Smart poles could support 5G, Wi-Fi, street lighting and other applications
Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation has inked an agreement with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for the preliminary installation and verification of smart poles being carried out by the government.
Together with NEC Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation intends to install two types of smart poles in the Nishi-shinjuku area of Tokyo by the end of this month.
The Osaka Prefectural Government on May 29 launched a system for people to register their email addresses at shops and other locales they visit, enabling it to warn them if they have potentially come into contact with someone infected with the novel coronavirus.
Shops, event organizers and other facilities post a QR code issued by the "Osaka COVID-19 Tracing System" at the entrance. Visitors can then read the code with their smartphones and register their email addresses online. Registrants will then be informed by email if someone else who has been in the same spot on the same day tests positive for the virus, depending on the infection risk and conditions at the facility. A total of 2,586 people had registered with the system as of 4 p.m. on May 29.
Read more: JP: Osaka Pref. launches virus tracing, warning system using personal emails
If there’s one thing Japan is famous for, it’s infrastructure. From the thousands of miles of high-speed rail tracks that duck and weave between the mountainous terrain to the artificial islands that pepper the harbours of Tokyo and Osaka, Japan uses its land wisely to not only thrive, but to innovate.
It would be easy to lean on the already-excellent highways and bullet train networks that are fairly future-proof as it stands, but that kind of complacency doesn’t wash in Japan. You can get a sense of Japan’s commitment to futuristic infrastructure by looking at the under-construction.
Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic throws the global economy into turmoil and as commercial activities are paralyzed in Japan under the state of emergency declared by the government, at least one sector is seeing an expansion in demand — “virtual” business models and online transactions that do not involve face-to-face meetings.
Hiroshi Mikitani, chairman and CEO of Rakuten Inc., the massive operator of online shopping malls, says the group is doing brisk business — except for its travel unit. Government “stay-home” requests have sharply reduced demand for travel, but the growing thirst for internet-based services is making up for the losses. E-commerce by consumers buying daily necessities, web-based securities trade, viewership for videos and sports events, and videoconferences on social media are on the rise.
Read more: JP: COVID-19 pandemic prompts a digital revolution
A Japanese professor explains why smart city projects in the country draw from a national initiative to build smart infrastructure.
In Japan, a country with considerable technological influence on the global stage, the concept of a “smart city” has a strong social dimension, explained Atsushi Deguchi, a professor and vice dean at the University of Tokyo at Industrial IoT World last year.
Read more: In Japan, Smart City Projects Have a Social Dimension