Assessing Japan's role in telecommunications: Building on successes in devices and small systems, Japan's R&D turns to making the large systems in which the United States has excelled

Abstract

Building on success in devices and small systems, Japan's R and D has turned to making the large systems in which the United States has excelled. Ideas first presented by the Japanese Technology Evaluation Program (JTECH), are explored. The JTECH study compared the probable near-future status of the Japanese telecommunication industry with that of the US. It was found that Japanese companies were lagging behind US concerns in some key telecommunications areas, like software and system integration. If Japanese expertise in software improves, however, their market incursions will extend to higher and higher levels of subsystems. A number of strategies were suggested: fuller use of R and D resources in universities; more extensive design training of engineers in schools rather than in industry; and the nurturing of entrepreneurism within big companies. Various examples and company case histories are presented to support the JTECH point of view.