### 7. Infrastructure exports

The government has positioned the overseas expansion of infrastructure systems as one of its growth strategy tenets and is putting tremendous energy into advancing various overseas expansion measures in this area, particularly in high-level public-private joint trade promotions led by the Prime Minister himself. Promising fields for overseas expansion of infrastructure systems that have been cited include high-speed rail links, expressways, bridges, ports, airports, industrial parks, nuclear power plants, electric power, disaster-preparedness and disaster-relief management using satellites and satellite data, environment management and recycling (waste processing), medicine, water and sewer services, e-government, disaster-preparedness measures (against flooding, earthquakes and tsunami, landslides, and other disasters), early warning systems, climate change measures (satellites), and financial systems. To be successful, Japan must take the lead in international standardization activities and similar endeavors in the many infrastructure-related fields and systems and, from this foundation, strive to consolidate and bolster the competitiveness of Japanese technology while promoting strategic collaborations between enterprises. Overseas expansion of infrastructure systems also requires us to take aggressive approaches through public-private partnerships (Figure 5-2-7-1).

Attention is focusing on efforts by ICT enterprises to expand in ways tied to the global expansion of the infrastructure mentioned above. It is desirable that ICT enterprises package ICT-utilizing infrastructure installations to include not only constructing the systems but also providing operational support and after-sales service. The table below provides some examples of recent infrastructure export projects by Japanese ICT enterprises (Figure 5-2-7-2).

Figure 5-2-7-1 Examples of infrastructure-related fields where Japan is leading standardization

Field	Specific examples
Energy	High-efficiency coal-fired power generation systems, geothermal power generation systems, combined-cycle gas thermal power generation systems, electric power system stabilization/automated power distribution systems, etc.
Transportation	High-speed rail systems (bullet trains, SCMaglev), urban rail systems (subways, monorails, etc.), IC cards for public transportation systems, fast chargers for electric vehicles (CHAdeMO charging method), vehicle safety and environmental performance, intelligent transport systems (ITS), earthquake-resistant bridge technologies, rapid construction technologies for breakwaters and wharfs, air traffic control systems, port Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems, Nippon Automated Cargo And Port Consolidated System (NACCS), etc.
Information and communications systems	Terrestrial digital broadcasting systems, ICT for disaster preparedness, sensor networks (for the environment, disaster preparedness, etc.), detection systems for unlawful radio stations, optical communications access systems, 4K and 8K (ultra-high-definition television), postal infrastructure systems, central bank core systems, etc.
Living environments	Measures for non-revenue water (leakage), water and sewer systems, desalination systems, industrial waste water recycling technology, water purification tanks, etc.
Medicine	Medical systems (hospital operation and management systems), particle-beam cancer treatment equipment, catheter insertion methods, Japanese models of dialysis systems, etc.
Agriculture	Plant variety protection systems and methods of evaluating traits of genetic resources, agriculture infrastructure systems, value-chain construction for agricultural produce
Space, marine, disaster preparedness, and other fields	Quasi-zenith satellites, energy-efficient marine vessels, offshore structures (megafloats, etc.), fire, safety, and disaster preparedness infrastructure systems, etc.

(Source) "Study Report on Structural Changes and Future Prospects for the Global ICT Industry," MIC (2015)

Figure 5-2-7-2 Infrastructure projects by ICT enterprises (including M&As)

Enterprise	Examples of infrastructure projects
Hitachi	Hitachi announced in February 2015 that it had acquired a signal business and rolling stock business from Finmeccanica, a leading Italian defense and aviation corporation. Finmeccanica is a large heavy machinery firm involved in automobile production, shipbuilding, railroads, electronics, and other fields. It was also involved in the manufacture of the ETR 500 and other rolling stock for Italy's national ETR high-speed railway. Since Finmeccanica was planning to specialize in the aerospace and defense divisions, Hitachi was able to acquire the signal and rolling stock businesses. The total value of the acquisition is believed to be Hitachi's largest ever corporate acquisition. Hitachi's goal with the acquisition is to strengthen and expand its public innovation business unit that combines IT with public infrastructure.
NEC, NTT Communications, and Sumitomo Corporation	The three companies formed a consortium and won an infrastructure construction contract from Myanmar in May 2013. The contract includes installation of facilities to construct communications infrastructure, upgrading the Internet access environment, and assisting the operations of the communications infrastructure. The consortium will construct the country's main communication infrastructure, including a 30 Gbps large-capacity optical backbone communications network linking the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw, optical communications networks in each of the cities that provide 10 Gbps LTE communications, fixed-line telephone, and Internet communications, and 50 LTE base stations combined for the three cities.
Toshiba	Toshiba took over Landis+Gyr, headquartered in Switzerland, in May 2011. Landis+Gyr is a multinational corporation involved in the design, manufacture, and sales of energy meters, communications equipment, and software that collects and manages data from meters. By integrating Landis+Gyr's smart meter solutions with Toshiba's infrastructure, business, and home electronic products, Toshiba is aiming to construct smart communities that produce and consume energy efficiently and sustainably. Through Landis+Gyr, Toshiba acquired PowerSense, a Danish optical sensor manufacturing technology company, in May 2014 and GRIDiant, a U.S. technology company that makes control and analytic software for power distribution systems, in June 2014. As a result of the Landis+Gyr takeover, Toshiba has been expanding its business in the energy sector, including winning an order for smart meters from British Gas, the largest power and gas utility in the U.K.

(Source) "Study Report on Structural Changes and Future Prospects for the Global ICT Industry," MIC (2015)