0-030-01

Development of Platform for Electronic Submission of Application
Documents to Government Ministries and Agencies

New Media Development Association
Summary and Distinctive Features
Government action on electronic submission of application and report has progressedwith introduction of concrete action indicators since announcement of the "Basic Plan for
Promoting Administrative Informatization" (approved by the cabinet in December 1994).
However, computerization of more than 7,000 procedures involved for application, report,
etc., with national government ministries and agencies alone is expected to become a huge task
both in terms of time and budget. Under such circumstances, development of a genericelectronic submission system of applications and reports that delivers the common requirements
in administrative processing for all national government organizations is believed to contributeto development and ground of the foundation for electronic administrative processing.
The New Media Development Association has developed Japan's first "Internet-based
electronic submission system for XML documents" under the 1996 supplementary budget
program managed by the Information-technology Promotion Agency with financial support ofthe Ministry of International Trade and Industry. In the project, the basic common necessities inInternet-based electronic submission have been identified. Testbed operation of the system forapplication procedures at MITI confirmed its viability.
In the current project, the goals have been set on development of necessary components
shared in common in electronic submission (corresponding to the various functions necessary inelectronic submission) based on the Internet-based electronic application system for XML anddevelopment of a generic electronic submission system comprised of such components.
In addition, a generic system with high level of user-friendliness adopting the existing
methods of submission, including floppy-disk, fax, and dial-up network, will be developed. Theefficacy, operability of the generic system will be examined in a testbed coordinated with actual
inspection administration system, etc., at MITI, etc.
The key to wider acceptance of electronic submission to government offices is assurance
of interoperability with electronic submission system adopted in various administrative services
in national government organizations. Assurance of interoperability is expected to bring
dramatic reduction of economic and manpower resources consumed in system setup,management, and use.

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Outline and Scale of Development & Testbed
Summary of system
Documents used in electronic submission are electronic documents consisting of various
data, including formats stipulated by law, etc., and accompanying documents. In Internet-based
submission, "digital signature" corresponding to "corporate stamp" is necessary to assure
authenticity and substantiation of application content.
In this project, a generic electronic submission system is to be developed for application
as a generic electronic application procedure that is customizable for various administrative
procedures.
For this purpose, the "electronic application workflow model" and "electronic application
document model" will first be defined as framework in administrative application. In order toensure transmission of application documents via the Internet, an implementation specificationfor "electronic application transport protocol" suited for this purpose will defined.
Next, components corresponding to the various necessary functions will be developedwith the specifications established.
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has been adopted as data format for electronicsubmission. Hence, function will be developed for production of the application template forapplication forms to be distributed by various administrative organizations.
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In addition, functions for supporting application form production to applicants, forhandling charge payment certification with "electronic revenue stamps," and for inspecting
format to confirm excess or shortfall in accompanying document are scheduled to be developed.
Furthermore, development will also be implemented for functions executed on data after
format inspection, namely, data coordination with data content inspection system, tag-based
notice to applicant for issuing comments on application content, notification of application oncompletion of inspection, and electronic storage to assure authenticity of application document.
With XML, reduction on workload for the application and greater efficiency and speed inapplication acceptance are made realized. It also realizes data coordination between application
data and the administrative inspection system and communication between the applicant and theadministrators in the course of inspection.
Besides such functions, management functions for key and certificates necessary inencryption and signature processing employing encryption library and public key infrastructure(PKI) will be provided as components to support management of the electronic application
system. These functions are expected to reduce the work load for developers and managers ofeach submission system.
With the combination of these components and subsystems supporting existing electronicsubmission methods, a versatile system adapted to generic application procedure can bedeveloped. Depending on conditions surrounding the application process, a versatile system canbe developed with selection of functions needed and use of standardized interface that is highly
convenient and easily customizable.
Outline of the testbed
Testbed operation will be executed in electronic application environment of MITI and theMinistry of Labor in order to evaluated its efficacy. The testbed expects involvement of roughly
10 prospective applicants (agents) for each application type.

Policy on Practical Application/Commercialization
The system is expected to be introduced as a standard system for in-house electronic
application administration in the year 2000 or later. As for other ministries and agencies, use ofthis system will be urged to assure interoperability. At the same time, a liaison council
consisting of administrative authorities and various developers and vendors will be formed in
the New Media Development Association to support greater dissemination.
Moreover, the specifications for the "electronic application workflow model," the"electronic application document model," and the "electronic application transport protocol"
will be disclosed widely, and the components and system developed to be made available as free
software in the future.

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Disclosure will entail conclusion of free-of-charge licensing agreements with users inorder to gain user feedback on function improvement and reinforcement and hence to achieve
greater safety and user-friendliness.

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