Japan’s Legacy of Technology in the Digital Era : A Mixed Methods Analysis of the Competitive Advantage of the IoT sector in Japan

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether Japan achieves a competitive advantage through digital technologies in order to enhance its socio-economic prosperity in this highly connected world. The author analysed the competitive advantage of Japan’s ICT sector with a particular focus on IoT through Porter’s Diamond Model of National Competitive Advantage. The main motive behind choosing this sector is academic suggestions that technology innovation can boost productivity, and therefore, foster the current development. Technology has had a distinct place in Japanese development since the 1970s when the country recorded its first significant economic success. The mixed-method research was conducted by collecting data from governmental (public) and non-governmental (private) sources in order to analyse the major components of the competitive advantage. The analysis revealed that the key drivers of the competitiveness within the respective sector are influencing each other negatively. Specifically, Japan lacks technology oriented labour force and startups driving innovation. The analysis also revealed that well-established corporations hold a strong role within competitiveness of Japan as they are closely tied with the government through networks. Hence the research concludes that the competitive advantage of Japan is rather weak with respect to contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.