Also, in conjunction with APPLIC (The Association for Promotion of Public Local Information and Communication), the MIC is promoting the widespread adoption of Standard Specifications for Regional Information Platforms, rules to be applied to various individual systems, in order to facilitate linkups of regional information systems.

### 3. Promotion of barrier-free information

## (1) Promotion of a universal usage environment

With respect to web accessibility, to ensure accessibility to website in the public sector for everyone including elderly and challenged people, since December 2005 the MIC has been promoting the active use of the Operational Models for Government Website for Everyone that offer specific operational models for maintaining and improving web accessibility. In FY 2010, these operational models will be subject to revision on the basis of recent standardization trends. With respect to telecommunications accessibility, the ITU-T approved the Telecommunications Accessibility Guidelines, which had been discussed at the instigation of Japan, as an ITU Recommendation in 2007.

In addition, through the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, the MIC has been providing support for research and development of communications and broadcasting technology for the elderly and physically challenged so as to further the development of systems, devices and services for these segments of the population. Funding support is provided as necessary to corporations engaged in providing or developing communications and broadcasting services for the physically challenged (such as telephone relay services for the hearing challenged, etc.)

### 4. Promotion of content policy

Under the basic policy of market expansion in the contents field, as part of Japan’s efforts for strengthening the capability for growth and international competitiveness by evolving into an intellectual property powerhouse, the Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2010, (adopted by the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters in May 2010) designated “promoting a growth strategy based on enhancement of the content market” as a main pillar of its efforts, with these efforts to be pursued jointly by the private and public sectors. Within the Panel on International Competitiveness, part of the ICT Policy Task Force for a Global Era, the MIC has been deliberating on measures to promote content policy, and an interim report was compiled and released in May 2010. Concrete measures are scheduled for implementation henceforth.

Recognizing the fact that promotion of secondary use of broadcast content via the Internet, etc., necessitates major reductions in the time and expense of rights handling, the MIC is conducting verification experiments in conjunction with video content rights management association ARMA on the integration of rights management inquiries and the realization of more efficient handling of unclear rights cases. In addition, the MIC formed a study group composed of relevant businesspeople and experts, which held deliberations on concrete measures toward the realization of more transparent and fair production and trade, and in February 2009 formulated and released the Guidelines for Regulation of Broadcast Content Production and Trade (with a second, revised version released in July 2009.) At present, these guidelines are being thoroughly explained to relevant parties at briefing sessions, etc. In addition, in March 2010 the MIC, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and METI held the Conference on Promoting the Use of Publications in a Digital Network Society bringing together a wide range of related parties to consider how to promote the use of publications in a digital network society.

### 5. Development of ICT personnel

## (1) Development of advanced ICT personnel

In order for Japan to maintain its position as one of the world’s top ICT nations and maintain and improve international competitiveness, it is necessary to cultivate ICT personnel with advanced knowledge and skill in the rapidly advancing ICT field. Since FY 2001, the MIC has been implementing the Support System for ICT Personnel Training Programs, which provides assistance and partial subsidization as needed to joint public-private ventures and public corporations, etc. that implement training programs for ICT personnel. The “Haraguchi Vision” announced in December 2009 sets a target of training 350,000 advanced ICT personnel by 2020.

Starting in FY 2010, the MIC is also implementing a program to promote “future schools,” so as to extract and analyze technological ICT issues related to the classroom and work toward the construction of an ICT network environment conducive to “collaborative education” in which children teach and learn from one another.