faction by preventing the nonplanned suspension of machines that could bring about losses to customers. Even if troubles occur, they can now promptly identify the causes of troubles and take countermeasures to minimize customers' losses. Furthermore, they build on operation and trouble data to find components vulnerable to troubles and revise product designs and production control to reduce maintenance burdens.

Manufacturers also provide services to help customers save electricity and prolong the service lives of machinery products by analyzing their operation data for proposing optimum operation measures to minimize load. These services represent their new value-added services.

## (c) Agriculture

In some cases, distribution and sales data are used for agricultural production. Big Data has just begun to be utilized for research on breeding and production of seedlings. But the entire agricultural sector has failed to make progress in ICT utilization or introduce Big Data on a large scale.

At present, data are used for production relatively frequently. Environmental, plant growth and soil component data are collected and analyzed to compute appropriate work, fertilizer and chemical volumes. These data are used for controlling vegetable factories and optimizing instructions to workers to increase yields, improve and stabilize product quality and optimize costs.

## (d) Infrastructure (road traffic)

As for infrastructure, we take up road traffic particularly. Statistical surveys had traditionally been used for figuring out traffic demand and preparing road development plans. Recently, however, mobile terminals and geographical information systems have been made available for figuring out dynamic demand and preparing more accurate road development plans. Car navigation data can be used for finding locations for improvements. Dynamic data are utilized for real-time traffic information services to help avoid traffic congestion.

Sensors are installed on roads to measure load on infrastructure and relevant changes and reduce road maintenance costs over a medium to long term.

### b. Estimating potential economic effects based on specific cases (Figure 1-3-3-1)

## (a) Distribution industry

In the distribution industry, an analysis of specific cases has made the improved efficiency of sales promotion and the optimization of orders as effects available for estimation. The former effect is estimated at about 989.4 billion yen and the latter at about 163.5 billion yen.

## (b) Manufacturing industry

The effect of maintenance personnel cost cuts (worth 4,738 billion yen) through remote surveillance on machines amounts to 15.5% of shipments (2010) from manufacturers of general-purpose, production and business oriented machineries. Electricity savings (worth 51.97 billion yen) through remote surveillance on industrial air-conditioners amount to electricity charges for 65,000 commercial air-conditioners.

## (c) Agriculture

As for agriculture, we estimated potential effects based on a case where the rice price rose by 29,000 yen per 60 kilograms due to synergy effects of quality control improvement through remote sensing and a brand-oriented marketing strategy. At vegetable factories, production costs are estimated to decline 12.5% to narrow the cost gap with outdoor cultivation.

Figure 1-3-3-1 Estimated potential economic effects based on specific cases

(Source) MIC "Survey Research on Impacts of ICT Innovations on Japan's Socioeconomic System" (2013)