The Effect Of Digital Technology On Japan's Economic Growth

1355 Words6 Pages

The effect of digital technology on Japan's economic growth

Introduction
New economy describes parts of the economy where innovative thinking and new technologies are used. The new economy is a result of shifting from a manufacturing economy to a service one. Other factors that helped shape the new economy are globalization and the development of the internet. The use of the internet in particular is a major player in the development of the new economy and it has benefited economic growth and productivity.
The first notable impact of digitalization on economic growth is the creation of new jobs. It has created a positive externality by reducing unemployment and providing people with new jobs. New jobs mean using more labor force, hence generating …show more content…

The internet is available almost everywhere and is relatively cheap, which gave low income countries a chance to step up their game and become more productive. Smaller businesses as well were given the opportunity to enter new markets through the usage of digital technology. In other words, ICT has facilitated the entry into new market segments.
Every country has some form of a relationship between its usage of digital technology and its economy. This relationship can either be positive or negative. This paper will discuss the relationship between Japan's utilization of digital technology (ICT) and its economic growth. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC) has formed a council in February, 2013 to study the numerous policies regarding ICT, including the usage of ICT as one of the main factors of boosting the growth of Japan's economy.
The Council formed various study groups to discuss three themes related to the relationship between Japan's ICT utilization and its economic growth. Each theme dealt with a problem that Japan faced, which prevented it from increasing its economic growth. The Council agreed that by using ICT, Japan would be able to solve these problems and achieve an economic …show more content…

It is noticeable that between Jan-Jul 2014, the curve has fluctuated, but in the end rose up. However, If we compared the unemployment rate between 2010 and 2014, we can see how it went down drastically. So, it is safe to assume that, despite a noticeable increase in unemployment by 2014, Japan's intense use of the latest digital technology did help it to decrease unemployment by 2% over the past 2 years.

Conclusion
This paper demonstrates the possible positive impacts the ICT can have on a country's overall economic growth. Taking Japan into consideration, it has benefited a lot from digitalization, not just in expanding economically but also from solving many of its social/environmental problems as well. However, it is worth mentioning that this paper focused mainly on the positive impacts of digitalization, as its positive impacts outweighed the negative ones in Japan. In other countries, it is possible that negative impacts are more dominant, making their economy at a disadvantage, or making it not worth the effort of incorporating ICT to their growth

Open Document