Investigating Problems of Research and Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology in Japan

Japan is behind the United States in industrialization of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Thus, we must clarify the problems with AI research and development (R&D) in Japan. In the field of technology management, many studies have examined R&D activities using scientific papers or patent data, which represent the output of basic research and applied research, respectively. We attempt to reveal problem with the R&D of AI technology in Japan by analyzing data pertaining to patents and scientific papers, focusing on the linkage between basic and applied research. We demonstrate that Japan is weak in terms of patent clusters with no related to paper clusters. In addition, regarding patent clusters that are related to one or more paper clusters, we demonstrate that Japan has both strengths and weaknesses in these fields. Our findings could provide suggestions for R&D strategy and policy related to AI.