IT, shorthand for information technology, was a buzzword in Japan in 2000. Never before had computers and the Internet caused such a furor in the media. To be sure, IT had created a boom several times in the past, but its impact had been confined to the corporate sector. In contrast, the latest boom has had a sweeping impact on individual lives. It has been driven by two factors: the affordable price of a personal computer and the spread of Internet use.
In the first half of 2000, interest in e-commerce increased in this country, prompting Internet firms to go public. But most of these online ventures failed to turn profit. In the United States, quite a few Internet startups collapsed, while online trading between established companies gained momentum.
In the second half of the year, the government set up an IT strategy council with a view to improving the communications infrastructure, such as fiber-optics networks. Japan, it was pointed out, was lagging behind not only America but also South Korea and Singapore in high-speed communications networks, because of a low rate of Internet use.