April 2020 to March 2021

Tadashi Shikimori(Senior Fellow, Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies)

   The delay in the digitalization of the Japanese government has already been pointed out for some time. The reality of the digitalization of administrative services, however, has once again become concretely and symbolically evident during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the policies taken in response to it, as seen in the confusion and delay in the processing of applications for special cash payments.

   The main pillars of the Suga Cabinet policy agenda, which was launched in September 2020, included, in addition to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotion of the digitalization of government and the establishment of a digital agency to promote digitalization. After completing a study on COVID-19 countermeasures and the post-pandemic new normal within a short period from October to December 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a Cabinet decision was made on December 25, 2020, to enact the "Basic Policy for Reforms toward the Realization of a Digital Society.” On February 9, 2021, the existing "Basic Act on the Formation of an Advanced Information and Telecommunications Network Society" was abolished, and the “Basic Act on the Formation of a Digital Society” was newly enacted. The so-called "Digital Reform Bills," such as the "Bill to Launch a Digital Agency” to establish a digital agency in September 2021 were then approved by the Cabinet.

   Meanwhile, the confusion brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has become a major issue for local governments, who are close to the frontline of efforts to provide direct administrative services to residents. While some local governments have already taken their own urgent measures by utilizing and collaborating on private sector data, there is still a growing need to revise existing digital plans and formulate new ones with a focus on COVID-19 countermeasures and the post-pandemic new normal.

   For example, Mie Prefecture has reviewed the digital plan it had been considering before the COVID-19 pandemic and has formulated a new "Mie Digital Strategy Promotion Plan" in June 2020. Likewise, in July 2020, Ehime Prefecture has established the Ehime Prefectural ICT Promotion Council and has begun formulating the "Ehime Prefecture Comprehensive Digital Strategy," a new comprehensive strategy premised on digital transformation as the first such initiative among prefectural governments for that fiscal year. Furthermore, Sakata City in Yamagata Prefecture has appointed a top executive of an IT company as its CDO and has created a system to promote the digitalization of government through collaboration between industry, government, and academia, including major telecommunications companies and universities—an initiative that is unusual in Japan. The city has established the "Sakata City Digital Transformation Strategy" in March 2021.

   Ironically, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly spurred the momentum of discussions on the digitalization of government. Going forward, central and regional governments need to regularly review administrative services and continually carry out reforms.