of ‘smart’. 
 Manufacturers of consumer electronics are exhibiting TV with Internet support. Unlike Samsung’s Smart TV or Google TV where you can enjoy content from the Internet on the TV screen, new multi-screen linkage models like TV & smartphone or TV & tablet were exhibited. In addition, smart houses which include home appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines were proposed, and a smart city concept which is linked to electric power supply was also advocated. 

Similar to CEATEC, in the broadcast exhibition ‘InterBEE’ which is held in Makuhari every year, IPDC forum that I serve as the representative manned a booth there. As the main leader in the broadcast station, a concrete image of the multi-screen control technology was shown. In particular, the result of “Multiscreen Broadcasting Committee” which was established and centred on broadcast stations in Osaka was show cased. 

IPDC is a mechanism in which double screens like televisions, smartphones and tablets can be covered with a single radio broadcast wave. This is a method whereby broadcasting stations are able to control everything. That is why broadcasting stations are paying more interest in this compared to the Internet world. 

The challenge that we will be facing from now on is mass production of the corresponding receiver. In order to achieve this, it is important that the Japanese digital broadcasting system work together with countries that have adopted ISDB-T, such as Brazil and South America. International interactions have suddenly become an important issue. I am currently promoting international cooperation strategies with the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. 

  The convergence of communications and broadcasting have been discussed for 20 years. I feel that a concrete image has come into view at last, with digital broadcasting done and smartphones and tablets appearing.  

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I will do my best for open data.

　I want to expand the possibilities for big data. I want to make big data safe and convenient for the society. I want to stimulate the economy with big data. 
  This can be achieved through open data, a movement where governments and local governments, for a start, can start publishing public data for private sector use to give rise to a new information service. 
  I am currently participating as a Director in the “Open Data Distribution Promotion Consortium”. Different ministers who are not in good relationships such as the Cabinet, General Affairs, Education & Science, Labor & Welfare, Agriculture & Fisheries, Economics & Industry, Foreign Affairs and Finance are coming together around a single table to discuss about future public policies. 

  In this Consortium attended by the different ministries, leaders of local governments, corporations and research institutes, I will act as the chairperson for utilization and dissemination, promoting development examples and information dissemination. The committee is open and is replayed through the Internet. 
  Although open data has started to get more attention, it still remains to be too technical. Considerable dissemination efforts are hence still necessary for the entire nation to regard it as an important issue to be tackled. It is important to gather successful cases and share them with everyone. 

As such, there are three points which the Consortium should seek to accomplish. 
  The first is to create a business model. The only incentive for information provision and sharing right now is to reply on good faith. I want to create a ways for companies to be profitable. 
  Next, I want to reduce the negative points. This can be done by fostering a sense of security. As data becomes more and more open, there will be increasing anxieties and sense of resistance. I would like to disseminate information with privacy protection properly done. 
 Thirdly, I want to continue the collaboration between the industry, academia and government. I hope the government will not only release data but also funds. I hope it can play a role in the rise of private sector by offering capital funds. This does not mean industry support policies, but rather industry development policies and infrastructure development measures.  

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The Possibilities of Big Data 2

　This is a continuation of big data. ‘Individual’ can be placed along with ‘infrastructure’. Not only limited to the business field, it is also possible for individuals to take advantage of collective wisdom. 
Services that leverage on integrated content by collective knowledge, such as Cookpad, Kakaku.com, Weather News and others are getting more and more prevalent. Big data might expand Web 2.0 into unprecedented levels, into Web 3.0. 

Based on my calculations, within the 10 years from 1995 to 2005 when digitization first started, the amount of information available has grown by 21 times, and while it is still accelerating, part of it can be attributed to big data. Content = a viewpoint which incorporates people-to-people (P2P) and machine-to-machine (M2M).  

  By the way, “Big Data is Changing the Business” advocates the fact that the use of big data in the public sector, such as in education, medical and public administration spheres. Within education for example, big data can allow education to become more sophisticated. Different people can create different teaching materials, integrate them, and provide the most appropriate teaching material to each student. This is an example of collective wisdom. Field trials in the utilization of big data are required. I would like put a new theme for big data with digital textbooks and movement of teaching materials. 
  Big data is also important in the medical and health care business. However, as the data type of medical records between each hospital differs, there is a fundamental problem of not being able to consolidate inspection data. Although millions of medical information has been integrated in Europe and United States, it has been pointed out that the process is still insufficient in the case for Japan. 
  The obstacles present in this field might pose a bigger challenge when compared to the education field. Although national ID is required for the utilization of big data in government, Japan is still the only country that has not introduced this within developed countries. ‘My Number’ is also not implemented yet, right? 

In the book, three shocking data is published. Based on data provided by Professor Fukao from Hitotsubashi University, investment in information and communication per GDP is at 5% and has increased from 2003. Japan, on the other hand, is at 3% level and has been decreasing since 2001. Although usage by the general user is high, usage by companies remain low.  

According to the white paper on telecommunications published in 2009 on deviation values in information and communications utilization among the seven major industrialized countries, Japan is ranked first in the transportation and logistics business. However, it is also the last in the business management area. This is very shocking. It is a serious issue that IT literacy in the management level is low in Japan. 

  There is also a shocking data from McKinsey which reveals the fact that North America has 5000 petabytes, Europe has 2000 petabytes and Japan with only 400 petabytes in the amount of information accumulated in 2010. In terms of accumulated amount, Japan is only 11% of North America. Both the industry and government in Japan has not realized the importance of information.
The biggest problem is within ourselves, which is for us to recognize the importance of information and data. This is indeed a big challenge.

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The Possibilities of Big Data 1

　Big data. By analyzing huge amount of information rapidly coming out every second with smartphone or sensor, one can create new values in various social and economic aspects such as in business, health care, crime prevention or urban design. Besides data such as weather, geography or road traffic, other information shared by people through social media, footages from security cameras and other data are increasingly being regarded as a mountain of treasure due to its explosive increase. 
 This is a buzz word, and also has increasing potential as a keyword. However, a clear definition does not exist yet. At present moment, it is best to give a loose definition such as “accumulation of huge amount of information” without narrowing the possibilities. 
  Besides enriching the society, big data is also expected to expand business opportunities. Leaving that to promotional publications, I will focus on the following two possibilities, “infrastructure” and “individual”. 

  Firstly, big data as a form of infrastructure. 
  As it is possible to estimate demographics by time or region by using data gathered from mobile phones, this will be very useful in disaster prevention and urban planning. Big data itself is being used as a form of social infrastructure. 
“Just like how the United States invented the Internet in preparation of a nuclear war, Japan which has experienced large earthquakes and brought trouble to the world with nuclear issues, has a responsibility to create an infrastructure for the next generation to withstand future disasters.”
“Although the Internet was uninterrupted in the previous earthquake, Japan must continue to lead in the development research in face of threats of future earthquakes to come.”
  These thoughts might be vague, but rather than designing a new communication network, what is required is to shape urban designs by taking advantage of big data. 
Smart City shares information from different kind of sensors through M2M (machine-to-machine), and is a concept which utilizes big data in the entire city. Japan might be a little late in this kind of approach but it is precisely what must be addressed first in the country. 
According to Shuichi Inada, professor in University of Tokyo, previously from Ministry of Affairs & Communication and author of ‘Big Data is Changing the Business’, Japan is a ‘sensor superpower’ that is using ¼ of the world’s sensors. That is something to be expected from an ubiquitous society with eight million gods. Despite sensors lurking everywhere, they have been not used strategically. However, this still presents itself an opportunity waiting to be explored. 

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Nation-wide use of ‘My Number’

　The introduction of tax and social security number, ‘My Number’, by the law “on the use of ID in identifying specifying specific individuals in administrating proceedings” have finally been established, with preparations currently underway. 

However, there are many people who are afraid of this. Accordingly to governmental surveys, 46.9% chose “Depending on countries, citizens will be monitored with the national ID system”, 36.7% chose “By impersonating or forgery, personal information may be peeped or used illegally”, and 27% chose “Personal information is likely to be leaked”. However, speaking of nation-wide monitoring, monitoring can also be done today as passport and licenses are managed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Police respectively. On the contrary, one will not be able to leave the country if passport is not managed by the relevant authorities. Even for information of name and adress leakages, will we really be in desperate trouble? For someone like me who has realized how convenient life has become after the conception of the Internet, I cannot justify how its merits can be crushed by criticisms founded on vague insecurities.
  Of course, it is important to build a system that people can feel at ease with. How much costs will be incurred is the issue. For example, the negative effects of personal information protection can be seen in cases where an emergency contact network cannot be created, hospitals cannot reveal the list of victims in an accident to the police, or when local governments cannot pass information to the Ministry of Civil Affairs Committee to follow up cases on home abuse. These are all ironic cases where more insecurity is caused due to actions which call for more assurance or security.

The balance between convenience and an ease of mind is equivalent to the balance between public and protection. As ‘My Number’ is a computer/IT system, the fear issue and convenience is similar to the Internet. Similar to how I am always looking to extend the convenience of the Internet, I am interested in spreading the benefits of ‘My Number’, rather than focusing on how it can be give people a peace of mind. 
  Hospitals, schools, banks, relocations, post offices, net, mails. There are many fields to consider even when focusing on public areas. Asset management advice to collectively manage financial and fixed assets. Exchange of medical data between hospitals. In addition, registering an ID once and using the same ID on other sites, and utilizing a variety of private services on the net with an open ID. 

Research done by Nomura Research Institute has estimated that an e-government with ID system will lead to benefits of 3.8 trillion Yen, and if this ID system is employed by the private sector, the economic benefits are expected to be at 10.5 trillion Yen. Given that there is considerable anxiety even just within tax and social security, there might be resistance to a widespread implementation. However, in that case, it will be difficult to justify the benefits associated with tax and social security only with the high costs needed to build the system. I think the huge costs would be unbalanced with the low benefits. 

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