Japan will no longer require floppy disks for submitting some official documents

is an revolutionary nation that leads the best way on many technological fronts. However the wheels of forms typically flip extremely slowly there. A lot so, that the federal government nonetheless requires companies to supply info on floppy disks and CD-ROMs after they submit sure official paperwork.

That is beginning to change. Again in 2022, Minister of Digital Affairs Taro Kono urged numerous branches of the federal government to The Ministry of Economic system, Commerce and Business (METI) is without doubt one of the first to make the swap. “Beneath the present legislation, there are numerous provisions stipulating using particular recording media resembling floppy disks relating to utility and notification strategies,” METI mentioned final week, in line with .

After this calendar yr, METI will not require companies to submit knowledge on floppy disks underneath 34 ordinances. The identical goes for CD-ROMs in relation to an unspecified variety of procedures. There’s nonetheless fairly some solution to go earlier than companies can cease utilizing both format solely, nevertheless.

Kono’s employees recognized some 1,900 protocols throughout a number of authorities departments that also require the likes of floppy disks, CD-ROMs and even MiniDiscs. The bodily media necessities even utilized to key industries resembling utility suppliers, mining operations and plane and weapons producers.

There are a few essential the explanation why there is a push to cease utilizing floppy disks, as factors out. One main issue is that floppy disks could be laborious to return by. Sony, the final main producer, . One other is that some knowledge sorts simply will not match on a floppy disk. A single picture can simply be bigger than the format’s 1.4MB storage capability.

There are another industries that also depend on floppy disks. Some older planes want them for avionics, as do and a few getting old medical units. It additionally took the US authorities to cease utilizing floppy disks to coordinate nuclear weapon launches.