TOKYO -- Japan will encourage domestic and foreign businesses to set up data centers in the country by offering tax breaks and other assistance, hoping to speed up its own digital transformation and to prevent sensitive information from being leaked overseas.
The government's Growth Strategy Council on Monday began discussions ways to promote data center investment. Given the amount of electricity needed to store information, power costs figure prominently in planning. Encouraging facilities outside big cities will also help mitigate the risk of a natural disaster crippling the facilities currently concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka.