Various strategic measures introduced by the Japanese government to facilitate the information and communications technology (IT) revolution such as its e-Japan Strategy, which was launched by the Strategic Headquarters for the Promotion of an Advanced Information and Telecommunications Network Society in fiscal 2001, have resulted in the rapid penetration of information and communications services into all classes of the Japanese people and the formation of information and communications infrastructures such as that of broadband.

On the other hand, some people have blamed the sluggishness in the IT field, which was triggered by the burst of what had been known as the "net bubble" as the main cause for the current economic recession, and some others have even looked down upon the measures undertaken towards the IT revolution as passé. In addition, even those who have aggressively promoted these measures have come to pursue IT itself for their own aims.

Under the circumstances, it is necessary that we go back to the basics and revisit what IT really is and what we are trying to achieve through it. While it is true that IT has a significant impact on our lives, society, and even our ways of thinking, IT itself is merely technology. It goes without saying that technology per se will not become the goal of IT, and we should not allow technology to determine how human beings and society ought to behave. It is important that we take the initiative in determining the goals of IT and in achieving these goals through the employment of IT, which we call the “utilization” of IT.

What are the goals of the utilization of IT? In accordance with the Basic Law on the Formation of an Advanced Information and Telecommunications Network Society (2000, law number 144. Hereinafter referred to as the "IT Basic Law"), these goals are defined as "the promotion of economic structural reform and the enhancement of the international competitiveness of industry" (Article 4) from an economic perspective, "the realization of a national life that evokes feelings of comfort and affluence" (Article 5) in terms of people's lives, and "the enhancement of convenience for the people" and "the simplification and improvement in the efficiency and transparency of administrative management" (Article 20). In other words, it can be said that the utilization of IT is aimed at the full achievement of the above goals through the use of IT.

Can we say that we are fully utilizing IT, which will be “one of the most potent forces in shaping the twenty-first century” (“Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society” from the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit held in July 2001), in order to achieve the above mentioned goals? It seems that we are in fact far from the stage where we can say that IT is passé, and in reality we have only just reached the stage where we are beginning to utilize IT in earnest.

It is from an awareness of the issues discussed above that the feature section of this Information and Communications in Japan White Paper takes its theme, the "Stirring of the IT-prevalent Society." We will analyze the following; the status of the progress of the utilization of IT in each of the areas of business, public administration, and everyday life; the distribution of appealing Web content, the maintenance of information security, and the promotion of new services and technological development, which are cross-sectional themes in the development of IT utilization.