Japan’s Telecom Major NTT Docomo, Accenture Partner to Provide $4 Billion Fund for Web3 Exploration

Japan is accelerating efforts to utilise the next gen Web3 technology for a broader array of use cases. NTT Docomo, that is touted as Japan's largest telecom company, has teamed-up with IT major Accenture to fund the country's Web3 exploration with $4 billion (roughly Rs. 39,113 crore). As part of the collaborative effort, both NTT Docomo and Accenture will be providing training courses for engineers as well as business developers looking to enter the sector.

Japan's new prime minister, Fumio Kashida has been on a hunt to find ‘new capitalism' solutions to boost the country's economy and Web3 tools have emerged as national favourites.

“Web3 has the potential to form a new digital economy with a greater social impact than conventional economies, providing clearly defined benefits and secure environments for success,” said a press statement from both the companies.

The top two points of focus for this partnership will be to create a tech platform, capable of supporting all Web3 infrastructures and assist developers that wish to contribute to the Web3 ecosystem.

For Accenture, this is an opportunity to create an industry platform leveraging the potential of the blockchain technology.

“We will help accelerate adoption of Web3 by leveraging the expertise we have gained in regional development through our collaborations with stakeholders from industry, government and academia,” said Atsushi Egawa, a senior managing director at Accenture.

The collaboration will also explore ways to use Web3 to solve issues around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns.

“Web3 is the most impactful technological development since the Internet. We are glad to be promoting the Japan-developed Web3, and we welcome individuals and companies to join us in the global development of Web3 services,” Motoyuki Ii, the President and CEO, NTT Docomo said in a statement. The mobile operator claims to have over 84 million subscriptions.

This partnership keeps in line with the vision of the Japanese PM, who back in May had said that Japan would develop and foster a promotional environment for Web3, blockchain, NFTs, and the metaverse.

This is not the first time however, that a telecom major has stepped up to dabble in the Web3 space.

In June this year, South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom decided to create and operate a crypto wallet, powered by advanced Web3 capabilities.

With its wallet service, SK Telecom could be looking to stitch different elements of Web3, like cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the metaverse, together in one thread.