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[Tokio 2do Reuters]- Yukio Noguchi, emeritus professor at Hitotsubashi University, points out that Japan may leave the group of developed countries in the post-corona era when digitization is accelerating. In addition to the language barrier, delays in work style reform are obstacles. For a carbon-free society, it is necessary to reorganize the industrial structure that depends more on the manufacturing industry than other countries, focusing on the advanced services industry.
He said in an interview with Reuters.
In the post-crown era, border walls are getting lower due to the progress of distancing and digitization is spreading. What should be the state of society and the economic structure?
Mr. Noguchi noted that “Japan’s problems have become apparent in the crown disaster. We must properly understand the problems and use them as an opportunity for the next era.” I have listed two issues that Japan should address with world trends.
The first is the acceleration of internationalization. “Accelerating telecommuting enables meetings and work away from home around the world. It has the effect of removing border walls.”
However, Japan has a wall to keep the world away. Mr. Noguchi points out the problem of language to be able to work in English and the problem of work styles that value “being” in the office. “The degree to which Japanese companies can promote remote work is inseparable from the introduction of performance-based work, and if they cannot do so their productivity may remain low and they may be isolated from the world,” he said. “Currently, Japan’s productivity is faster in OECD countries, but if we can’t overcome language and work style barriers, we could sink to the bottom.”
The main reason for low productivity in Japan is the service industry, but if remoteization becomes widespread, it will be possible to use human resources all over the world, which will lead to the elimination of the human resource shortage and shorten travel time. , which will result in higher productivity. There is a possibility that it can be improved.
Mr. Noguchi believes that the reason the United States has achieved high growth is that it has already been using Indian human resources for remote work for more than 20 years.
The second is digitization. Digitization is essential for remote activities. Noguchi noted that it became clear that the digitization of Japan was lagging behind the rest of the world in this corona disaster. “The Kan administration also positions the promotion of digitization as an important policy issue, but the problem is how to proceed.”
“There is a great danger in digitization,” says Noguchi.
The government is trying to use my number card as identification for identity verification, which is required for digitization. Mr. Noguchi said: “All people’s information is concentrated in the government and there is a risk that the government will capture it. My number card is a centrally operated identification and it is a problem.”
In Japan, we once tried to network the basic resident registry and build it as a national system that can verify identity, but the introduction was unsuccessful due to concerns about information leakage. My number card has similar concerns.
Mr. Noguchi said: “I believe that blockchain should be used as a system for the distributed management of identity verification identifications. Identification technology using blockchains is currently under development, and we must move in that direction.”
In the post-crown era, the trend toward decarbonization will be a common goal in all countries of the world, but how will Japan respond?
Mr. Noguchi noted that “this problem is closely related to the problem of nuclear energy.” The government has set out to promote wind power to expand the use of renewable energy, but sees it as “practically difficult in terms of cost and technology.” However, it is said that there is a problem in the argument that the proportion of nuclear power plants should increase as an energy source structure.
“In the case of Japan, the share of manufacturing industry is high compared to other developed countries. Rather than short-circuit the conclusion that the share of nuclear power plants will immediately increase, the share of manufacturing will be reduced and the industrial structure will focus on advanced service industry. Need to change to “.
In particular, regarding the automotive industry, which is a key industry in the manufacturing industry, “it will change dramatically in the age of self-driving. Instead of the industry that makes hardware, it is an advanced service that describes how to develop software. and what kind of services can be provided. It will become an industry. “
In fact, Google is developing a car equipped with a fifth-generation self-driving system at Waymo, a self-driving vehicle development division.
Mr. Noguchi believes that even in the auto industry, it may be the advanced services industry like Google that takes the lead rather than the automaker.
* The interview was conducted on December 21.
Izumi Nakagawa Edited by Hitoshi Ishida
