A Fair Trade Commission study group has warned against the hoarding of big data, such as consumer purchase histories, by major companies. If companies refuse to disclose data to other companies without a justifiable reason, that could constitute a violation of the anti-monopoly law, the ...
Efforts must be made to ensure that tightened rules on the handling of personal data does not deter the disclosure or flow of necessary information in the name of privacy protection.
Transportation firms are tapping into big data to improve the safety of their services, with the collection of information hoped to detect mechanical problems before they occur. In other industries, big data have begun to play a larger role in understanding consumer tastes or even ...
In Japan people say neru ko wa sodatsu — a child who sleeps well grows up well. But does sleeping really bear a causal relationship to a child's height? In an attempt to find out whether this well-known proverb can be scientifically backed up and ...
Technology companies have databases that document people's ethnicity, religion and other personal information on a massive scale.
For trend-conscious corporate executives in Japan, a connected world is not a distant future in the making but a reality. A growing number of Japanese companies are waking up to the need to sharpen their business strategies and boost investment as the hunt for the ...
A Japanese startup is entering the equity research business in a bid to challenge the dominance of securities firms by using computers to crunch vast troves of information and predict companies' earnings. Nowcast Inc., a financial-technology venture formed last year out of the University of ...
A recent analysis of big data by Central Nippon Expressway Co. (NEXCO Central) has revealed that more and more men tend to prefer cubicles over urinals in restrooms. Real-time panels near the entrance of restrooms showed which cubicles are occupied using sensors installed on cubicle ...
Properly used, new data sources have the potential to revolutionize economic forecasts.
Japan's manufacturing sector is lagging behind other countries in utilizing information technology, according to an annual government report that called for improvements. The report, released Tuesday, also urged the industry, which accounts for some 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product, to take the ...
The Japan Tourism Agency plans to use big data to conduct a survey on foreign tourists' behavior so that local governments and tourism industries can develop tours and events that meet their needs, NHK reported Wednesday. For foreign visitors who agreed to cooperate, the agency ...
The government is adding a new element to its monthly economic assessments: “big data” culled from the Internet.
