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Digital Agency Compliance Committee (5th meeting)

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Digital Agency will be the control tower for the formation of a digital society aimed at realizing the sustainable and healthy development of the Japanese economy and the happy lives of its people. The expectations of the people of Digital Agency are extremely high, and Digital Agency has an extremely heavy responsibility.

At today's meeting, active discussions and exchanges of opinions were held on the status of operation of bidding restrictions during fiscal 2022 and the status of implementation of compliance training.

The results of today's discussions will be fully reflected in the formulation of various norms and rules in Digital Agency.

Overview

  • Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 (2023) from 13:00 to 14:30
  • Location: Shared meeting room in Digital Agency

Committee member

(In the order of the Japanese syllabary, honorific titles are omitted)

Member

  • Toshiya Natori (Attorney Partner, ITN Law Office): Chairman
  • Koichi Endo (Consultant, Digital Agency)
  • Toru Kajikawa (Representative Member and Chairman, Taiyo LLC)
  • Jiro Kokuryo (Professor, Faculty of Policy Studies, Keio University)
  • Akihiko Shiba (Attorney, Shiba & Tanaka Management Law Office)
  • Keiko Fujimori (Representative Director, ASIMOV Robotics Corporation / Certified Public Accountant)

Material

Related policy

Summary of the meeting

Proceedings

  • Progress of Various Compliance-Related Initiatives
  • Investigation to ensure compliance
  • Digital Agency Information Systems Procurement Reform Study Group
  • Other

Summary of proceedings

After the Secretariat explained the contents of each agenda item, a discussion was held. The main opinions expressed were as follows:

Progress of Various Compliance-Related Initiatives

  • The purpose of the bidding restriction system is to ensure the fairness of procurement while utilizing state-of-the-art technology in the private sector. It is important that applications for exemption are actively made and that they are operated appropriately. It would be good to select several projects as samples to confirm the actual operation status and make use of the results.
  • The bidding restriction system has just started, and it is assumed that some private companies are excessively cautious. Therefore, it is important to continue to provide careful explanations.
  • Implementing compliance training in the form of e-learning is good because employees can take lessons during their spare time. I think that the participation rate of 70% to more than 90% is high even though it is a voluntary course, so I think that they worked hard to make employees aware of it.
  • Compliance training is so important to Digital Agency that it might consider making it mandatory in the form of a job order.
  • No matter how busy you are, with e-learning, you can do it in small increments in your spare time. If there are staff who do not even enter, there is a possibility that they do not understand the importance of compliance correctly. It is necessary to pay attention not only to the overall high and low participation rate, but also to such points.
  • It would be better to evaluate what kind of risks there are based on the social situation at the time, the situation in the Digital Agency, and the actual working conditions of the staff, etc., and to carry out training focusing on those risks.
  • Even if it is a matter of course for people from public officer, it may be difficult for people from the private sector to understand. Therefore, in order to manage risks, I think it would be a good idea to conduct training with a certain degree of focus and focus.
  • In particular, it is very important to provide training for newly employed officials from the private sector. In addition to the company-wide training that will be carried out in a planned manner, onboarding training for newly employed officials should be carried out thoroughly.

Investigation to ensure compliance

  • Since this ex-post audit is an investigation of facts, it should be considered as a separate committee, regardless of the evaluation by the audit firm.
  • The bidding restriction system has just started, so at this point, I think it is good to develop rules that are easier for staff to use and understand while overcoming any problems. On top of that, I think it is necessary to think about eliminating deviant behavior.
  • In order to achieve really good compliance, it is necessary for those in charge to interact with each other on a daily basis, understand each other's behavior, and follow the rules together. This is very difficult because many people are involved in ordering a large system, but in any case, we have to work hard.

Digital Agency Information Systems Procurement Reform Study Group

  • The current situation is that government officials are replaced in two to three years, but I think that there is a need to have decent digital human resources in the government office who can write specifications based on the fact that they are in charge of grasping all the things that have failed and the causes of the failure in the current system and can use it for the next procurement, and who can point out such things to the vendor, and I think that such human resources must be developed.
  • We believe the time has come for thorough discussions to be held on human resource development and the personnel system, including discussions on how to develop professionals.
  • We recognize that the issue of the personnel system and the ability of the ordering party will be a key issue in the medium and long term.
  • High-level human resources who can develop IT and those who can see the advantages of using IT are different. Since Digital Agency can appoint people from the private sector, high-level human resources and development human resources should be appointed from outside, and professionals should be those who have business expertise and can use IT. I think the key is to share information well internally and integrate them.
  • Although the Study Group on Procurement Reform has a slightly different perspective from that on compliance, the Committee will continue to monitor the discussions from a broader perspective of how Digital Agency should be.

Other

(The secretariat introduced the contents of the reference materials, etc.)

Or more