Established on September 1, 2021, Japan’s Digital Agency has already taken critical, concrete steps towards creating a basis for much-needed productivity enhancements using digital tools and embedding Japan more solidly in global IT infrastructure. Located in a brand new, commercial building outside the Kasumigaseki area, the agency began with approximately a third of its over 600 employees from the private sector to create a new organizational and working culture. It selected global IT firms to provide "government cloud" services, aiming to integrate fragmented local and central government IT services. In COVID times, it quickly rolled out a nationwide database and app for confirming the vaccination status of the population and is poised to take on more ambitious goals such as expanding the use of the My Number system by the Japanese population.
In this conversation, we will hear from former minister Makishima about how Japan's Digital Agency is spearheading the country's digital transformation and what challenges might lie ahead.
This event is cosponsored by the the Japan Program at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
