citizens, NPOs, businesses, etc. voluntarily and autonomously participating in social activities addressing regional challenges, which will be a guiding force on a par with the governmental institutions that have led the public sector thus far. For this reason expectations are high for the role played by NPOs $ ^{34} $ .

Also the subjects of attention are providers of pro bono $ ^{35} $ services who use their specialized skills not for financial remuneration but to contribute to society as volunteers. They can be of great assistance to NPOs whose activities greatly benefit society, but which are short on human resources and funding.

With this in mind, we conducted a survey of local public entities, etc. regarding NPOs serving to uphold the “new public sector” and acting as a channel for pro bono activities, and specifically those engaged in regional digitization efforts. We analyzed the status of NPO participation, and challenges such as human resources and funding.

## (3) Correlation between ICT utilization and NPOs

Examination of the correlation with the composite index, to see if the existence or cooperation of NPOs has an impact on ICT utilization, found that the presence of ICT promotion-related NPOs in a municipality and/or cooperation with NPOs in the ICT sector was correlated with a higher composite index (Figures 2-2-3-7 and 2-2-3-8). It is evident that partnership with NPOs helps to promote ICT utilization.

Regarding the correlation between establishment of digitization NPOs and the financial capability index, it was found that 68.3% of NPOs are in cities or special wards of Tokyo with a financial capability index of 0.75 or higher, whereas municipalities with financial capability index of 0.3 or less (generally speaking, the bottom 25% of municipalities) contained only 2.7% of such NPOs.

## (4) Toward promotion of ICT utilization through partnerships

In order to revitalize local ICT utilization, first of all it is desirable for a wide variety of actors within regions to form cooperative partnerships. Particularly, high expectations are placed on NPOs, and in reality those regions

Figure 2-2-3-7 Presence or absence of ICT promotion NPOs and composite index

containing NPOs and forming partnerships with them have moved further forward with ICT utilization. It is also to be hoped that NPOs will play a role in flexibly and organically absorbing the duties that local governments and businesses are incapable of fulfilling, and have an especially important role to play in small or financially struggling regions. However, it is precisely those regions most in need of such partnerships that tend to lack NPOs engaged in digitization efforts. Furthermore, many of such NPOs are financially or organizationally weak, and their capabilities are clearly limited.

Yes
(No. of local governments responding: 150)	No
(No. of local governments responding: 456)
ICT promotion NPO in local government jurisdiction?	53.6	48.8

Naturally, there is no need to limit region partnerships to NPOs, and partnerships with other actors or industries within regions ought to be explored. This survey indicated that as there is difficulty in securing ICT human resources within regions, it is necessary to establish partnerships with a wide range of external actors and personnel as well.

Figure 2-2-3-8 Cooperation with NPOs in the ICT sector or lack thereof, and composite index

Yes
(No. of local governments responding: 38)	No
(No. of local governments responding: 568)
Cooperation between local government and NPO on ICT-related matters?	56.1	49.6

(Source) Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications "Study on Promotion of Programs Employing ICT" (2011)