Skip to main content

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 ".

Digital Agency Compliance Committee (2nd meeting)

Digital Agency will be the control tower for the formation of digital society, which aims to realize the sustainable and sound development of the Japanese economy and the happy lives of the people. The expectations of the people toward Digital Agency are extremely high, and Digital Agency bears an extremely heavy responsibility.

In order for Digital Agency to fulfill its responsibilities and meet the expectations of the people, all persons working at Digital Agency are required to act creatively and autonomously while fully utilizing their specialized expertise and skills. On the other hand, Digital Agency must never fail the expectations of the people or invite their doubts, such as through illegal or inappropriate administrative processing related to their duties.

Therefore, Digital Agency has established a Compliance Committee consisting of external lawyers, certified public accountants, etc., and meetings are held as needed or on a regular basis.

At the remote meeting held today, active discussions and exchanges of opinions were held on the flow of systems such as bidding restrictions and systems related to compliance in Digital Agency.

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

Overview

  • Date and time: Wednesday, September 29, 2021 (2021) from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
  • Place: Online conference

Committee Members

(Japanese syllabary order, honorific titles omitted)

Members

  • Toshiya Natori (Legal Partner, ITN Law Office): Chairman
  • Koichi Endo (Councilor Digital Agency)
  • Toru Kajikawa (Representative Partner and Chairman, Taiyo LLC)
  • Jiro Kokuryo (Professor, Faculty of Policy Studies, Keio University)
  • Akihiko Shiba (Attorney at Shiba and Tanaka Management Law Office)
  • Keiko Fujimori (Representative Director / Certified Public Accountant, ASIMOV ROBOTICS Co., Ltd.)

Materials

Relevant policies

Minutes

Order of business

  • Status of submission of written pledges, etc.
  • Flow of the Bidding Restriction System (Outline)
  • Digital Agency Compliance System
  • Efforts to embody and disseminate the content of guidelines for our staff to follow
  • Other

Summary of proceedings

After the Secretariat explained the contents of each agenda, discussions were held. The main opinions are as follows.

Status of submission of written pledges, etc.

  • The submission of written pledges is essential. Shouldn't the reasons for those who have not submitted written pledges be confirmed?
  • Since there is a high level of interest in Digital Agency's compliance, we would like to express our opinion that we would like the Committee to continue its efforts to ensure that all members submit written pledges after providing sufficient explanations and understanding. Is this correct? (No objection from anyone)

Flow of the Bidding Restriction System (Outline)

  • I think it is good to respond to the registration of relevant employees and the creation of folders that can be accessed only by relevant employees in order to clarify the scope.
  • In particular, in the case of a procurement that needs to be made urgently or requires special technology, the knowledge and experience of a concurrent employee working at a procurement company can be utilized. Under the current standards, if a concurrent employee is consulted, the parent company cannot participate in the bidding. In certain cases, it may be advisable to consider allowing the parent company to participate in the bidding after incorporating a mechanism to ensure the transparency of prior procedures. In the case of a private sector that needs to be made urgently or requires special technology, the knowledge and experience of a concurrent employee working at a regional company can be utilized. Under the current standards, if a concurrent employee is consulted, the parent company cannot participate in the bidding.
  • At present, we do not have specific answers, but it may be necessary to continue to consider how to make use of private sector's cutting-edge technology and compliance compatible.
  • Regarding exemptions, it seems that the system is built based on the theory of good nature, but if the company really wants to win the bid, it will hide who contacted whom and how, and it will be easy to do so. In order to avoid a situation in which fairness is suspected, it is possible to consider responses such as not engaging in the concurrent employment of employees of the company who are highly likely to participate in the bidding from the beginning, or not allowing contact between the start of creation of written specifications and the bidding.
  • Utilizing the knowledge, experience, and technology of concurrent employees and their parent companies leads to the construction of a good system, but it is certainly a troublesome problem that it cannot be done.
  • It would be a good idea to request parent companies to keep track of what kind of communication they have with their concurrent employees, and to set up ex post facto penalties.
  • It is an important theme to utilize the vitality and know-how of private sector. If information is conveyed to a company that is considering bidding in advance, the original competitive conditions will collapse, but the competitive conditions of the technologically advantageous part that is originally possessed will not change. It is necessary to consider what kind of information will collapse fair competition if it is conveyed to the company. It may be in the form of after-the-fact validation, but it is good to sort out what kind of information will damage the competitive conditions while operating it.
  • In the end, the question is not who was involved, but whether the price is appropriate and whether there is no guidance of profits. It may be necessary to not communicate on a formal basis, but if this would hinder a procurement with a technological advantage, it may be possible to consider a response that would allow communication itself and then develop a system that would allow a person in charge of a project other than the person subject to the regulation to validation the technological advantage and the appropriateness of the price.
  • Although unfair information sharing that harms fair competition is not allowed, it seems to be too strict to completely refuse to allow parent companies to conduct technical studies. In relation to the exemption system, the scope of information sharing should be clarified. I think it will be confusing for companies if there is no predictability.
  • We would like to express our opinion that the bidding restriction system should be reviewed as necessary if there are any problems while the system is being operated from October 1. Is that correct? (No objection from any party)

Compliance System

Efforts to Embody and Disseminate guidelines for our staff to follow

  • When working on compliance, it is necessary to keep access logs properly. We would like to see consideration, including the development of infrastructure, so that the method of logging does not impose too much burden on the parties concerned.
  • I think the content of the initiatives currently under consideration is good. As for training, as is the case with private sector companies, understanding and awareness are high immediately after training, but over time, they forget and awareness decreases. Therefore, for example, it is an idea to set up compliance weeks and months to regularly raise awareness and prevent a decrease in awareness.
  • Although it is also related to project management, it is impossible to determine which company has a technical advantage unless you have a scale for auditing cutting-edge technology. Therefore, employees who conduct audits on procurement should also understand the technical aspects.
  • In relation to guidelines for our staff to follow, I think that the fact that Digital Agency has established internal rules that make norms such as the National Public Service Act more strict is at the heart of gaining the trust of the people. I would like to see newly hired part-time employees thoroughly understand the rules and norms, even if they are taken for granted by public servants, by carefully explaining them in an easy-to-understand manner. There may be differences in the sense of norms and principles of behavior between public servants and part-time employees, but I would like to see organization improve its credibility by carefully proceeding with everything while taking such points into consideration.

Other

(The office reported on the disciplinary action case dated September 24.)

End