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Digital Agency Compliance Committee (3rd 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 today's meeting, there was a lively discussion and exchange of opinions on the status of submission of written pledges, the status of implementation of training, and so on.

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: December 17, 2021 (2021) (Fri) from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
  • Location: Digital Agency Shared Conference Room (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.
  • Implementation of various training
  • Creation of a handbook
  • 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.

  • Regarding the submission of a written pledge, it is good to say that 100% of the employees will make an effort. I would like to see new employees continue to be properly dealt with.
  • Digital Agency is expected to make the best system by utilizing the wisdom of private sector companies. It is necessary to carefully check whether there is an event in which such wisdom is not available due to the bidding restriction system.
  • If companies with advanced technologies send employees to Digital Agency and are unable to participate in bidding, there is a concern that people with experience and expertise will not be able to gather. The current system of bidding restrictions is good, but isn't it necessary to have a system in which companies with technologies can participate in bidding?
  • In the future, when cases and knowledge related to the bid restriction system are collected, it will be possible to see where the harmful effects are occurring and how to respond to them. In addition, if this system becomes more easy-to-understand through such examination, many companies can participate in bidding, which will lead to maintaining fairness.
  • From the viewpoint of showing a stance to impose a penalty if there is a fact of fraud, we would like to ask you to consider enhancing the after-the-fact check system.
  • The bid restriction system is a new initiative that has just been launched, but while strict responses are required from the viewpoint of compliance, private sector's technology must be properly incorporated. At times, the two are competitive, but it is necessary to follow up closely on how to achieve both.

Implementation of various training

  • It is good to use e-learning effectively.

Creation of a handbook

  • Handbooks get thicker and thicker as you make them, and you stop reading them. You have to make sure that everyone understands and uses them.
  • It is necessary to ensure the comprehensiveness of rules that are important for business operations. It is important to provide a specific understanding of what kind of compliance risks exist. It is effective to explain what is highly important and what is highly likely to occur in accordance with specific cases. I think there are a number of past cases in which confidentiality was a problem and cases in which damaging the credibility of government positions was a problem, so it is good to raise awareness by showing such cases in detail to the extent possible.
  • Through the handbook, I would like to raise awareness so that each and every employee will stop when they have a question and look for the related rules by themselves. Based on the fact that there are various employees in Digital Agency, including former employees of private sector companies, I would like to have it explained carefully and made easy to use, even if it is a matter of course for public servants.
  • It is necessary to prevent violations of compliance due to a lack of understanding of the Code, etc. In particular, it is good for newly joining employees to have a sense that their superiors will teach them the basics well, and if they still do not understand something, they will look at the handbook themselves.
  • In terms of deterrence, it is important to make whistleblowing work. I would like the handbook to be easy for employees to understand that whistleblowing is to improve organization and work environment.
  • If you digitize the handbook instead of binding it with paper, you can quickly reach the necessary pages when you use it, and it will be easier to respond to after-the-fact revisions. In any case, the creation of the handbook may be difficult, but it is very important, so I would like you to continue to report on the progress as appropriate.

End