How to successfully promote ICT usage: A comparative analysis of Denmark and Japan

The paper presents a comparative analysis of two advanced ICT nations, Japan and Denmark. While Japan is very advanced with respect to its telecommunications infrastructure, Denmark has come further than Japan regarding the use of ICT infrastructures. This paper compares Denmark, a leader in ICT usage, and Japan, which lags in that regard, analyzes differences in institutions, technologies, and services offered, and examines factors contributing to the success of Denmark in promoting ICT usage from a Japanese perspective. Strong governmental leadership, and common techno-infrastructure such as personal ID and digital signature that serve different systems, and user-orientation of service design are the characteristics of Danish efforts absent in Japan.

• This paper compares Denmark, a leader in ICT usage, and Japan, a laggard.
• Japan’s advanced infrastructure does not translate in advanced ICT usage.
• Institutional, technological, services and social backgrounds are reviewed.
• Key factors include strong governmental leadership and user-oriented services.
• Common technological infrastructure such as personal ID is the key to efficiency.