Japan – strong performer but with inconsistent usage patterns

Japan’s moderate 10th place finish amongst Innovation driven economies on the Connectivity Scorecard 2010 is strong but not quite in line with its status as a technology leader..It’s outstanding performance in certain areas is balanced by factors such as inconsistent usage patterns and lack of credible data on some metrics.

Japan excels in consumer infrastructure and is the leading country in terms of 3G penetration as well as a leader in the adoption of next-generation broadband infrastructure. It delivers a strong performance in business usage and skills too, with a highly skilled workforce, and performs well on government-related metrics.

The lack of adequate data mars the country’s performance in consumer usage and skills. For instance, the consumer usage of voice services is rather low and there is not enough information available on consumption of data services. Also, Japan’s performance in business infrastructure is not as strong as one would expect, with low penetration of secure internet servers and modest aggregate ICT investments by Japanese businesses.

While Japan’s actual performance is likely to be stronger than that suggested by its Connectivity Scorecard ranking, there seem to be significant disparities in ICT adoption and usage across different user segments (e.g. small and medium businesses versus large companies). Therefore, the country needs to strive for a more consistent performance across the board and thus stake a stronger claim to being an ICT leader.

Japan Connectivity Performance by Scorecard Component