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Digitization Is Touching Japan And Its People For Good!

ByMike Paul

Sep 27, 2021

The world is transforming at an exponential rate and, there is the technological takeover of almost all the sectors. However, you will be amazed to know that; in the age of technology, a country like Japan was still clutched; by the manual paperwork procedures for various governmental operations. The people had to apply for governmental posts through forms; the recordkeeping was done manually, etc. However, Japan has started taking different measures; as opening a digital agency to lead this digital transformation. 

Know about the transformation

You must be wondering what gave impetus to this transformation. It is none other than the global pandemic which opened the country’s eyes to their digital lacking. The pandemic is all about touch, and the paperwork cannot be completed without it. Besides, it caused delays and several other problems for the department. It may seem to be a minor problem, but it gradually affected the entire economy. 

The vaccination measures against the virus were getting delayed; because of all the manual procedures that the company followed. People were facing issues while registering for the vaccine, which is the need of the hour. That’s not all; you might know that the educational sector got completely transformed; in the wake of the pandemic. The country also faced issues about this. Hence, it was an alarming need for the country to transform. The virus has been too bad for many people, but it has also brought about progress and transformations for several countries, one of which is Japan. 

The need for digitization

Prime Minister Yosihide Suga realized the need for digitization as soon as the person took over the seat. The entire digital agency’s plan is to facilitate the entire transformation and promote the process of digitization on the full scale. However, at the same time, the country is also working towards respecting the privacy of people and not intruding on it at all. 

The agency is lead by the Digital Transformation Minister Takuya Hirai that has around 600 members as staff, and some of these are from the private sector. You might have realized the scale on which the transformation is taking place in the country.

The agency is not interested in transforming just the administrative sector but is also aiming at 31 different sectors like elderly care, childrearing, education, etc. The authorities believe that the transformation shall take around five years for completing the entire process. However, it seems that the transformation might be completed much earlier, as to your surprise, the vaccination certificate is also digitally provided to the people. It is a huge step for the country that was previously working with the old-fashioned paperwork procedures.

Besides, the citizens will also track records and provide them as proof for the visa, passport, etc. All the citizens shall have a 12 digit code which shall be used as an identification code for the private and public sectors.

Japan is all ready to battle against the virus in all possible ways. Digitization shall be in vogue even after things are normal. One good thing that the pandemic will leave for the country is the digital transformation.

Mike Paul

Mike was one of the founding members of DMR, he was a pivotal figure in the early stages of DMR. Mike has since left the team to pursue his career in software development.

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