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Tokyo Adopts Plan to Realise 'E-Japan' in 5 Years
A government panel on Thursday adopted an action plan to put Japan at the forefront of information technology in five years to help revive the long-suffering economy.
The Information Technology (IT) Strategy Task Force, headed by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, laid out a plan to build a high-speed Internet framework, to boost electronic commerce and to increase computer literacy.
The plan echoes Mori's policy of building an "E-Japan" as a key engine in putting life back into the world's second-largest economy.
"I strongly hope that the IT revolution will become the trigger in spurring economic activity and that it becomes the driving force in making the 21st century the 'century of hope'," Mori told a meeting of the panel.
Mori, who admits he never touched a computer keyboard until last June, has made info-tech a key plank in his policies and has already submitted a number of bills to the current parliament session to promote IT.
Under the plan, the government is urged to set up a widely accessable, low-cost high-speed Internet framework within five years, and to implement measures allowing full-time connections to the Internet at an "extremely low" cost for the entire population in the next year.
It also said steps should be taken to increase electronic commerce, aiming to create a market of over 70 trillion yen ($570 billion) by the year 2003.
Mori said the government will do its utmost to implement the measures.
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