In present-day Japan
The reality of IT
The current state of IT investment in Japan
Japan's IT investments have remained limited to "defensive investments" such as improving operational efficiency, lagging behind the United States, which is using IT for "offensive investments" to acquire new customers and develop new products. Businesses other than IT service providers must also actively incorporate cutting-edge technologies and IT talent, and transform their business models to maximize the potential of IT systems, otherwise it will be difficult to win in global competition.
In Japan, "defensive IT investments" such as improving operational efficiency and reducing costs account for the majority, while some studies suggest that in the United States, "offensive IT investments" such as strengthening product and service development are more common. Furthermore, Japan has only about 1 million IT engineers, which is only one-third the level of the United States, and in Japan, the majority are employed by IT companies, in contrast to the United States where many are employed by companies that use IT. These factors are also considered to be contributing factors.
Excerpt from the 2015 Manufacturing White Paper


What is "aggressive IT investment"?
The area in which a company utilizes IT is defined as "Bimodal IT (two styles of IT)."
Bimodal IT:
What is bimodal IT (two styles of IT)?
This is a concept proposed by the IT research company Gartner in 2015."Mode 1" for Systems of Record (SoR) that prioritize cost reduction and efficiencyThis requires flexibility and agility."Mode 2" for Systems of Engagement (SoE), which is themed around "Two Styles"This refers to a technique of using different methods.
Many Japanese companies"Mode 1"This is because it is easy to predict the cost-effectiveness and easy to invest in, such as reducing costs by digitizing existing business processes."Defensive investment") is the cause.
On the other hand, companies that have achieved overwhelming growth are implementing services and added value that do not currently exist through IT systems."Mode 2"This investment has enabled us to differentiate ourselves from other companies. In this Mode 2, where it is difficult to predict the cost-effectiveness, we accelerate the cycle of verification using data ("Aggressive investment") and build an IT operations management department that can do it.

Now, let me explain specifically what it means to invest in IT in this "knowledge creation domain."






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