Japan is facing myriad social issues such as the decline of the productive population and rural depopulation. Against that backdrop, advancing digital government through public and private sector unity is crucial to maintain government services and enhance convenience for users, and understanding their viewpoint is key. Many government services have already moved online, but users haven't been given adequate consideration and usage rates have been low. With local governments, even though they're beset by a labor shortage problem, each municipality has its own style and format for procedures that are the same everywhere, resulting in administrative inefficiency and raising costs for users.

A comparison shows that some other countries have created services from the user's standpoint. In Finland, paperwork filed to change an address after moving automatically updates a public-private database. In New Zealand, online processing allows users to establish a company in half a day, and submitted paperwork is shared, making resubmissions unnecessary. It is an urgent matter for Japan to further accelerate its initiatives.

The so-called Digital Procedure Act passed in May 2019 formulated the Three Digital Principles (digital first, once only, connected single stop) as basic principles. The initiative got underway after hammering out the agreement to move government procedures online in principle and reduce associated paperwork.

Keidanren announced the Proposals for Regulatory and Systematic Reform to Realize Society 5.0 in March. In touching on advancing digital government, the proposals prioritized the realization of the Three Digital Principles and rigorous utilization of the My Number system. There is a tendency to see digital government as little more than improving the efficiency of government services, but actually it's true worth is to reform government services with users in a central role and create new value by using digitalized data in the public and private sectors. Furthermore, the importance of moving administrative procedures completed online (such as tax returns and corporate registration) should be given renewed focus as part of overall measures to fight the spread of infectious diseases.

As an advanced country facing issues, digital innovation is an indispensable solution for Japan. Advancing digital government will form an axis with the business world's digital innovation, and changes in social structures will lead to stronger national presence and competitiveness, forming a foundation for gathering global human resources and capital. Keidanren will continue to work in unity with the government to devote itself to this issue.