The Government’s new IT strategy

 ■ The Government’s new IT strategy

I asked the Cabinet Secretariat’s IT Strategy Office about the Government’s new IT strategy. Their reply was that they would push ahead with digital reform of Government services.

The three pillars of their approach are:

1. The full digitalization of Government services

2. The full disclosure of Government-held data

3. Laying the foundations of digital reforms

1. The full digitalization of Government services

The goal is to create a society in which all Government services — from start to finish — can be completed digitally. There has been progress toward starting legal reforms in order to eliminate the need for submission of paper-based supporting documents and the full digitalization of social security and taxation procedures. The goal is to propose a comprehensive ‘digital-first’ law for implementation of related matters in one fell swoop.

There are 43,000 types of Government services on offer, of which only 12%, or 5,000 have been moved online. This is because many procedures call for paperwork to be submitted in hard-copy. A certified copy of one’s family register must be procured from city hall when applying for social security benefits or a passport. There are 47 million such applications per year. Each year, there are 200 million applications made that require supporting documents to be attached in hard-copy! The policy is for a complete shift to digital methods, including for these supporting documents.

Moreover, around 0.9% of Government services (395 programs) account for 98% of submitted applications. There is apparently going to be a root-and-branch review of those services that are hardly ever applied for — perhaps they are not necessary.

The following three principles of digitalization have been proposed in order to accelerate this process:

● Digital first: citizens should be able to complete applications for services digitally

● Once only: There should be no need to resubmit paperwork that has already been submitted

● Connected and streamlined: All services should be available in one place

2. The full disclosure of Government-held data

Full disclosure will spur innovation through use of data and the creation of new businesses. A list detailing the data sets held by the Government should be released.

Six years have passed since the start of full data disclosure. There has been a strengthening from recommending disclosure to mandating it. That said, only 20% of all data related to Government services is managed electronically. Only 45% of statistical data sets have been fully disclosed. Only 17% of local governments have made steps toward open data. There is a long way to go.

3. Laying the foundations of digital reforms

We should set out basic rules for national and local Governments and standardizing terms, codes and characters. An issue plaguing the placement of family registers online is the incompatibility of character codes used in systems developed independently by different local governments. The IPA announced at the end of last year that it had completed ISO certification for 60,000 kanji characters. Cooperation on these developments is required.

Furthermore, Government policy is to promote digital reforms by private enterprise and the creation of businesses that harness IT and data. Other areas being pursued are collaborative projects involving agriculture, distribution and ports, etc.; promoting teleworking; use of open-source information in combination with data held by private enterprises; and promoting the sharing economy. 

As a board member of both VLED (and open data foundation) and DTA (a data logistics promotion council), I have been active in promoting collaboration between the public and private sectors, as well as being involved with an accreditation scheme at the Sharing Economy Association of Japan. I also have provided backup support to advance the IT strategies of these initiatives. The Cabinet Secretariat IT Office is doing great work in placing pressure on Government Ministries and Agencies as well as collaborating with private enterprise.