The advantage of IT-based digital services is that they are relatively easy to start, even if the scale of the business is small.

After all, the fact that the equipment is an "immaterial program" is a big advantage.

Depending on the nature of the service, a single person can operate the service (one-person operation).

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Programs are like free, except for the development and maintenance costs, and computers can be kept quite inexpensive by using a cloud like AWS.

Cyber attacks are a concern.

Although we must be especially careful about the leakage of customer information, a small service system has the advantage of having only a small amount of information to manage.

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In such a small-scale IT system, the bottleneck is always "labor cost".

The profit that comes from the services of a small system is like the small change that goes into the money box of a shrine, except on the three New Year's days.

If the minimum wage of 1,041 yen per hour is deducted from this amount, there is no way that service can be established.

Most of the unattended (near-unattended) IT services are now free services, and they are making a small profit from advertising revenue -- I don't think the web-based market is promising.

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I'm wondering if it's possible to create an IT service that allows for one-operation -- as a post-retirement start-up.

Internet banks, for example, default to chatting with customers, that is even not perfect one-person operations, though.

This time, when I had a chat conversation with a NetBank, the response speed clearly made me think that I was chatting with several customers at the same time.

Even so, just the fact that there was a link to the conversation gave me a sense of security.

It's much better than a call center that can't be connected forever.

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I, am considering a one-operation operation for buses, cabs, and, if possible, trains.

If I work with a computer, I think I can manage the operation of about 1,000 buses and cabs, or manage reservations, with just one operator.

Actually, this was influenced by Marginal Operations by Yuri Shibamura.

The protagonist of this novel looks at a computer equipped with a GIS system and gives instructions via a terminal to 1000 children who move as combatants on the battlefield.

Of course, this is a novel, and I don't think such tactical operations are possible in the real world, but it still makes me think, "What if?

Since "battles" do not occur in bus, cab, and train operation management and reservation management, the operational load should be much smaller.

As an operator, my job would be to deal with traffic jams, flat tires, engine trouble, personal injury, etc.

However, on a day when it snows in the city center, it may require a very difficult operating experience.

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I also think that if I am going to provide this kind of service, I need to create the entire service system "on our own".

This is because, frankly speaking, when a system failure occurs, the only person who can quickly fix it and resume service is the creator of the system.

If I think about it -- if the operator of the service is the developer of the service system, I think that small-scale one-operation IT services are well within the scope.