The cabinet minister in charge of digital reform on Thursday announced a plan to establish an agency by April 2022 to unify the digitization of administrative services.
"We have to work fast to get it ready to ensure we meet the prime minister's expectations," digitization minister Takuya Hirai said at a press conference.
The government intends to launch as soon as possible intensive studies using overseas examples as a reference and draw up a work schedule to get the process underway. It plans to submit bills to establish the agency and revise the basic law on information technology to the Diet next year, aiming for the swift realization of one of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's signature policies.
The government will promote the use of the My Number social security and taxation identification card as a means of promoting digitalization in the public and private sectors.
The card will be available for use as a health insurance card in 2021. The government also plans to integrate the card with driver's licenses as soon as possible.
"My Number is a passport to the digital world," Hirai said.
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