Business and Economics Journal

Japan’s Society 5.0: Going Beyond Industry 4.0

Abstract

Ozgur Onday

The rapid evolution of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is bringing drastic changes to society and industry. Digital transformation will create new values and is becoming a pillar of industrial policy in many countries. In anticipation of such global trends, “Society 5.0” was presented as a core concept in the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan, adopted by the Japanese Cabinet in January 2016. It was identified as one growth strategy for Japan. Society 5.0 is also a core part of “The Investment for the Future Strategy 2017: Reform for Achieving Society 5.0” as part of its Fifth Science and Technology Basic Plan (FY16 to FY20), announced in April 2016, the Government of Japan aims to realize what it calls “Society 5.0,” or “Super Smart Society.” Society 5.0 provides a common societal infrastructure for prosperity based on an advanced service platform. The idea of progress has often been associated with modernity and social theory itself. In the bibliographical research carried out, as a curiosity the Wikipedia itself (in a consultation held on April 14, 2018) has referred to the concept of Industry 4.0, which raises interest worldwide in several, but it still does not have the concept of Society 5.0. In this paper, we can see that there is a lack of knowledge about the concept of Society 5.0. From a longitudinal perspective: “So, just what is Society 5.0? Taking a long view of history, I think we can define Society 1.0 as groups of people hunting and gathering in harmonious coexistence with nature, Society 2.0 as forming groups based on agricultural cultivation, increasing organization and Nation-building, Society 3.0 is a society that promotes industrialization through the Industrial Revolution, making mass production possible, and Society 4.0 as an information society that realizes increasing added value by connecting intangible assets as information networks. Society 5.0 is an information society built upon Society 4.0, aiming for a prosperous human-centered society.” Society 5.0 achieves a high degree of convergence between cyberspace (virtual space) and physical space (real space). In the past information society (Society 4.0), people would access a cloud service (databases) in cyberspace via the Internet and search for, retrieve, and analyze information or data. In Society 5.0, a huge amount of information from sensors in physical space is accumulated in cyberspace. In cyberspace, this big data is analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI), and the analysis results are fed back to humans in physical space in various forms. In the past information society, the common practice was to collect information via the network and have it analyzed by humans. In Society 5.0, however, people, things, and systems are all connected in cyberspace and optimal results obtained by AI exceeding the capabilities of humans are fed back to physical space. This process brings new value to industry and society in ways not previously possible. It is a presentation that is based on very recent publications, but which also has a prospective component, which always generates some in determination and uncertainty. Also, for this reason, it is a contribution that seeks above all else to contribute to this very urgent and necessary discussion.