Emerging Markets Need to Learn From Japan’s Digital Uptake
This article is written by Brian Malika, a Contributor Author at Startup Istanbul.
Masaru Ikeda is the founder of The Bridge, he is a tech entrepreneur, tech blogger/journalist and system consultant based in Tokyo, Japan.
Well, for start-up founders who are living in emerging markets, you might be wondering what type of innovations will be available when the public takes up digital device usage in large numbers and at the same time internet connectivity becoming extensively covered. If that is the case then worry no more. Because today we will be exploring how a developed economy has experienced a substantial amount of its population being in possession of digital devices and con-currently internet connectivity being well connected across the country.
First of all, out of around 126 million people in Japan, 76.5 million of them have access to not just a mobile phone but a smartphone. This means that more than 60% of Japan has access to a properly working smartphone coulee with the well-connected internet system across Japan. This reality has pushed Japanese entrepreneurs to invent software applications that make it possible for the Japanese people to depend on their smartphones in almost every aspect. So the e-commerce platform has become a natural market that cannot be underdone anymore in Japan.
Ways that emerging economies can learn from Japan
It, therefore, becomes important for merging markets that are anticipating to go full scale in digital accommodations within their society ’s to initiate the process of learning on how Japan has experienced a disruption of technology in commerce and other social aspects.
Some of the ways that emerging markets can explore in order to learn from Japan’s digital uptake reality is to form media partnerships with Japan’s media houses so that stories and realities that Japan’s faces in regards to the digital disruption can be shared globally and especially among emerging markets with an ambition to learn the mistake as well as emulate admirable ways in Japan’s digital reality . And due to the language barrier between Japan and many other emerging markets, there might be a need for a language translation business opportunity that could be through a language software application to make it easier for emerging markets to learn on the digital disruption in Japan.
Also, the idea of compiling all the start-ups that are transforming lives in Japan’s economy and social life that is disrupted by the digital reality. In this way, it would be easy for emerging markets to anticipate the digital solutions that work better when a society migrates into the digital platform in large numbers.
Caution
However, caution needs to be taken so that it's not like emerging markets are completely anticipating the future of digital disruption and emulating solutions to the same base don Japna's case study. Remember that the digital revolution will be unique based on the social aspect of a community.
Also, new technological innovations pop-up everyday disrupting the ones being used at the moment. HHenceit would be cautious enough for the emerging economies to engage with economies that have been digitally disrupted with a lot of caution and not borrow everything as it is.