Author: Yasumasa Yamamoto, Kyoto University Digital transformation is crucial to overcoming a number of big global challenges. Yet Japan has unique disadvantages that put it behind global digital leaders such as the United States, Singapore and China and hamper its economic partnerships in the region. Japanese Digital Minister Taro Kono takes a selfie, Tokyo, 21 October 2022 (Photo: Kyodo via Reuters). Japan’s government entities and regulators are too deeply embedded in the digital industry’s fixed structure — which lacks digital literacy, client responsibility and close connections with traditional technology outsourcing vendors — making it difficult to drive digitisation in the private and public sectors. This fixed mindset, which is especially strong in Tokyo, demands efforts to promote digitisation and eventually digital transformation in rural areas where regulation and mindset problems are less rigid. But cities outside Tokyo lack digital experts to tackle local challenges through digital transformation. Japan has other structural problems that hinder digital transformation. Digital talent, especially software engineers who can handle artificial intelligence is scarce. This is due to the relatively low emphasis on software education at top universities in Japan. Another issue is that most software engineers work for systems engineering companies and their salaries […]
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