This page has been translated using TexTra by NICT. Please note that the translation may not be completely accurate.If you find any mistranslations, we appreciate your feedback on the "Request form for improving the automatic translation ".

2023: The Fourth Expert Meeting for Policy Evaluation and Public Administration Project Review

Overview

  • Date and time: August 8, 2023 (Tue) from 16:30 to 17:30
  • Place: Hybrid event
  • Agenda Overview:
    1. Opening
    2. Agenda
      1. Report of the discussion so far
      2. Direction of improvement in each business
        1. One Government Website
        2. Travel expenses, etc. Common system for internal management operations (SEABIS) (1 business)
        3. Personnel and Payroll Information System (1 business)
        4. Government Identity Management Advanced-service, Government officials, etc. Attribute Information Management Platform (2 businesses)
    3. Adjournment

Material

Summary of the Proceedings

Date and

Tuesday, August 8, 2023, from 16:30 to 17:30

US>

To hold a hybrid event

Attendees

Chair SATO, members IWASAKI, SASASHIMA, SHIMADA and MITO

Summary of the Proceedings

After an opening statement from the secretariat and opening remarks from Mr. Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation,, the meeting proceeded under the chairmanship of the secretariat.

First, the Chair of the Advisory Council explained the direction for project improvement based on the compiled report and the discussion at the Third Advisory Council for Policy Evaluation and Public Works Review (open process). Then, each person in charge of the project reported on the direction for project improvement based on the report and the open process. Experts and Mr. Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation, expressed their impressions on the reports from each person in charge of the project. Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Digital Transformation Ozaki gave the closing remarks.

Greetings from Mr. Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation,

I would like to thank the distinguished experts for taking time out of their busy schedules to join us. I would also like to thank them again for their discussions thus far.

In Digital Agency, policy evaluations and administrative project reviews have been discussed in separate meetings, but from this fiscal year, we have asked experts to discuss policy evaluations and administrative project reviews at the same meeting, and have discussed the direction of Digital Agency's initiatives, including how to improve projects.

Today, we will receive a report summarizing the contents of the discussions by experts so far, and the person in charge of the project will report on the direction of project improvement based on the report. Thank you for your cooperation.

Secretariat (Secretariat): Thank you very much. I would now like to ask the Chair of the Advisory Panel to explain the report.

(Japan), Chair of the Advisory Panel: Five external experts, including myself, summarized the discussions and I would like to take this opportunity to explain the report.
First, the conventional policy evaluation and administrative project review

  • From the perspective of the original division, the activities looked similar and there was a sense of overlap.
  • In past administrative project reviews, the schedule was difficult to reflect in the budget.

Therefore, policy evaluation and administrative project review were integrated, and discussions were advanced on the four projects selected this time.

In addition, at these evaluation meetings, since the psychological anxiety of the person being evaluated, "I don't know what will be pointed out," arises, in order to dispel such anxiety, a framework for discussion was set up and evaluation was carried out. Now, I would like to report on the discussions so far for each project.

Common Government Website

From the perspective of policy objectives, the tasks of each ministry and agency and the audience of their websites differ. Therefore, I believe that the policy objectives should not be aimed at standardization and unification, but should be implemented from the perspective that they are convenient for users and important information can be obtained.

The Government of Japan also requests the Government of the United States to revise the target setting in light of the change in the policy objectives.

As a policy measure, rather than creating a unified website by the government, I think it would be good to cooperate in the construction of websites by each ministry and agency, especially to cooperate in development by accompanying them, and from the perspective of accessibility, I think it is necessary to formulate a guidebook or a summary of ideas unique to the Digital TV Agency.

In addition, I believe that it is also important for these websites of administrative agencies to provide information over the long term, so I would like you to consider it.

As for the system, I believe that it is important to strengthen the system because it is difficult to respond with one or two people when accompanying support is to listen to various concerns of each ministry and agency and give advice.

Finally, as a stakeholder, although it will ultimately benefit the people, I would like you to first communicate with the person in charge of the website in each ministry and agency and work to reduce the burden on the person in charge.

Common system for internal management of travel expenses, etc.

Such a system will be customized in accordance with the requirements of each ministry and agency, and I believe it is difficult to build a standard system. In such a situation, when customizing in accordance with the requirements of each ministry and agency, I would like them to respond with policies rather than responding individually.

In addition, this travel expense system utilizes the package software of a specific company, but the package in such a business system is costly if customized, and it is likely to cause defects, etc., so we believe that it is best to use the package as it is as much as possible. On the other hand, since the system is built in accordance with the law called the Travel Expense Act, the package will have to be customized in accordance with the Travel Expense Act after all, but we would like Digital Agency and the regulatory authorities to coordinate so that the system requirements can be incorporated from the stage of the revision of the law.

In terms of the system, we have concluded that it is necessary to expand the system as soon as possible in order to address the matters mentioned above.

Finally, for stakeholders, travel expenses are linked to various things such as salaries, so I would like to ask you to link it to the system that can be related.

Personnel and payroll information system

Personnel management systems in private companies include personnel evaluations and many other information in the personnel system, and I pointed out the scope of this system.

In addition, the users of this system will be those in charge of human resources at each ministry and agency, and although it can be said that it is narrower than expected, I have heard that there are requests for improvement from each ministry and agency as well as adjusting to the actual situation of each ministry and agency, so I would like to ask you to respond.

Regarding the system, I would like you to consider whether this number is appropriate for considering the scope and resolving issues.

Finally, since this system is related to the employee authentication system, which I will explain later, I would like you to proceed in cooperation with such related departments.

Government Identity Management Advanced-service (GIMA), government officials, etc. Attribute Information Management Infrastructure

First of all, since we are coordinating with the personnel and salary systems, we wanted the teams in charge to cooperate with each other, and I believe the Advisory Panel has created an opportunity for that.

In addition, as for the approach, the transition to a corporate authentication system, the so-called zero trust network, is underway. The zero trust network is often used by companies and others because it is resistant to attacks. On the other hand, it is difficult to manage user IDs and access controls in particular, and if they are not set accurately and in detail, it will be more dangerous. Therefore, we would like you to study the issues of private companies well and respond firmly, including access control.

Finally, this system is a very important system, and we are planning to make fairly drastic changes in the future, so I would like you to proceed with careful planning.

Secretariat : Thank you very much. Now, I would like to ask the person in charge of the project to explain the report compiled by the Second Expert Committee and the status of consideration and measures for project improvement to the Third Expert Committee.

Common government website Person in charge of the project : The common government website is about the website maintained by each ministry

  • Not necessarily highly accessible
  • The people in charge of the system at each ministry and agency also have no know-how about the cost of operation or how to improve it.
    In order to solve these issues, the government has been considering the direction of formulating a single website. In such a situation, as the chairman pointed out earlier, we should realize a state in which each site is easy to view while users and purposes are different, and we received advice from experts when we were considering changing the direction.

Therefore, in light of what you pointed out, we have changed our policies, not to standardize and unify our websites, but to support the improvement of the communication ability of government websites. For example, we would like to make the change in the direction of enabling each ministry and agency to realize the necessary function more easily by having Digital Agency provide common infrastructure, function development or standards, reference materials, and so on. In order to realize this, we thought it was necessary to create a meeting body, and we also reviewed the content of "Priority Plan for the realization of a digital society."

In this context, we would like to create opportunities for people in charge to exchange information in the form of meetings and communities, and we have revised our goal setting.

In addition, in response to the suggestion that each ministry and agency should present its ideas for reference, such as how the website should be, Digital Agency has published materials such as the Design Guidebook and the Accessibility Introduction Guidebook, but we are currently preparing to further organize them and make them more user-friendly and comprehensive in the form of standard guidelines.

In addition, in response to your suggestion that we should provide follow-up support to the ministries and agencies, Digital Agency has experience based on the establishment of the Digital Agency website and the Children and Families Agency website, so we would like to provide such experience first, and at the same time, based on the situation at other ministries and agencies, we would like to provide support so that those in charge at the ministries and agencies can be self-reliant. In line with this, you have pointed out that we should consider strengthening the system and examining the contents of projects that match the system. We would like to consider a more reasonable way to proceed, such as having the Digital Agency staff implement those that can only be realized by the Digital Agency staff, and managing the community in a way that includes outsourcing for other areas, and we are currently preparing for that.

Lastly, it was pointed out that we will utilize the existing framework for communication with the ministries and agencies. By utilizing the existing framework as much as possible and establishing a platform for mutual information exchange among communities using online tools, we will be able to provide necessary information in a way that does not burden the ministries and agencies, particularly to the officials in charge, and hold necessary discussions. We will respond to the points you pointed out, including parts, tools, and know-how provided by Digital Agency.

, who is in charge of the common system project for internal management work such as travel expenses: I would like to explain the points emphasized by the chairman. First of all, you pointed out that we should consider a system to overcome the disadvantages of using the package and minimize the customization of the package as much as possible. Regarding this point, we are collecting information on the technical trends of private sector packages, and regarding the revision of systems related to travel expenses, we have already requested Ministry of Finance, the government agency in charge of the systems, to design a simple system. We would like to make specific requests in the future, and we will aim to build a simple and highly scalable system when we renovate the system in the future.

In addition, regarding your question about the system, we were able to considerably increase the number of personnel due to the transfer this year. With the strengthening of the personnel system this time, we have held a joint study group with Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet Secretariat Administrative Reform Promotion Office, including the private sector trends I mentioned earlier, and have made requests from the system side for future system reviews.

Regarding the consideration of indicators for evaluating positive effects on users, we plan to firmly set the improvement of user convenience as an indicator when upgrading the system in the future.

In addition, regarding the point that there will be differences and complications in the operation on site, the Secretariat of the Cabinet Secretariat Administrative Reform Promotion Office conducted a hearing with each ministry when revising the system. We would like to thoroughly consider system-related measures in cooperation with BPR to standardize and simplify travel expenses.

The last point is about the actions to be taken as a team with the divisions responsible for the system and the divisions that implement the operations. We will closely cooperate with the regulatory authorities and others to collect data and improve the process.

, who is in charge of the Information Systems Project for Human Resources and Remuneration-related Services: Regarding the policy objectives, as you pointed out that the current scope should be reviewed when the system is renovated, we are currently considering the systemization of other human resources areas that are not covered by the current system in cooperation with National Personnel Authority and Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs, which are currently in charge of human resources-related systems. The next renewal of the personnel system is scheduled for around fiscal 2028, and we would like to consider the scope of the personnel system in cooperation with National Personnel Authority and Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs toward the renewal.

Among the points raised regarding the setting of targets, we would like to prioritize those that have many requests and are expected to be effective for those that should be quickly responded to the requests of the ministries and agencies.

In addition, regarding data linkage with GIMA, which is an employee authentication system, we will work with the team in charge of GIMA to identify issues after confirming the purpose and specifications of each system, and consider improvement measures to increase the convenience of the government ministries that are users.

Among the suggestions regarding policy measures and approaches, first of all, regarding the investigation and pursuit of the root causes of why they are not used or difficult to use, we will continue to explore them by analyzing data and logs as well as listening to the voices of users.

Regarding the latter part, I will divide the report into the notification application function, which is visible to many users, and other parts. First of all, regarding the notification application function, we have already started creating a prototype considering the service design, and based on the results obtained there, we would like to prepare for the implementation of the system itself. Also, regarding the parts other than the notification application function, as with the request from the government ministries and agencies mentioned earlier, we would like to gradually improve the UI and UX, starting with what we can.

Lastly, regarding the system and stakeholders, in order to be able to respond more accurately in terms of actual operation, we are currently considering improvement measures for work methods and collaboration methods with National Personnel Authority, Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs, and others. As we move forward with such improvement measures, we would like to eventually have them participate in the development process such as requirements definition and testing.

Government Identity Management Advanced-service (GIMA), Person in charge of the Information Management Platform Project for Government Officials and Other Attributes : Government Identity Management Advanced-service, regarding the current system used in the login authentication part of the system and the next infrastructure, the Information Management Platform for Government Officials and Other Attributes, gave a proposal on the current issues and what needs to be considered for the next infrastructure.

First of all, the person in charge of the personnel and salary related system also reported that it should be further linked with the personnel and salary related system. We would like to consider and develop a new attribute information management platform Architecture on the premise of reviewing what kind of date should be linked when it is actually linked while linking.

At that time, you pointed out that the existing collaborative data and personnel information are not sufficient, so I recognize that it is important to further utilize personnel information. In this regard, as the Chair mentioned earlier, we will work closely with the relevant ministries and agencies and specify what data and how to work together, including how to work together with the salary system.

You also pointed out that access rights and identity verification are important in realizing zero trust, and that we should consider whether it should be a practical mechanism from the perspective of operation. In this regard, we would like to review and consider the modalities of identity verification's methods and means once again, and build a mechanism of procedures and systems that can efficiently realize business operation, continuously maintain and enforce it, and further build it firmly not only in terms of systems but also in terms of procedures. In addition, we would like to consider a mechanism that takes into consideration the diversification of working styles of target government employees and diverse human resources.

Finally, as for the point that careful planning should be made for the transition between different regions, since it will be in the form of providing a certification service, it will be connected to a wide variety of systems in each Architecture, so the transition work will be involved. Therefore, we would like to work on it after carefully understanding the specifications of the connected system, clearly clarifying the transition process and schedule, and carefully and meticulously planning, including consensus building.

Secretariat (Secretariat): Thank you very much. I would now like to ask the members of the Advisory Council to share their thoughts with us. Finally, I would also like to ask the Chair of the Advisory Council to share his thoughts with us.

, member of the Advisory Council: At this time, we evaluated the four projects in the context of aiming to integrate policy evaluation and administrative project review. I expect that the challenges will be made very clear, and that the direction of the projects will be indicated, and that they will be improved appropriately through the PDCA cycle.

To begin with, organic collaboration has been required to eliminate the sense of overlap and burden between policies and projects. Through this evaluation and review, I feel that we were able to have a very meaningful exchange of opinions and thought-provoking discussions on the four projects.

In concrete terms, as you explained earlier, government websites, which are operated separately by each ministry and agency, have problems with ease of use due to inconsistent UI / UX and a lack of users' perspective. In addition, the system infrastructure and content management systems owned vertically by ministries and agencies have led to increased costs and a shortage of human resources. I believe that we have been able to set a direction for improvement based on a focus on users' perspective while reviewing the Priority Plan of standardization and integration of operations.

In addition, as the shortage of human resources becomes serious, I think it is necessary to consider how to secure human resources on the Digital Agency side, how to secure essential human resources for each project and policy, external appointment and human resource development, and in-house production. I think it is necessary to proceed with a sense of speed while implementing the review and consideration already raised as appropriate.

Going forward, I would like to see DBJ build a governance system that can demonstrate its powerful ability to communicate and publicize its activities to persuade other central government agencies, local governments, and the public, not just in its four projects.

, member of the Advisory Council: Overall, I believe that it is urgent to expand the system in any case. I believe that there are still many issues that require time and effort in any system.

In fact, in order to solve these problems, I believe that it is not a very good way to solve them by relying only on the efforts of individuals, so I would like you to create a system firmly from that point of view and solve the problems.

, Expert Council Member: People's motivation tends to decline when they feel wasteful, so I think it is very important to promote initiatives so that such motivation does not decline.

If we can build a well-communicated team that can communicate psychological safety, we will be more engaged. Rather than combining one person with one person to produce the effect of two people, the meaning of working as a team is that combining one person with one person produces the effect of two or more people, so I would like you to proceed with your efforts while keeping this in mind.

I think the purpose of Digital Agency's existence is clear, but I think that well-being is also found in the use of digital technology to realize the happiness of each and every person.

For this reason, we have received various reports this time, but we would like to make sure that our efforts do not become the purpose. I believe that the motivation, engagement, and well-being of those who work on it are really important, so we would like to continue our efforts and have five of us involved in it in a positive way.

Finally, I think it would be a good idea to pay attention to whether there is a lack of skills or a lack of mindset, rather than focusing on the problem of a lack of personnel, because there is always a lack of manpower when doing something.

, Advisory Council Member: First of all, in Digital Agency, I would like to give the highest praise to the fact that this time the policy evaluation and administrative project review were combined, making it easier to reflect the results in the budget at an early stage. I have been a member of the Administrative Reform Secretariat for nine years, and I was most moved. Personally, I would like other ministries and agencies to refer to this initiative, so I would like to leave my comments first.

In terms of the content, I would like to make a special comment on the common government website. First of all, the purpose of Priority Plan was changed from standardization and unification to support for improving the ability to communicate. I believe that this is a very important revision as it appears to be abstract. I believe that the standardization and unification of the wording is from the perspective of the efficiency of the creating side, so when thinking from the perspective of the users, I believe that the purpose of this policy was to focus on how to contribute to improving the ability to communicate. I believe that the subsequent detailed revision of the policy also had great significance.

Ideally, we would like to go even further and in the future, I think that it would be good if the wording were taken from the user's perspective of usability and accessibility.

Looking at the Digital Agency site, I hope that the Digital Agency site will be able to serve as an example for other ministries and agencies. To be honest, there are still some areas in which I am not satisfied. I would like to say that, for example, if you enter "What can you do in My Number Card?" in the search engines of private companies, various articles will come up easily. On the other hand, in the case of Digital Agency, if you enter "What can you do in My Number Card?" or "What can you do?" only a large page will come up. I think there is still room for improvement.

As the Chair mentioned earlier, in the case of the government, I think it comes from the point that it is meaningful to store information on stability and permanence. However, I think it is very common to approach information by sensory search, such as entering multiple keywords intuitively or changing them to different ones if they do not match. I think it would be very good if the information is built and reviewed from that perspective. I hope it will be a model for other ministries and agencies.

, Chair of the Advisory Panel: First of all, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, I believe that this policy evaluation and administrative project review was a new and meaningful endeavor, and I hope it will serve as a useful reference for other ministries and agencies.

The second point is that failures are inherent in IT. Some government offices do not tolerate failures, but in the case of Digital Agency, considering that it deals with IT and digital, I think it is necessary to create a system that allows failures. Originally, policy evaluation was aimed at creating a system that allows failures by evaluating the results, although there is a possibility that the administration may also fail.

For this reason, while Digital Agency will be working on various measures in the future, it may not be possible for all of them to go smoothly, but in such a case, I think it would be good if you could use this policy evaluation and administrative project review well and use it as a mechanism to correct the course.

Secretariat (Secretariat): Thank you very much. I would now like to ask Mr. Mr. Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation, to share his thoughts with us.

Mr. Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation,: Thank you very much, Chairman and everyone.

When I was appointed as the first Minister in charge of Administrative Reform, SEABIS and other standards were applied differently by each ministry and agency, and there were cases in which the application was unique to Kasumigaseki, which was different from common sense. Therefore, I spent a lot of time referring to the efforts of private companies. I think that Kasumigaseki will be closer to private companies by introducing the package that was pointed out this time with as little customization as possible.

In addition, in Digital Agency, we are increasing the number of staff, but we feel that the back offices are difficult, and it was pointed out that it is not good to rely only on the efforts of individuals, but I think we need to supplement that with systems. In addition, I think it will surely become important to build a digitalization system that does not burden the back offices, so if we can realize it in the form you pointed out, I think we will probably change the working environment to make it easier for not only the back offices in Digital Agency but also the ministries and agencies in Kasumigaseki to work.

Furthermore, with regard to the lack of human resources, I believe that we must consider what to do with the lack of human resources everywhere.

I am grateful that I received many suggestions and that the person in charge took them seriously, leading to various specific considerations, and I believe it was good that the two meetings so far were combined into one for consideration and discussion.

Based on what you pointed out, I would like to make steady improvements to other initiatives, and I would like to ask for your continued guidance.

Secretariat : Thank you very much. Now, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Digital Transformation Ozaki will start his remarks.

OZAKI Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Digital Transformation: Today, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the experts for their valuable opinions.

When I first heard the plan from the secretariat, I thought that this series of efforts to carry out policy evaluation and administrative project review in an integrated manner was truly an epoch-making thing, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the expected results.

I think it was significant that the integration of policy evaluation and administrative project review led to the improvement of overlapping work, and above all, that the timing of the review was advanced, and that it was done at a time when Kasumigaseki is trying to carry out reform and when we are considering what to do with the budget for the next fiscal year.

Some of the items you pointed out were already reflected in the Cabinet decision on Priority Plan in June this year. In addition, in the process of budget formulation, I believe we will have extensive discussions on the items you pointed out this time. The extremely significant efforts from both aspects of the promotion of EBPM in Kasumigaseki and the promotion of the PDCA cycle were first carried out in Digital Agency.

I would like to thank you again for this wonderful review. Thank you very much.

Secretariat : This is the end of the Fourth Policy Evaluation and Public Administration Project Review Expert Meeting.

Greater than or

Related Information