MITI, Japan’s Ministry of International Trade & Industry, hopes to establish a research and development centre specialising in computer software within 100 miles of Tokyo, Electronic News reports. The project, dubbed the Japanese Silicon Valley Project, has been set up to alleviate the country’s severe shortage of software engineers. Some anaylsts have predicted that by 2000 this shortage could reach around 970,000. It is believed that the 260-company Japan Personal Computer Software Association will be participating, along with another consortium of over 80 hardware and software vendors including NEC Corp, Fujitsu Ltd, IBM Japan Ltd and Lotus Development Japan Ltd. A further 30 national and local government-affiliated corporations and private concerns are expected to form a Software Operation Environmental Research Centre once the MITI site is selected. Their yearly investment is likely to be $7.7m. It has been suggested that another 22 companies are considering building housing within the park, as a separate move, and that involvement by foreign companies is being encouraged too.As well as providing residential and conference facilities, the park will feature a testing centre with a local area network, allowing designers to share 100 different systems and printers in developing programs. The park’s suburban location, MITI hopes, will attract smaller software companies anxious to avoid the high rental and wage costs of Tokyo, and efforts are being made to encourage urban programmers to the site accordingly. Work will begin on the Centre in September and it is planned to be ready in 1994.
