Before Japan hosts the 2020 Olympics, the country intends to improve local internet services by adding 30,000 hotspots inside the country and improve its database services to collect foreign travelers' demographic information as they travel into the country.
The two technological upgrades improves both the foreign travelers' stay in Japan in the 2020 Olympics and will help Japan's tourism economy as it would use the information to create new tourism packages.
According to Japan Times, by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Japan would have established 30,000 WiFi hotspots in the country. According to the Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry the project will improve connectivity for tourists and help effectively in unfortunate scenarios such as earthquakes and other potential disasters common in the country. Ministry Chief Official Go Katsuhata said the ministry confirms a total of 14,000 facilities already finished -- halfway towards the governments' goal.
The WiFi Internet Hotspots would be free for public use but authorities will restrict usage for unauthorized individuals in hospitals and educational institutions. The 30,000 WiFi hotspot project would enable Japan to connect tourists of national parks and museums into the internet along with several schools. Recent data from March 2016 shows only 26.1 per cent of elementary and junior high schools had WiFi access.
Another reason for better WiFi hotspot access is to allow Japan's second tech project to function properly. As foreign visitors register their arrival in Japan, the country could allow tourists to use just their fingerprints to make purchases by 2020. Having travelers sign a consent before using the prototype service introduced by the ongoing database upgrade, tourists' gender, nationality and items purchased would be collected.
According to Jakarta Post, Japan's database experiment is ongoing only in Tokyo, Kansai and Fukuoka. The news website said Japanese authorities might not collect sufficient information as tourists may be uncomfortable providing their itineraries and personal information from credit cards and bank accounts.
