Information infrastructure development: international comparison between the United States and Japan

Abstract The Clinton-Gore Administration won the presidential election by propagating “change” and “competitiveness”. The new administration is now paying serious attention to the development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII), often referred to as the “Information Highway”, which is a key component of its technology policy for regaining American manufacturing competitiveness. This article first compares the history of the NII with that of the Japanese Information Infrastructure (JII). Then, this study describes the political, economic and technical issues related to the implementation of NII and JII that need to be overcome by the United States and Japan, respectively. This study incorporates a Japanese perspective in the development of the Information Highway in the framework of a government/business relationship. This international comparison among four players (American business, American government, Japanese business, and Japanese government) serves as a conceptual basis for understanding the Information Highway plans of the two major industrial nations.