If you thought humiliating failures such as the ICOT Institute for Computers of Tomorrow or Fifth Generation Computing project had put the Japanese off the idea of grand national high-tech development efforts, again. According to the Nippon Keizai Shimbun, the Ministry of International Trade & Industry will seek funds to support a research drive to develop a range of advanced electronics products, including 4G-bit memory chips in the budget for the fiscal year that starts in April next year. The paper did not specify the size of the funding, but said the Ministry was likely to help set up a research co-operative of electronic firms to do the work – but this time, foreign as well as Japanese firms will be asked to join the group. The newspaper said the ministry also intends to support development of liquid crystal displays that would require a tenth the energy used by current displays, for palm-top portable computers. Ministry officials declined to comment to Reuter on the report, saying formal budget requests for next year had not yet been made.
