From fiscal 2014, the government and road administrators will launch full-fledged inspections for aging social infrastructure, which is likely to boost PASCO’s earnings over the medium and long terms. Much of Japan’s infrastructure was built during its postwar boom from 1955 to 1973, and will require massive investments for repair and replacement over the next few decades. As costs for repair, management and overhaul of social infrastructure continue to swell, it could result in constraints for new infrastructure project funding due to expected further declines in long-term public investment as Japan faces an era of declining birthrates and an aging population. The government intends to use advanced technologies, including geospatial information and analysis to implement highly reliable, low-cost, efficient inspections required for the vast amount of road maintenance.

Maps and surveys have played important roles in developing social infrastructure in nations over the course of history. The Japanese government aims to deploy Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) by around 2020. This would involve a paradigm shift in social infrastructure, as ITS transforms roads into a smart “infrastructure system”. In order to achieve such an infrastructure system, it will inevitably require more advanced and accurate mapping data.