Pre- Forum meeting held in Mie for CJF2001

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister aims for awareness of the challenged for their independence using IT technologies.

"Speaking of an IT based society where all people can live with pride and confidence"
A joint session was held on Feb.17 in Hisai City, Mie Pref. attended by Minister Chikara Sakaguchi of Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, Governor Masayasu Kitagawa of Mie Pref., Makoto Naruke, a special advisor to Microsoft Co.,Ltd., and Nami Takenaka, Chairperson of Prop Station.
The pre-forum session seeks for mutual coordination among government, academic, industrial, and private sectors for promoting more job and independence opportunities for the challenged.

CJF is to discuss issues of policies on the Social systems for the challenged(a term used to describe the people with disabilities as they are given challenges by God) going beyond the established ties between the government and private sectors coordination as well as educational-industrial complex.
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Toru Tanii who established an IT based firm named "Integral", and will be the chairman for the 7th CJF 2001 in Mie coming November.
Mr. Tanii is a quadriplegia caused by a traffic accident.
The session started with a keynote address by Nami Takenaka, Chair of Prop Station followed by a symposium surrounding Mr. Sakaguchi. The panelists were Governor Kitagawa who invited the forum to Mie Pref., Nami Takenaka, Chair of Prop Station, Mr. Makoto Naruke, a special advisor to Microsoft Japan Corporation and a powerful supporter to CJF. They discussed for hours to expedite their strategic activities.

SAKAGUCHI: Among those activities initiated by Ms. Nami Takenaka,I am deeply impressed on her proposal of "Making Japan a country where the challenged can become tax payers." This is a great idea. It gives the challenged brightness and hope, and at the same time it gives the ordinary people a considerable warning as many of them do not challenge themselves. Therefore, this may be the starting point of a big wave of reform in our society.

KITAGAWA: The 20th century was the world for ordinary people to compete to build their wealth. Now, in the new century it should be a mature society for the people to participate with pride. We believe it is such an important task for the local government. We are trying to make this forum a starting point for our movement of
" normalization" and "full participation to the society." With great efforts and collaboration of the people participated today, I would like to build a community
here in Mie Pref. for the challenged where they can become tax payers, and where all the people may participate the society.
I have invited the forum in hopes that our activities will spread out all over the country.

"To build a community with competitiveness to the world" Gov.Kitagawa's strategy

NARUKE: I have been supporting CJF since its 2nd time with a secret intention.
Firstly, the population of aged people has been increasing steadily. Microsoft is liable to produce PC and IT related items easy to operate by the people with advanced ages and the challenged. "Let's take in those people as our important clients."
Secondly, we are in need of people who will work for us. Namine(nickname for Nami Takenaka) says "Technology enables impossible things and create business, and the challenged with full of impossible have more business chances because of their disabilities." This is true, and we may not survive if we did not work together with them. I have been supporting them to work together not only because of costwise but to satisfy firm's profit planning by this long term investment.

- Naruke made himself clear in the point of "IT and the challenged", and asked Gov. Kitagawa's view on the environmental adjustment.

NARUKE: The challenged who try to work at home are facing regional differentials such as higher telecommunication cost.
I understand you are trying to solve such problems here in Mie Pref.

KITAGAWA: One of the reasons of holding the 7th CJF at Spanish Village is because of their barrier free access. The main reason is that 6 large scale optical fiber submarine cables are landing, and they will enable us to dispatch huge volume of IT communications with the highest and the fastest scale in Japan. We'd like to demonstrate at CJF here at the Spanish Park, Mie-Pref that the challenged may work at home, and secure independence .

NARUKE: Not all the challenged can work at home and produce soft wares or home pages even if they are trained by IT based systems. Then, It will become necessary to induce foreign enterprises for venture Education in the community.

KITAGAWA: Yes, it is. Foreign venture investment is a useful way. Even if we can't induce firms, we may induce works.
Even without works we may invite people to come to Mie Pref. Wre have to try all of them. The overwhelmingly huge scale of optical fiber cables may attract IT related business and a lot of data centers will settle in Mie Pref., we anticipate.
The traditional structure of "plenty of water" and "inexpensive land" are still important structures, and, in addition, a large-scale information network shall be the most important item nowadays.
We have been dealing with the Education Committee the subjects students should study at senior high school or vocational school to be qualified for employment by newly opening IT firms. There are firms willing to open their workshop if they can secure a specific type of human resources here. They look for capable people.
Foreign affiliated firms claim that there is no English speaking staff at hotel front desk in Mie Pref., or guest cannot use his PC in guestroom. Such services should be improved and we have to make our community highly competitive to invite new firms to our community.

- Naruke asked Minister Sakaguchi about employment policies in the age of IT.
Then, shifted to the field of welfare and health care systems. Following the explanations by Mr. Sakaguchi the panel discussion was led to the common subjects.

SAKAGUCHI: The IT revolutions brought about a considerable influences to health care systems. Above all, let me point out the great advances in genetic researches resulted by the latest IT based analysis.
For example, you may understand know that your high blood pressure was transmitted by specific gene, and you will be given the appropriate medical care.
This will further prolong our life span.
The average life span of around 80 will be prolonged to 85 or even 90, and 85% of them are independent. The world of long life span is almost here. Then, the daily necessities for those age groups of 70~80 (the youth group of 70's ) will become popular in the market rather than the baby items. It is true that medical care for the aging society will be so expensive. On the other hand there will be a big industrial activities produced by the aging society, and it will produce more profit to invest the aging society than to the public works as well as more job opportunity. I see prospective future in the aging society.

KITAGAWA: I have been studying with Namine about expenses for the challenged, to grant full expenses from social welfare fund, and to train him/her for securing job and become independent. The result was always that the latter was inexpensive.
I believe that giving a training for job security and independence is much more profitable for the challenged.

TAKENAKA: Providing a seriously disabled challenged with social support for working and independence may invite more opportunity for people surrounding him/her as they may be hired the caring facilities. Our stance now is that we are not providing relief to the challenged, but we need their power and skill for our project.
Seriously disabled persons like my daughter needs 100% care. We are at the crossroads of the future of the challenged. Those challenged people with serious disabilities should be accepted as they are with full care, or should they be detached from our society under discriminating category? How could we apply IT technologies on them?
This year in our CJF in Mie, I would like to propose that we shall take such issues into our consideration.

- We are proposing at our forum that the challenged but willing to work, and those ordinary people with advanced ages are able to receive IT based trainings if they desire for their working and independent life to participate to our society. The CJF is to discuss the subject with the government and the private sector may carry out hand in hand such a society as an appropriate and practical society in the 21st century .

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