By LAURA WONG
A near-capacity audience came to the Library's Mumford Room on May 31 to hear top experts in the field of technology policies pertaining to Japan and the United States.
"CyberJapan: Technology, Policy & Society" was the third annual symposium sponsored by the Japan Documentation Center, headed by Ichiko T. Morita.
The push in Japan for developing a national information infrastructure came as a response to President Clinton's announcement in 1993 of a policy for America's National Information Infrastructure. Deregulation and the imminent breakup of telecomunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) were prime topics during the symposium.
In the first panel, Peter Cowhey of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Thomas Kalil of the National Economic Council outlined the structure of Japan's telecommunications industries. A key step in the deregulation process was the promulgation of three laws in 1985, including the Telecommunications Business Law, that authorized competition in domestic long-distance and international services.
Several speakers addressed the possible effects of deregulation in Japan, in view of the strict regulation of market entry for common carriers by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Martin Fransman of the University of Edinburgh highlighted what government and industry leaders in the past year have done regarding telecommunications policies.
William Auckerman of Computing Japan said he believed the deregulation fervor in Japan is propelled by several factors, including self-interest, bureaucratic rivalry, the continuance of top-down policy formation, foreign pressure and technological advances. Most speakers said that if Japan's telecommunications market were to become truly competitive, there would undoubtedly be many opportunities for Western companies, and they agreed that although NTT was privatized in 1985, little has changed.
Keisuke Nakasaki of NTT America, John Barber of America Online and Dr. Fransman shared a panel exploring international competition. Dr. Fransman commented that if NTT is allowed it to offer international services, it could become a tough competitor in Eastern Asia.
The afternoon sessions focused on the Ministries of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and International Trade and Industry (MITI). Asako Toyoda of the Harvard University Program on U.S.-Japan Relations said that Japan's ministries should promote fair competition rather than protection of industries.
The afternoon's featured speaker, Izumi Aizu, told how an Internet community evolved in Japan, citing examples of homepages that illustrate the value of sharing as important to members of a computer network. While the number of Japanese Internet users is minuscule compared to the number in the United States, Mr. Aizu and Dr. Murai agreed that interest in the Internet and recognition of its importance for communications and access to information will grow rapidly in Japan.
Closing the day was a panel on Japan's new "infosociety." Tsuguchika Kaminuma of the National Institute of Health Sciences explored how the Internet might change behavioral patterns, in particular the conventional "uninformative" nature of the Japanese, which he links closely with the nation's weaknesses in strategic thinking and logistics. He believes that as users in Japan begin to realize the scope of information available on the Internet, they will begin to identify the types information unavailable in their own country.
Laura Wong is in the Japan Documentation Center.