3  7  with the growth of startups and small and medium-sized firms that are targeted for such investment. Nevertheless, the reality in Japan is that startups with innovative technologies and business models often lack business resources -- namely, people, goods, money, and networks -- which prevents them from growing significantly.
Innovation is not just the provision of new products or the creation of a new customer experience. It goes beyond this. It implies doing things differently right across the entire business model. Archaic structures need to be dismantled, and old mindsets discarded, to create a new, nurturing environment. Consolidated IT platforms will provide the launch pad for new successive waves of change.