Commentary / Japan | API Geoeconomic Briefing Jan 8, 2021
The need to digitalize Japanese society as a whole
by Jun Mukoyama
Japan must take action to ensure its future digital agency doesn't get lost under the rest of the government's apparatus.
Commentary / Japan | API Geoeconomic Briefing Jan 7, 2021
How Japan can become a data powerhouse
by Jun Mukoyama
The country's new digital agency must take a lead in forming Japan’s data infrastructure and global data rule-making, while benefiting the people.
Commentary / Japan | API Geoeconomic Briefing Jan 5, 2021
by Jun Mukoyama
In a country of fax machines and fragmented central administration, Suga's vision of a digital agency looks hard to achieve.
Commentary / Japan Oct 16, 2020
A digital agency would crown Japan's IT strategy
by Waichi Sekiguchi
Prime Minister Suga aims to put his own stamp on policy by erasing the government’s lag in digitization.
World / Crime & Legal Aug 23, 2019
Phone firms to strike back against robocallers in deal with all 50 U.S. states
by Jon Reid and Susan Decker
AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and 10 other large phone companies have struck an agreement with 51 attorneys general to enact technology to block robocalls before they reach consumers. The deal, announced Thursday, will help protect consumers from receiving illegal robocalls, and assist law enforcement ...
Asia Pacific Nov 2, 2015
North Korean author of 'The Girl with Seven Names' memoir still feels hunted
The girl with seven names is finding it hard these days to contact relatives in Stalinist North Korea on the underground mobile phone link defectors like her have used for years. Hyeonseo Lee is also increasingly worried about her personal security since the July publication ...
National / History Sep 4, 2015
Historic Japan-Sakhalin seabed cables now damaged, hazards to fishermen
Disused undersea telecommunications cables from before the war are becoming a headache for fishermen in Hokkaido when they inadvertently hook sections lying on the seabed, tearing their nets. Historians nevertheless are pleased to see the artifacts from Japanese prewar history. For Yasushi Shimizu, 42, an ...
Business / Corporate Jan 23, 2015
SoftBank Corp. said Friday it will merge its four domestic telecommunications subsidiaries next April to improve business efficiency and competitiveness. The telecoms and Internet giant will integrate its operations under the surviving SoftBank Mobile Corp. starting April 1. The SoftBank board approved the structural reform ...
Business / Tech Mar 20, 2014
$73 billion payoff for SoftBank's ventures fuels push into Japan startups
by Mariko Yasu
Japan's biggest companies have a case of SoftBank envy, and that's good for entrepreneurs like 23-year-old Takumi Shimizu. Billionaire Masayoshi Son, 56, has boosted SoftBank Corp.'s market value to $99 billion since founding the business in 1981, partly from outsized returns on investments in companies ...
Business / Corporate Nov 4, 2013
BlackBerry takeover bid collapses, prompting management shakeup
by Nick Turner
BlackBerry Ltd. bidder Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. walked away from a $4.7 billion takeover plan, sending the stock plunging as the company attempts to recover with a management shakeup and $1 billion bond deal. Rather than acquiring the company, Fairfax will invest $250 million in ...
Business Sep 17, 2013
A handful of tech companies are betting that smartphones will eventually serve a different role in the workplace than they do outside. The "bring your own device" trend — employers cutting IT budgets by requiring employees to use personal phones instead of company-provided devices — ...