by CIO Staff

Japan: Land of the Rising Search Engine?

News
Dec 19, 20051 min
Internet

Google and Yahoo should take heed.  Japan is looking into an Internet search engine of its own, the Associated Press reports.

On Friday, the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, along with roughly 20 Japanese electronics companies and universities, will gather for the first time to discuss the implications of a Japanese search engine, according to Fumihiro Kajikawa, a ministry official in charge of information policies.  Kajikawa says NTT, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Tokyo University are involved, and additional electronics companies such as Fujitsu and Hitachi are also expected to join.  

“The group will look into issues including whether Japan will start its own search engine,” Kajikawa said.

They plan to have put together an interim analysis by March and a final report by July.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper reported that the Japanese government plans to invest several billion yen (tens of millions of U.S. dollars) for a three-to-five year search engine development project, reports the Associated Press.

By Al Sacco