In line with Japan’s digital plans, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has unveiled a new initiative to increase mainstream adoption of digital public goods among businesses and consumers.
Called the “Demonstration Project for Building Digital Public Goods Using Web 3.0 and Blockchain,” the initiative aims to develop new and practical use cases for blockchain in Japan. With METI at the helm, the initiative attracted several industry leaders, including PwC, Rakuten (NASDAQ: RKUNY) and NTT Digital, to participate in the pilot studies.
The project is expected to proceed with four main themes, which METI believes are broad enough to cover different sectors of the national economy. The project will establish marketplaces for tokenizing a range of real-world assets (RWA) with NTT Digital and Leaf winning contracts to build offerings.
According to a report, the project will include the development of a RWA marketplace for Leaf’s Sake World, allowing consumers to purchase Japanese alcoholic beverages while owning digital collectibles in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Rakuten will oversee the development of an image rights management platform using smart contracts, while PwC will lead Web3-based intellectual property (IP) protection for content. The Hiroshima Web3 Association has struck a deal with METI to promote “regional revitalization” using governance tokens on distributed ledgers.
METI scrapped its original plans to pursue an information-sharing platform with industry players, suggesting the plan was scrapped due to budget constraints. Other projects under the initiative received six-figure grants from METI’s war chest, while the RWA marketplaces received $307,000.
The ministry’s latest move on Web3 is in line with the country’s blueprint to merge the physical world with digital offerings while driving rapid mainstream adoption. METI adds that the project will help lawmakers create robust laws for blockchain and digital asset management, similar to the European Union’s Horizon 2020 grants.
Steadily embracing Web3
Japan has integrated Web3 into several facets of its economy, with government agencies turning to technology to reward high-performing mayors who use NFTs. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called Web3 an important pillar of the ‘new capitalism’ and commissioned a Web 3.0 Policy Office in 2022.
In early July, the Japanese village of Yamakoshi turned to NFTs in an attempt to solve its aging problem, raising nearly $500,000 for a slew of community projects.
“If their strategy works and expands to other villages, we estimate that rural Japan could raise funds in the neighborhood of half a billion dollars and simultaneously test a new wave of social technology with global appeal,” said Yuri Group . .
Look: Web3 is a natural progression of technology
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