About us

Why the Digital Agency?

COVID-19 Pandemic:

A wake-up call for Japan’s digital transformation

• Management of the health crises hampered by outdated and cumbersome administrative system
• In the past, each ministry, agency, and local government has been promoting digitalization separately
• Resulted in 1,700 local governments with 1,700 systems: procured and managed separately with dispersed responsibility
• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted such practice as ineffective

Digital Agency newly launched

• Last year, then Prime Minister SUGA Yoshihide made the digitalization of Japan one of his top priorities
• Accordingly, the Digital Agency was established at an incredible speed and launched in September 2021, contributes to reforming the culture of administration in a user-driven manner through digitalization
• The Digital Agency has strong powers of comprehensive coordination, such as the power to make recommendations to other ministries and agencies

What do we aim for?

Our Mission, Vision and Values

What will we do?

Policy priorities: “total design”

• Improvement of user-friendliness of online public services
• Development of common functions such as IDs, certifications, and infrastructure such as cloud services and networks
• Comprehensive data strategy
• Building digital capabilities through training and education
• Regulatory reform to allow use of new technologies
• Securing accessibility
• Ensuring safety and security
• Promoting R&D and demonstration
• Examine and Evaluate the program

Serve for the benefit of people

The Vaccination Record System (VRS)

• While administration related to inoculation is conducted at local governments, VRS allowed the central government to grasp real time data and effectively reflect the data in policy decision-making.
• Individuals who move across municipalities benefit from the interconnectivity of records.
• VRS allows flexible improvements– it will soon connect with online vaccine certificate apps.

In the global context

Data Free Flow with Trust

“ We must, on one hand, be able to put our personal data and data embodying intellectual property, national security intelligence, and so on, under careful protection, while on the other hand, we must enable the free flow of medical, industrial, traffic and other most useful, non-personal, anonymous data to see no borders, repeat, no borders.

The regime we must build is one for D.F.F.T., Data Free Flow with Trust--non-personal data, needless to say.”

January 23, 2019
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

Ministers

Ministers Profile

Message from the Minister (MAKISHIMA Karen）

Presentation Materials

• Japan’s Digital Policy (PDF/1,680KB)

Acts and Strategies

• Outline of the Basic Act on the Formation of a Digital Society (PDF/36KB)

• Outline of the Act on the Establishment of the Digital Agency (PDF/34KB)

• Outline of the Act on the arrangement of related acts for the formation of a digital society (PDF/60KB)
  In order to implement measures for the formation of a digital society, this act make required overhauls regarding related laws such as the Act on the Protection of Personal Information and the Act on the Use of Numbers for Identifying Specific Individuals in Administrative Procedures.

• Priority Policy Program for Realizing Digital Society -Overview-(PDF/264KB)
  National strategy for the formation of a Digital Society.
  Cabinet Decision in June 2022.

• National Data strategy (PDF/639KB)
  A part of Priority Policy Program for the realization of a Digital Society.

• Roadmap on the Utilization of Data in Education(PDF/1,731KB)
  Under the mission of digitalization in education, “a society where anybody, at any time and place, can learn with anybody in his/her own way," issues and necessary measures, as well as the roadmap, are clarified by ministries concerned.

• Report on the Questionnaire to Students and Educators on the GIGA School Initiative(PDF/788KB)
  As a response to voices from some 217,000 students and 42,000 adults (teachers, parents and guardians, etc.), ministries concerned presented future directions of relevant policies.

Service

• Visit Japan Web
  A web service that visitors（including Japanese and the foreigners who have reentry permits）can use for quarantine, immigration and customs procedures in order to enter Japan.