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‘Data Will Change ICT,’ But Will it Change the Abe Regime?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Andrew DeWit
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This article focuses on the content and implications of a fascinating and inspiring October 1 presentation by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) at Aizuwakamatsu City, a smart city project involving just over 130,000 residents in Fukushima Prefecture, the area battered by the 3.11 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. The presentation was titled “Data Will Change ICT.” ICT is an acronym for “Information and Communications,” a core area of innovation evident in the everyday ubiquity of smart phones and other mobile devices. The MIC presentation offers a summary of the Japanese political economy's performance in this strategic area as well as its impressive further potential. The presentation also reveals that Japan's ICT-centred growth strategy was officially launched by the Abe cabinet on June 14, 2013.

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Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 11 , Issue 41 , October 2013, e4
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
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Copyright © The Authors 2013

References

1 The presentation was in Japanese, and there appears as yet to be no English version. The talk was divided into 5 separate sections. The two sections pertinent to this article are here and here.

2 See for example the collaboration between the city, Fujitsu and Tohoku Electric Power as described in “Fujitsu, Aizu Wakamatsu City and Tohoku Electric Power Launch Smart Community Project in Japan's Aizu Wakamatsu Region” Fujitsu Press Release, May 1, 2013.

3 On the difference between nominal versus real values, see the explanation here.

4 A concise explanation of this key issue, in relation to the UK economy, can be found at Jonathan Haskel's blog article, “Can Intangible Investment Explain the UK Productivity Puzzle?” February 8, 2013. A study of its application to the Japanese economy was done by Miyagawa Tsutomo and Hisa Shoichi, Measurement of Intangible Investment by Industry and Economic Growth in Japan,” Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance, Japan, Public Policy Review, Vol.9, No2, March 2013.

Another example is seen in James Elles “ICT investment: the significant example of South Korea,” April 19, 2013.

5 Indeed, chatting or playing a game on an iphone or other smart phone is in itself dematerialization, to the extent that it replaces driving a 2-ton car or some other more resource-intensive activity.

6 The equipment includes devices that monitor the individual's amount of activity, such as steps taken during the day.

7 The IT Strategic Headquarters’ English website is here.

8 Gutermann's English-language home page is here.

9 See the description of the network here.

10 On this, see Andrew DeWit and Christopher Hobson, “Abe at Ground Zero: the consequences of inaction at Fukushima Daiichi,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, The Asia- Pacific Journal, Volume 11, Issue 35, No. 1, September 2, 2013.

11 The Center's English-language home page is here.

12 For example, Telog Instruments Inc of New York.