The Digital Agency was launched Wednesday to serve as a command center for the government's digital policy. The aim is to unify government services' information technology systems and promote digitization in the public and private sectors to improve convenience for residents.
In light of the current novel coronavirus disaster, the agency will be set up so that benefit payments can be provided automatically in emergency cases.
The establishment of the agency is part of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's stated policy goals. The prime minister heads the agency in order to eliminate sectionalism among government ministries and agencies. The agency has the authority to issue advisories to other ministries and agencies and oversees the overall digital policy.
The prime minister is supported by a digital minister and a chief digital officer. The CDO position is equivalent to a vice-minister in other ministries and agencies and supervises various departments within the agency.
The same day, Suga appointed Takuya Hirai, minister for digital transformation, as digital minister, and Yoko Ishikura, professor emeritus at Hitotsubashi University, as chief digital officer.
The agency is housed in the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho commercial complex in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. A third of the about 600 members of the agency have been recruited from the private sector.
The agency will work to promote online administrative procedures and to expand the use of Individual Number Cards for the My Number personal identification system. For example, by registering financial account numbers to the designated website Mynaportal, eligible cash benefits will automatically be paid into the account. The system is planned to be operational by the end of fiscal 2022.
Through the digital system, administrative procedures such as submissions of moving-out notifications to municipalities and applications for childcare facilities will be made possible via smartphones without having to go to municipal offices. More medical institutions will accept Individual Number Cards in place of health insurance cards, and the integration of the cards with driver's licenses is planned to start by the end of fiscal 2024.
In addition to standardizing systems of central government ministries and agencies, local governments' systems for 17 administrative areas, including basic resident registers and resident tax, will also be standardized.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
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