Media Briefing and Symposium: Pilot Project for Digitalization of Certificates of Enrollment using My Number Card

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Digital Agency is working to expand the use of the My Number Card in the private sector by promoting new use cases and encouraging broader adoption for identity verification. This initiative aims to support secure and convenient online transactions for private services, including opening bank accounts, applying for mobile phones, using matchmaking applications, and preventing the illegal resale of event tickets.
To develop My Number Card use cases applicable to daily life, the Digital Agency has been conducting pilot projects across multiple sectors. Following the technical verification of the infrastructure for digitalizing university certificate of enrollment in the previous fiscal year, a limited-term social implementation was carried out, and a media briefing was held on March 17, 2026.

Objectives and Overview

Traditionally, in use cases where universities issue documents like certificates of enrollment and service providers, such as transportation agencies, verify them at counters, several issues have existed. These include time and location constraints for issuing and delivering documents, the operational workload of manually handling and checking paper certificates, and challenges in confirming authenticity and preventing impersonation.

In this fiscal year's pilot projects, the loosely-coupled VC (Verifiable Credential) model, technically verified in last fiscal year, was used to store certificates of enrollment from multiple universities in students’ smartphone wallets through the National Institute of Informatics VC issuance platform. It was confirmed that verification institutions, such as railway companies and karaoke venues, could provide services by confirming the authenticity of the certificates of enrollment stored in the smartphone wallet using digital technology, in addition to identity verification using the My Number Card.

Media Briefing Overview

After the demonstration period ended on March 17, a media briefing took place at the Kioi Conference in Tokyo, where the Digital Agency is located. During the session, representatives from the agency and participating private sectors shared the pilot results and discussed the possible future uses for My Number Card.

The session included service providers such as West Japan Railway Company and Koshidaka Holdings, universities including Yamato University, Hiroshima University, and Osaka University, as well as the organizations such as the National Institute of Informatics and OpenID Foundation Japan. Participants reflected on the pilot project and discussed their expectations for the future. Minister for Digital Transformation Matsumoto opened the session with remarks delivered by video message.

Message by Minister for Digital Transformation

With the cooperation of West Japan Railway Company, the National Institute of Informatics, the OpenID Foundation Japan, Koshidaka Holdings, Yamato University, Kyoto Women's University, Hiroshima University, and Osaka University, we conducted a pilot project to enable the social implementation of certificates of enrollment of universities in digital format. Based on the results, the Digital Agency will accelerate these efforts and continue working steadily toward a more convenient digital society.

(Video message by Minister for Digital Transformation Matsumoto)
A photo in the screen, the Minister for Digital Transformation Matsumoto in a navy suit, speaking directly to the camera in front of a white backdrop patterned with the Digital Agency logo.
(Photo of participants to the media briefing. Naohiro Fujie, Representative Director of OpenID Foundation Japan; Satoshi Koshidaka, Executive Officer of Koshidaka Holdings; Hideyuki Tanaka, Professor of Yamato University; Toru Yarimizu, Professor of Osaka University; Hidenobu Watanabe, Associate Professor of Hiroshima University. Front row from left: Soichiro Manabe, Manager of West Japan Railway Company; Takanori Toriyama, Director for Policy Planning, Service for Citizens Group, Digital Agency; Hiroyuki Sato, Professor of National Institute of Informatics (NII))
A group photo of eight men in suits standing in two rows against a white backdrop patterned with the Digital Agency logo. Back row from left: Naohiro Fujie, Representative Director of OpenID Foundation Japan; Satoshi Koshidaka, Executive Officer of Koshidaka Holdings; Hideyuki Tanaka, Professor of Yamato University; Toru Yarimizu, Professor of Osaka University; Hidenobu Watanabe, Associate Professor of Hiroshima University. Front row from left: Soichiro Manabe, Manager of West Japan Railway Company; Takanori Toriyama, Director for Policy Planning of Service for Citizens Group, Digital Agency; Hiroyuki Sato, Professor of National Institute of Informatics. The three men in the front row are each holding a Maina-chan, white rabbit mascot with a red number 1.

Symposium Overview

Following the media briefing, the “Symposium toward the widespread Use of Digital Certificates of Enrollment: The Ideal State and Prospects of Future Education DX” (co-hosted by the Digital Agency and the National Institute of Informatics) was held at the same venue following the media briefing.
At this symposium, in addition to remarks by the participants of the pilot project, the Digital Agency provided a presentation on the "Education DX Roadmap," and the National Institute of Informatics spoke about the “Motivation behind Launching the Symposium.” Furthermore, a panel discussion featuring multiple panelists was held to discuss the challenges and future development of "Education DX," including expectations for digital identities and digital credentials from the perspectives of various stakeholders.

(Photo of the participants at the symposium. From left: Soichiro Manabe, Manager of West Japan Railway Company; Hisafumi Mitsushio, Associate Professor of Juntendo University; Masaharu Kuba, Director and Takanori Toriyama, Director for Policy Planning of Service for Citizens Group, Digital Agency; Masato Obata, Deputy Director, Digital Interoperability Framework Groups, Digital Agency; Hiroyuki Sato, Professor of National Institute of Informatics; Naohiro Fujie, Representative Director of OpenID Foundation Japan)
A photo of participants taking a commemorative photo at the symposium. Seven men are standing in a single row. From left: Soichiro Manabe, Manager of West Japan Railway Company; Hisafumi Mitsushio, Associate Professor of Juntendo University; Masaharu Kuba, Director of Service for Citizens Group, Digital Agency; Takanori Toriyama, Director for Policy Planning of Service for Citizens Group, Digital Agency; Masato Obata, Deputy Director of Digital Society Common Functions Group, Digital Agency; Hiroyuki Sato, Professor of National Institute of Informatics; Naohiro Fujie, Representative Director of OpenID Foundation Japan. The three men in the center are holding a Maina-chan, white rabbit mascot with a red number 1.

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