One of the factors that have characterized the transformation of Japan's economy and industry is the improvement of the technological level carried out through rapid innovation in technology and the various efforts of the industrial sector as a whole.
After the Second World War, Japan has been making greater efforts to introduce new technologies in order to keep up with the world's technological innovation. One form used by them for technological advancement has been reverse engineering, which has integrated the technological approach with the social economic one.
Reverse engineering, as an economic way to efficiency, consists of introducing the advances of the physical, mathematical and genetic sciences to industrial and agricultural production techniques, which, based on the results obtained in other processes and different countries, and decomposing them In its component elements, it manages to locate those that determine the attributes of its efficiency and, in addition, act on them in such a way that its modification leads to an increase in efficiency levels.
For the Japanese, solving the copying / technological creation contradiction has made it possible to reach a technological base in which obtaining avant-garde products rests on their own technology, with their own techniques and highly used foreign and own raw materials. Japan has distinguished itself by skillfully purchasing technology licenses, patents, and agreements, primarily from the United States. This entire process has been led by MITI.
Reverse engineering has advantages; these are:
- Decrease in research and development costs. Decrease in investment cost. Decrease in production cost. Increase in quality. Decrease in time, as a common variable (saving of years and months). Increase in compatible substitution. Increased competitiveness. Creation of the technological base of the company.
Japan, thanks to the aforementioned, from technology importer is becoming a technology exporter, it is exporting technology to developed countries.
The Great Technological Leap
The four most outstanding technological branches in Japan are:
- Automotive Informatics (Computers) Electronics Robotics
The main corporations in these branches or technology industries are Toyota, Fujitsu, Matsushita and Fanuc.These corporations have been developing especially since the 1960s.
Automobiles are one of the best-known Japanese products. It is one of the countries that produces more cars, buses and trucks in the world. Japan's auto industry has been called the country's core industry.
The automobile industry is said to be a barometer that shows the general industrial strength of a country since components and parts supplied by almost all branches of industry, such as steel products, plastics, electronics, etc., are needed to manufacture automobiles.
Regarding computing and electronics, the Japanese government is implementing its Information and Communications Technology Strategy "e-Japan". With this strategy, Japan has achieved a great technological leap worldwide. Achieving this objective requires the fulfillment of 4 main plans:
- Improve the Information Technology hardware, by installing a fiber optic network that provides network connections at ultra-fast speed. Facilitate electronic commerce so that any person or entity can participate in this field of activity. development of a virtual Government or electronic Government. This strategy does not mean the disappearance of the traditional model of government, but rather the use of the advantages of new technologies to streamline administrative procedures, improve services for residents, develop the different regions of the country and alleviate differences in the use of Information and Communication Technologies in them Encourage the development of high quality human resources,ensuring that all citizens have the practical knowledge about information so that they can use these technologies.
Since the launch of the strategy to date, notable progress has been made. In 2001, 10.5% of companies participated in electronic commerce either through the Internet or through a computer network. The finance and insurance sector was the one that made the most use of electronic commerce in that year: 13.7% of companies carried out operations through this channel. The mining and construction sectors have the lowest participation, having, respectively, 1.4% and 4.6% of their companies involved in this type of transaction.
In 2001, the market volume carried out through electronic commerce related to final consumer goods grew 96.0% compared to 2000, while the market for electronic commerce related to intermediate goods showed an increase of 41, 5%.
Regarding the development of an electronic or virtual government, it can be pointed out that in 2001 there were 319,915 personal computers available in the governments of the prefectures and 561,721 personal computers in the municipal governments. In addition, there were 1,310 web pages of public entities at all levels of the national government. A personal computer available for every 1.2 employees is also reported in all national government agencies, as a result of government efforts to make a computer available for each public employee.
In education, very positive results are also observed as the government has been developing the infrastructure in the Japanese educational system so that the Internet can be used in classes of all grades. In March 2001, computers were installed in practically all middle and high school public schools.
The number of computers for educational use per school rose from 11.3 in 1998 to 24.4 in 2002 in the case of elementary schools. For upper secondary education, this figure went from 41.4 to 94.7 in 2002 (MPHPT, 2003a). Furthermore, 75.8% of all public schools had an Internet connection in 2001 and of these, 33.9% had created their own Web pages
In 2002, the e-Japan 2002 Program was launched, an annual program that incorporates and gives continuity to the preceding e-Japan strategy. The recent explosion of an internet mobile phone system shows the country's potential to produce global innovations. Although Europeans brag about beating the United States in the cell phone race, Japan is ahead of both in mobile internet.
In Japan, cell phones with Internet access have had a strong impact on sales and approximately 13 million people, a tenth of the population, are already subscribing to the system (i-mode).
The great success in this technology lies in the fact that they are permanently connected to the Internet, being able to enter the WEB almost instantly and without the need to dial. Cell phone screens are connected to 15,000 internet sites, offering e-mail, games, banking services, news and cartoons. These gadgets are cheap and small. As is known, the Japanese live in tiny houses. Because of this, consumers like mobile gadgets that provide information and help pass the time.
This technological irruption represents a good advance for the Japanese economy. The i-mode could mean a great advantage for Japanese companies in other parts of the world.
Robotics
Japan has become the country of robots. Robotics is one of the fields in which Japan has technological advantages. The spectacular development of this branch is explained by the internal productivity of Japan, which is the main consumer of robots, and also by the expectations offered by the North American market, since the United States imports 80% of this technology from Japan.
The appearance of industrial robots dates back to 1962 in the United States. It was introduced to Japan in the 1960s in the oil and petrochemical industries to automate production processes. Only industries with high investment capacity were able to acquire industrial robots, since at that time industrial robots lacked flexibility and computers for the operating system, so only large companies with mass manufacturing systems of few types of products decided to use industrial robots. In the 1980s, artificial intelligence robots appeared, equipped with computer systems that analyze the state of warehouse stocks and the needs of customers and dictate manufacturing for themselves.
Since robots joined factory personnel in the 1970s, robotics development and technology in Japan have led the world. Today they continue to set the model for the entire planet.
From the second half of the 80's when the economy was in an expansion phase, the use of industrial robots continued to spread even in small and medium-sized companies that suffered from labor shortages. Industrial robots made it possible to maintain the competitiveness of the Japanese economy.
Many of the cars in Japan are built with robots, as they are complex machines designed for specific tasks. They are able to do repetitive and boring jobs, leaving people free for more interesting and complicated things. Analysts believe that Japan has more industrial robots than all developed countries combined.
In the last decade they have created humanoids that walk on two legs. One modality of this technology is the HAL (Extremity Assistance Hybrid) robot suit. HAL is the first system in the world that links the human body with a robotic structure that moves as one wishes. It works so closely with the neurological and musculoskeletal systems of the person wearing it that it is in fact an extension of the body itself.
The various parts of the human body move when the brain sends orders to the muscles. These orders are small bioelectric signals that can be detected on the skin. The HAL detects them and converts them into orders that it sends to the motor centers that it has incorporated. So if a person is wearing a HAL and wants to get up, sit, walk, or carry something heavy, the HAL identifies the signals sent by their brain and helps them do all of those things.
The robot suit is a type of exoskeleton (like a second skeleton, but external) that can give you the extra strength needed to lift something so heavy that it couldn't without help.
The HAL robot suit can help people with physical disabilities or those doing hard physical work. It could also be used in rescue operations.
One of the fundamental factors influencing the current development of Japanese technology is the small budget that the war industry spends for defense.
Conclusions
In Japan, to achieve its economic recovery, international technological competition has been preferred to act on the cost of production and the quality of the product, thereby influencing the magnitude of the value within the technology branch selected as the key penetration sector in the world market.
Today Japan is the world leader in patent applications, and almost all of them are for new uses or derivatives of existing technologies.
The strategy that Japan has been applying for some years is to follow advanced technology, this strategy has been called: "For an innovative Japan" which consists of focusing on how to improve the competitive strength not only of the manufacturing sector but of the country as a whole.
Japan remains a formidable industrial power at this time. Its manufacturers produce competitive exports and thanks to technological innovations, they have gained leadership in different product categories that incorporate higher value-added components.
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