Japan acts to plug its IT gap

The Japanese parliament has passed a new Science and Technology Law in an attempt to secure better funding for university and other public sector research work. Funding for science, the new law decrees, is now a legal responsibility of the government.

The science law requires the government to produce a detailed ten-year plan for science and technology. Each plan, which will be monitored by the parliament, will contain strategies for raising research standards including, for example, ways of promoting increased contact between Japanese scientists and scientists in other countries.

But there are fears the new law will mean more interference by the government in academic research and that more of Japan's research will be devoted to commercial applications which suit the powerful industry lobby.

The industrial sector is desperate for higher standards of applied research at a time when the United States is reasserting itself as the world's most successful industrial superpower.

Other observers, however, have welcomed the law which they say should lead to more funds for basic research.

At present Japanese government spending on basic research adds up to less than half the amount spent by the governments of countries such as France and Germany.

The Science Council of Japan has repeatedly warned that Japan's reluctance to invest in basic research is undermining its international competitiveness.

In particular there is concern over the deteriorating state of research facilities at many universities. Even the University of Tokyo, Japan's highest-ranked university, has been criticised for the poor state of its research facilities.

"Shabby and dilapidated buildings, out-of-date equipment and a lack of space for new research projects are the chief characteristics of the research labs of many of Japan's leading universities," says student Hiroko Miura.

Researcher Yo****aki Sato added: "Many Japanese researchers just don't have the necessary facilities for creative research."