METI will hold an IT Integration Symposium on October 11, 2012-IT Integration Policy for Diffusing Innovation and Creation of New Industries by Utilizing Data-

The dissemination of sensor network systems and mobile terminals, the dramatic reduction of communication costs, and other factors triggered the creation of a wide variety of data and the global circulation of such data, in both the physical world and the Internet. Facing such circumstances, businesses that develop new areas are emerging in almost all fields, such as manufacturing, retailing, goods distribution, medical and health care, and agricultural industries, and enterprises that develop these new businesses are becoming successful in expanding their value chains.

Such flows of emerging new businesses will provide Japanese enterprises that are traditionally highly competitive in manufacturing, services and other fields with valuable opportunities to increase the added value of their businesses and secure a competitive advantage in the coming "Internet of Things (IoT)."

However, while the importance of utilizing data, including "big data," has been widely known and this field is attracting further attention these days, no methods for practically implementing such data in existing business operations, and linking such data to new business or service creation, or establishing a competitive advantage have yet to have been established. In addition, despite some recent examples, many organizations and enterprises do not yet appropriately recognize such data as a source of profits, which has lead to the current situation of organizations not always utilizing data to the fullest.

Furthermore, Japanese enterprises are more likely to exclude "gray zone" data from data to be utilized due to the excessive consideration of privacy and personal information, and, considering the size and density of the businesses and services that they provide, many of them seem to fall behind some overseas enterprises that utilize such data.

Considering this situation, METI established the "IT Integration Forum" in June 2012, consisting of [i] expert meetings, [ii] project groups, [iii] working groups, and [iv] a consortium of participants who take part in projects for developing an IT integration system. METI is also making efforts to discuss short-term issues and business creation, discuss systems and rules from a medium- to long-term viewpoint, and take related actions.

As part of such efforts, this symposium will discuss how players engaged in the IT integration field in Japan should take actions as leaders of innovation in a new era, by showing examples of cutting-edge businesses, introducing research examples, and providing speeches by experts.

Date:

Thursday, October 11, 2012, 9:45-16:40

Venue:

Hikarie Hall, 2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-Ward, Tokyo

Organizer:

METI

Participation fee:

Free of charge

How to apply:

Please register for participation via the website below:
http://www.it-yugo.jp/ (in Japanese)

• for details, see Appendix(PDF:132KB) (in Japanese)

Opening remarks:

METI

Keynote speech 1:

Mr. Jun Murai, Dean/Professor of Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University; Chair of IT Integration Forum

Keynote speech 2:

Mr. Kentaro Kawabe, COO of Yahoo Japan Corporation

Introduction of latest examples by enterprises and researchers

Keynote speech 3:

Mr. David C. Drummond, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Google Inc.

Lectures by experts

Panel discussions

October 3, 2012

Information Economy Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau