The communications ministry intends to develop a conversation system that utilises artificial intelligence to fully understand the Japanese language, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. Private companies will also participate in the project.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is set to begin feasibility testing of the project next fiscal year with a goal to launch the system in 2020.

The ministry will compete against global companies such as Amazon.com, Inc. of the United States that have already made headway in the field. The new system will be compatible with high-speed next-generation 5G (see below), or the fifth-generation mobile communication technology, and will be able to converse in natural Japanese as if the user were speaking face-to-face with someone.

Conversation systems utilising AI can understand users’ questions and rely on a massive database of expressions to immediately and appropriately respond. The system attains more natural speaking capabilities as more expressions are accumulated in the database.

The new system will be based on a conversation system owned by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), which is under the communications ministry’s jurisdiction. It utilises a large volume of Japanese language data collected online in constructing appropriate responses to questions.

The ministry will collect conversation data in partnership with private-sector companies to enhance the system’s fluency in Japanese, a language with a number of distinctive characteristics including a tendency to exclude subjects from sentences. The system’s use of 5G technology is expected to enhance response speed and the accuracy of its expressions.

English-based conversation systems developed by global companies sometimes err in their responses to Japanese questions, depending on the content of the question.

The government aims to develop a new system that can answer any question in Japanese. The cost of development is estimated to be several billion yen.

In the United States, many devices sold by Google Inc., Amazon and other companies utilise voice recognition technology, which allows users to search websites and make online purchases through voice commands. Such devices are increasing in popularity.

The ministry also anticipates using the technology for self-driving cars and household robots among other uses. It is also expected that drivers and passengers will be able to casually chat with their vehicles and that robots will be able to detect certain diseases at early stages, including dementia, based on the content of the conversation.

■ 5G

Communication speeds for this new technology are expected to be 100 times faster than current speeds for smartphones and other devices, while communication capacity will be 1,000 times larger. Japan aims to launch this new service by 2020, when the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held.

With an aim to start services by 2020 — when the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be held — development of a new communication method called the fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) is picking up speed.

With technology that provides a 100-times-faster communication speed than the current mainstream technology used for smartphones and the like, it holds the potential to significantly change the way we live and work, and international competition is intensifying.

As soon as a Yomiuri reporter donned a goggle-type display headset, the scene of a robot factory spread out before my eyes. When I operated the remote control in my hand, a robot arm in the factory moved at the same time, and the reporter was able to move parts to their designated locations. It looks just like a crane game at a game center, but since the display lets you observe the scene from directly above or from the sides, grasping the parts was easy.

What the reporter experienced was using remote control via 5G developed by NTT Docomo Inc., and what I was watching on the display was a virtual reality image.

Images taken with the four cameras surrounding the arm are sent to the display and synthesised by a computer. It is a system that allows you to see images from any angle you like. When you move the remote control, the image and the arm move in the same way, so operating the arm that actually exists is not too difficult.

This is possible thanks to 5G technology. With conventional communication methods, it is difficult to smoothly transmit data-heavy videos necessary for remote operation.

From a distant location, a time lag occurs between the remote control operation and the movement of the arm, so precise operation is impossible.

At 100 times faster communication speed and with 1,000 times more communication capacity than the current mainstream method, called Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G means it only takes a few seconds to download a two-hour movie to a smartphone.

“It isn’t a dream to operate heavy machinery and do construction work around the Kanto region while in a Tokyo office,” said Atsushi Harada of the Docomo 5G promotion office.

A focus on service

It can also connect a large number of devices to the internet at the same time, with 1 million units per square kilometer. Even if you find yourself in a stadium filled with tens of thousands of soccer fans, all of whom are using their own devices, it will not be difficult to connect to the internet to check footage such as a goal shot.

You can also enjoy match videos from any angle on a smartphone — even from a player’s point of view on the field, which can be rapidly generated by combining various camera angles.

It is also expected to prove useful with automated driving. In the not-too-distant future when autonomous cars are put to practical use, it is presumed data will be exchanged among vehicles and between vehicles and signals at intersections, and that braking and other maneuvers will occur accordingly. The ability of 5G technology to provide instant communication between the devices is indispensable.

However, with 5G, the emphasis is placed on what services can be offered beyond technological development. If new services can be pioneered and revenue commensurate with investment can be generated, capital investment will increase.

British research firm IHS Markit and others estimate the scale of services generated by 5G will reach up to US$12.3 trillion (about ¥1.4 quadrillion) worldwide in 2035.

“It is necessary that the telecommunications industry will involve different industries, and draw up earnings models for 5G as soon as possible,” said Yosuke Ito of the Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc.

Ideas that connect such new technology to enrich our lives must be found.

Six Brunei Darussalam students recently participated in the first Global Robotics Challenge, also known as ‘H2O Flow’, at Washington DC in the United States, with three wins, two losses and one draw.

“Interestingly, they were also invited to a Special All-Girls Team Exhibition Match launched by Ivanka Trump, the daughter of American President Donald Trump,” Awangku Muhammad Rahimi bin Pengiran Haji Zahari, lecturer in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department of Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), told the Weekend Bulletin yesterday.

The students were accompanied to the United States by two mentors from UTB, Dr Sharina binti Yunus and Khairuddin bin Haji Ghafar.

In ‘H2O FLOW’, the participating teams learned about real-world water scarcity and contamination issues.

The Brunei students from several private and government schools and higher education institutes, were thrilled at being part of a unique global initiative to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

During the challenge, the Brunei participants formed an alliance with two different countries in a face-off against teams from three other countries.

A total of 162 countries competed in the global challenge, on July 17-18.

“We would like to thank everyone for such a wonderful event, which is cooperation at its best. Thank you, as well, to everyone who supported us from the beginning with their time, funding, support and inspiration,” said Awangku Muhammad Rahimi.

“We look forward to next year’s challenge in Mexico City!” he added.

App-based drivers appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday to intervene and order the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to lift its yearlong moratorium on the acceptance of franchise applications for vehicles used for app-based transport services.

Bobby Coronel, founder of drivers’ group TopSpeed, said it was high time that Mr. Duterte stepped in to address the issues faced by their sector, saying thousands of drivers affected by the moratorium just want “to work and earn a decent living for their families.”

“Tatay Digong, we are calling on you to help us. We fully support your programs. We only want to have a good and proper job,” Coronel said in a press briefing in Quezon City, addressing the president by his nickname.

Coronel and several allied groups went to the Department of Transportation to submit a written appeal, which they said bore the signatures of 122,000 passengers and drivers, mostly from transport network company (TNC) Grab.

Tim Orbos, the undersecretary for road transport, assured the groups they would “find ways to solve this impasse,” but said they should also “understand [the government’s] point of view.”

“We do not want them to stop their operations. We have to do our task as government. We understand that there’s a problem [in our mass transport systems]. Definitely, we would not do something that would further inconvenience the public,” he said.

In July last year, the LTFRB issued the moratorium as it cited the need to look into various concerns arising from the rapid acceptance of app-based transport services, such as surge pricing, passenger security and accountability of the drivers.

Earlier this month, the LTFRB announced it would start apprehending Grab and Uber drivers whom the TNCs allowed to operate without a provisional authority (PA) or certificates of public convenience (CPCs).

The crackdown, which could affect more than 40,000 drivers, was supposed to take effect on July 26 but was put on hold on Thursday after Grab and Uber filed motions for reconsideration.

At present, just about 3,700 drivers have been issued PAs and CPCs. The LTFRB earlier said it would fast-track the approval of around 11,000 applications.

Meanwhile, LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada yesterday disclosed that the original accreditation documents of Uber and Grab could not be found when she and other appointees of the Duterte administration took over the board last year.

“We tried to locate the accreditation folders of both Uber and Grab. However, after searching the office of the executive director and the chair, they were nowhere to be found,” Lizada said.

But the matter was a nonissue for former board member Ariel Inton.

“It is very easy to get a copy, assuming it was lost,” Inton said. “If it was lost in the executive director’s office, there are other copies [in other offices].”

Inton added that all LTFRB documents were “properly turned over” by former chair Winston Ginez to his successor, Martin Delgra III.

Grab’s accreditation as a TNC expired earlier this month while that of Uber will expire next month. Lizada explained that the loss of the accreditation papers would have no effect on the renewal of their accreditation.

Both TNCs have already submitted their petitions for renewal.

In a special joint session of the House and the Senate, legislators overwhelmingly backed Duterte’s bid to have martial law remain in force in the Mindanao region until December 31.

The vote came as troops continued their two-month long fight to wrest back the southern city of Marawi from Islamic State-inspired militants.

Duterte first declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23 shortly after the gunmen, waving the black flags of the IS group, occupied parts of Marawi, triggering weeks of bloody fighting.

The vote was largely a foregone conclusion as Duterte enjoy majorities in both houses of Congress.

But opposition lawmakers dragged out the debate, questioning why martial law was needed for the whole of Mindanao when the fighting was limited to only one city.

“I fear that the plan to extend the martial law in Mindanao will pave the way for a Philippines-wide martial law,” said Senator Risa Hontiveros ahead of the vote.

A slide presentation accompanying Duterte’s request, seen by AFP, compared the Marawi crisis to the Islamic State takeover of the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Marawi itself could now become a magnet for foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria, it said.

Most of the militants’ leaders remain at large, the presentation added, while about 90 of the gunmen have slipped past security cordons and can link up with other armed groups in the region to mount similar widescale attacks.

At the hearing, defence and security officials justified the extended martial law, saying that aside from Marawi, Islamist militants were planning attacks in other parts of Mindanao.

They said almost a thousand pro-IS militants, holding 23 hostages, were still active elsewhere in the south.

In Marawi, the military said only about 60 gunmen were left in a 49-hectare (121-acre) area of Marawi, but Duterte said he needed martial law powers to rebuild the city and ensure the war did not spread elsewhere.

“I cannot afford to be complacent,” Duterte told reporters Friday, adding the military would be conducting further “mopping up operations” even after they recapture Marawi.

“If there is a spillage it will not be as bad if you have this stopgap,” he added.

Duterte imposed 60-day martial rule — the maximum period allowed by the constitution — over the Mindanao region on May 23 within hours of the gunmen beginning their rampage.

On Monday he asked Congress to extend it until the end of the year, along with the continued suspension of a constitutional safeguard against warrantless arrests.

‘Never again’

Martial law allows the military to establish control with measures such as curfews, checkpoints and gun controls in a country where civilians are authorised to keep licensed firearms in their homes.

However, any martial law extension must be approved by Congress.

The subject remains sensitive in the Philippines, decades after the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos put the country under military rule for part of his 20-year term.

Thousands of critics, political opponents as well as communist guerrillas were killed, detained or arrested during the period, according to historians.

About a dozen protesters in the gallery interrupted Saturday’s hearing, chanting “never again, never again to martial law” before being escorted out.

Duterte had already beaten back a Supreme Court petition to declare martial law in Mindanao illegal.

“Once he feels that there is not enough opposition to a nationwide martial law declaration, he will go for it,” Senator Antonio Trillanes told AFP on Tuesday.

This is part of a bid to stay in office beyond his mandated six years, he warned.

Duterte, 72, insists he has no plan to stay in office beyond his term.

Duterte is widely expected to win approval for martial law in the region until the end of the year, with troops having failed to wrest back Marawi city following two months of fighting.

A slide presentation accompanying Duterte’s request, seen by AFP, compared the Marawi crisis to the Islamic State takeover of the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Marawi itself could now become a magnet for foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria, it said.

Most of the militants’ leaders remain at large, the presentation added, while about 90 of the gunmen have slipped past security cordons and can link up with other armed groups in the region to mount similar widescale attacks.

The military said only about 60 gunmen were left in a 49-hectare (121-acre) area of Marawi, but Duterte said he needed martial law powers to rebuild the city and ensure the war did not spread elsewhere.

“I cannot afford to be complacent,” Duterte told reporters Friday, adding the military would be conducting further “mopping up operations” even after they recapture Marawi.

“If there is a spillage it will not be as bad if you have this stopgap,” he added.

Duterte imposed 60-day martial rule — the maximum period allowed by the constitution — over the Mindanao region on May 23 within hours of the gunmen beginning their rampage.

On Monday he asked Congress to extend it until the end of the year, along with the continued suspension of a constitutional safeguard against warrantless arrests.

In an unprecedented move, both the House and the Senate met jointly on a weekend to vote on Duterte’s request.

‘Nationwide martial law’

Martial law allows the military to establish control with measures such as curfews, checkpoints and gun controls in a country where civilians are authorised to keep licensed firearms in their homes.

However, any martial law extension must be approved by Congress.

The subject remains sensitive in the Philippines decades after the late deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos put the country under military rule for part of his 20-year term.

Thousands of critics, political opponents as well as communist guerrillas were killed, detained or arrested during the period, according to historians.

“I am amenable to it,” House of Representatives justice committee chairman Reynaldo Umali, a key Duterte ally, told ABS-CBN television Friday.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has said previously he sees no roadblock to its swift approval by both chambers of Congress.

Duterte had already beaten back a Supreme Court petition to declare martial law in Mindanao illegal.

But opposition politicians have criticised Duterte’s proposal for a martial law extension, with some alleging it is part of a Duterte plot to eventually bring the country under a military-backed dictatorship.

“Once he feels that there is not enough opposition to a nationwide martial law declaration, he will go for it,” Senator Antonio Trillanes told AFP on Tuesday.

After this he could declare a revolutionary government to allow him to stay in office beyond his six-year electoral term in mid-2022, Trillanes says.

Duterte, 72, insists he has no plan to stay in office beyond his term.

With more than a century of history, Gwangjang traditional market is still bustling with shoppers and visitors.

Although it sells all sorts of goods from clothes to fresh meat and vegetables, the biggest reason that people flock here is food.

Long lines of stalls offer visitors a wide variety of food available at cheap prices, starting right from South Koreans’ all-time favorite delicacies – tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and sundae (pig intestines filled with glass noodles) — to sushi and beef sashimi.

But Gwangjang is best known for “mayak gimbap,” the seaweed-rolled rice with spicy sauce, so tasty that it is “addictive like drugs.” (Mayak is the Korean word for narcotics.)

Located at the heart of Seoul, in Jongno, Gwangjang is South Korea’s largest traditional marketplace. It is among the 100 must-visit places chosen by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism this year.

The market draws both shoppers and travelers, particularly travelers looking to see a different side of the city.

While stores selling other merchandise are closed on Sundays, the food alleys and vintage clothing shops are open every day. The market opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 11 p.m.

People with special needs are an undertapped source of manpower, especially in a tight labour market.

This was the key message yesterday at the first Fostering Inclusion At The Workplace seminar, attended by 160 business leaders from 80 companies.

“It’s a win for everyone,” said Autism Resource Centre (ARC) president Denise Phua, who is also an MP for Jalan Besar GRC and Central Singapore District mayor.

“The employers and tight labour market can tap on an underexplored manpower pool. If we train and support people with disabilities well, many of them can work,” explained Ms Phua, who was a panellist at the forum. She co-founded the Pathlight School – Singapore’s first school for children with autism.

The trick, said companies which already have an inclusive work policy, is to match jobs with the strengths of such workers.

United Overseas Bank, for instance, has 19 staff with autism in a 56-man team at its Scan Hub, where customer documents are scanned and classified. These employees have high levels of attention to detail and concentration – which managing director and head of group technology and operations Susan Hwee said makes them perfect for sorting and scanning documents. “They’re engaged and highly motivated… We should change the word ‘disabilities’ to ‘abilities’, because that is what we hire them for,” she added.

FairPrice, which has been hiring people with disabilities since 1983, has about 50 such staff. They mostly work with merchandising, displaying and replenishing stock. “One of them is very good at remembering stocks and he knows exactly which aisle lacks the goods that should be displayed there. We employ them according to their capabilities,” said Mr Tan Ying, deputy director and head of HR partnering at FairPrice.

ARC has placed about 150 people with disabilities in employment, with nine in 10 still in their jobs. It started its Employability and Employment Centre programme in 2012 and placed 20 to 30 people in each of the first three years. “This number has increased to close to 50 clients each year,” said Ms Jacelyn Lim, ARC’s deputy executive director and head of the Employability and Employment Centre.

There are also public schemes to help firms which hire those with disabilities, such as the Open Door Programme. It provides training grants for firms to develop customised programmes for those with disabilities.

But hiring such staff is not without its challenges. For instance, there may be resistance from managers and other employees who might not be comfortable with having colleagues who are disabled.

“We had an employee who asked questions hourly and it was too draining for the manager after a month,” Mr Tan recalled. “It calls for a lot of patience and empathy.”

Mr Gino Tan, Pan Pacific Hotels Group’s area general manager for Singapore, said: “We have various townhall sessions to tackle this so that everyone can… be cognisant of the need for adjustments.”

Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which organised the forum, has trained more than 30 staff with disabilities.

Two of them, 18-year-old Noramira Mohd Amin and 19-year-old Brenda Tay Wan Ying, who both have intellectual disabilities, said their work has helped them grow in confidence. “I like to work in a team and meet guests,” said Ms Noramira.

Said Ms Tay: “I can earn money and buy dresses for my mother and shoes for my nephew.”

“We try to formulate the tax collection mechanism because it is different from tax collection at factories,” said tax office spokesman Hestu Yoga Saksama said as reported by kompas.com on Thursday, adding that the taxes collected from online businesses were either value-added taxes (PPN) or income taxes (PPh).

He said, however, his office needed to formulate the mechanism for the tax collection because online businesses were new.

He explained that there were two methods to collect income tax.

First, a taxpayer makes a self-assessment of the amount of taxes he or she has to pay and, second, the taxes were calculated and collected by tax officers.

Meanwhile, online business owners pay their taxes through a self-assessment mechanism, Hestu added.

Hestu also revealed a low tax-to-gross domestic product ratio (tax-to-GDP ratio), which was only 10.30 per cent, indicating low obedience of Indonesian taxpayers in fulfilling their obligations.

“It is one of the bad indications of the Indonesian economy because it relates to our financial strength to develop this country,” he added.

The tax office set a target to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio to 16 per cent in 2016.