Japan Is Getting its Foot in the Door

Japan Begins Government-led Search Research [SearchEngineWatch]

This is an interesting development. Normally, I would be saying that any government-led foray into anything business is probably going to go very slowly and not do nearly as well as a private establishment could.

It's my opinion that governments are supposed to take us in directions that businesses will not be able to. There are several reasons that business communities don't do things - usually the reason is that there is not a good way to make a profit from providing a service. Other times, the service is something that everyone needs, and there is no business big enough to take on the task. Public transportation is a good example of a service that, in most areas where it is provided, fits these two characteristics.

However, governments all over the world actively direct their own economies. America has farm subsidies. There is OPEC. And Japan looks like it is trying to push its economy forward in the area of search. I think it's a good thing for them, because, at least from the looks of it, someone in the Japanese government has sat down and taken a good look at where the technology market is going. This is an intelligent move by government, and I hope it does well for Japanese businesses.