SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

AIMING FOR A

DIGITAL
SOCIETY
FOR DIVERSE HAPPINESSWith one of the world’s leading broadband
networks (connecting 98.8% of households withFTTH internet lines) and mobile phone service
covering 99.99% of the population, Japan offers
nationwide access to fast data transmissions.
Meanwhile, in the industrial sector, there isgrowing utilization of digital technology, such as
ICT solutions that reduce workloads and raise
productivity at manufacturing sites. However, in thewake of the COVID-19 pandemic a major issue has
been brought to light: the particularly slow pace ofdigitalization in administrative services, exemplified
by complicated procedures and slow benefit
payments.
In response to this situation, the Sugaadministration, inaugurated in September 2020, hascharacterized the “realization of a digitalized society”
as a policy matter of utmost importance and is quickly
moving to develop policies for bold deregulation.

Top: There is an increasing demand for telemedicine, which is expected
to play a major role in preventing infections during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Right: While closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an elementary
school was able to keep in contact with students through online classes.

12Through the use of digital technology,
Japan is rapidly advancing digitaltransformation that is human-centered andleaves no one behind, contributing to thehappiness of every individual by allowing
diverse citizens to choose digital services
suited to their needs.

In his first policy speech, Prime Minister SUGA
Yoshihide made a powerful declaration about creatinga new society in which citizens can complete a variety
of procedures without visiting government offices,and where those living in rural areas can do the same
work and receive the same medical care and education
as those residing in large cities. Additionally, theadministration has pledged to establish an agency
in charge of digital transformation that, with theinvolvement of exceptional digital professionals fromthe private sector, is set to become a powerful force
for vigorously carrying out the digital innovation
policy of the administration.
So as to bring greater convenience to the lives ofcitizens, the digital agency will be newly establishedin 2021. The new agency will proceed withcombining and integrating the national government’s
information systems, and will take an integrated,user-oriented approach to reforming administrative
services and operational systems. In addition,
the government will make arrangements so thatcitizens can use their My Number Social Security
and Tax Number Cards as a comprehensive tool forcompleting administrative procedures.
Not only will this digital agency create moresophisticated administrative service systems, but it
will also simultaneously encourage digitalizationin areas of the quasi-public and private sectors thatare essential to the lives of citizens, such as medicalcare, education, and disaster prevention, thereby
improving fundamental aspects of everyday life.
Ensuring interconnection among information
systems is essential to providing better digital
services—especially in areas where the jurisdiction ofmultiple ministries and agencies overlaps. However,given the current lack of standards for interconnecting
different information systems, the government will
first focus on establishing such standardization.
For example, in the transportation sector, thegovernment is working to establish an environment
where all transportation-related data, including
timetables, routes, fares, and real-time data on
delays, is interconnected, aiming to realize mobility
as a service (MaaS), which, in its essence, provides
customers with seamless transportation services
over multiple transportation modes such as railways,buses, and taxis.
The Japanese government will make a unitedeffort to digitalize the whole of society by deepening
partnerships and cooperation among ministries,
agencies, local governments, and enterprises.
Specifically, the government will actively promote

the concepts of “human-centered digitalization”
and “digitalization with no one left behind,” bothof which aim to add value to various services byengaging in reforms that prioritize the perspective of
the public, while simultaneously allowing people toparticipate in society at the time and place of theirown choosing, enabling them to demonstrate theirfull creative abilities. These two concepts will thus
form the basis for the administration’s digital policy,
seeking to contribute to the creation of a “diversehappiness.”

Haneda Innovation City commenced full-scale autonomous bus operationsin September 2020. Similar initiatives to run autonomous buses are startingup across Japan.

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