Japan: PwC, NTT Digital to develop ‘digital public goods’ using Web3, blockchain

In line with Japan’s digital plans, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has unveiled a new initiative to increase the mainstream adoption of digital public goods among enterprises and consumers.

Dubbed the “Demonstration Project for Building Digital Public Goods Using Web 3.0 and Blockchain,” the initiative aims to develop novel and practical use cases for blockchain in Japan. With METI at the helm, the initiative tapped several industry leaders, including PwC, Rakuten (NASDAQ: RKUNY), and NTT Digital, to join the pilot studies.

The project is expected to proceed with four main themes, which METI says are broad enough to capture several 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 see the development of an RWA marketplace for Leaf’s Sake World, allowing consumers to purchase Japanese alcoholic drinks 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 spearhead Web3-based intellectual property (IP) protection for content. The Hiroshima Web3 Association bagged a deal with METI to champion “regional revitalization” using governance tokens on distributed ledgers.

METI scrapped its initial plans to pursue an information-sharing platform with industry players, suggesting that the plan had been dropped due to budget constraints. Other projects under the initiative received six-digit grants from METI’s war chest with the RWA marketplaces receiving $307,000.

The Ministry’s latest push into Web3 aligns with the country’s blueprint to merge the physical world with digital offerings while spurring rapid mainstream adoption. METI adds that the project will assist legislators in crafting robust laws to govern blockchain and digital assets, similar to the European Union’s Horizon 2020 grants.

Steadily embracing Web3

Japan has been incorporating Web3 across several facets of its economy, with government agencies turning to technology to reward high-performing mayors using NFTs. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida referred to Web3 as a key pillar of “new capitalism,” commissioning a Web 3.0 Policy Office back in 2022.

At the start of July, the Japanese village of Yamakoshi turned to NFTs in an attempt to solve its aging population 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 look to fund-raise sums in the region of half a billion dollars while also test-driving a new wave of social tech with global appeal,” said Yuri Group.

Watch: Web3 is natural progression of technology