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Digital Legal System Working Group (2nd) of the Digital Related System Reform Study Meeting

Overview

  • Date and time: Wednesday, November 29, 2023, from 10:50 to 12:00
  • Location: Online
  • Agenda:
    1. Opening
    2. Proceedings
      1. About the law API Hackathon Results
      2. Efforts toward digitalization of Legal Affairs at the National Printing Bureau
      3. Efforts by review of digital legislation
      4. Questions and Answers and Exchange of
    3. Adjournment

Materials

Related Meetings

Relevant policies

Minutes

Secretariat (Nakano): , it is time to open the second meeting of the Working Group on Digital Legislation.

I'm Nakano, Planning Officer of Digital Agency. Nice to meet you, too.

Members and observers are invited to participate online today. I have heard that Member Horiguchi will be absent today due to personal reasons.

Today's proceedings are as projected on the screen.

I would like to move on to agenda 1. The secretariat will explain the "Results of the law API Hackathon" in about 15 minutes. Thank you.

Secretariat (Yamauchi): Now, Secretariat. Based on Material 1, I would like to report on the results of the law API Hackathon held the other day.

Please take a look at page 2. First, I would like to give you an overview of the law API Hackathon. It is the first page on the left. As you have discussed in previous meetings, we believe that it is important to promote service development using the law API. As part of this, we held a hackathon using a prototype of the law API extension, and 56 people from 14 teams participated. To supplement the prototype used in the hackathon, this prototype added functions such as acquisition of law revision history including provisions prior to revision and keyword search, and we also provided a machine-readable API specification called OpenAPISpecification so that development users can easily use it. development

Let's move on to the second part. The hackathon will be held from November 10 to 17, and workshops, Ideathon, and other events will be held for the participating teams. On the last day, each team will make presentations and awards.

The third award was given to a total of three teams, one team each recognized as excellent in their respective specialized perspectives, with the participation of three judges.

Please look at the right side. I would like to introduce the award and the judges. First, as the law Dissemination and Research Promotion Award, the award was judged by Mr. Yoneda, a member of this working group, from the perspective of law dissemination and research promotion.

Second, as the Business and Legal Award, from the perspective of business revitalization through legal affairs and convenience in the legal field, we received an examination from Mr. Masashima, a member of the Digital System Reform Review Committee, which is the parent committee of this working group.

Next, as the third Technology Utilization Award, from the viewpoint of creating services and businesses using technology, Mr. Yagita, who is also a member of this working group, examined it.

That is the outline of the Hackathon.

From the next page, I would like to introduce the works that have been searched by each team. Please see page 3. This is "Themis" by the AUTHBLUE team, which won the law Dissemination and Research Promotion Award. This is a work that answers questions by chat from general users who consult about law and law experts who conduct advanced searches. It uses generative AI to determine law and keywords to be searched based on the user's questions and generates answers. It supports English questions and voice reading, and it also provides links to the text of law and case law. development

Mr. Yoneda commented that the work is communication-oriented and strongly felt to have the power to move people, and that it is a well-balanced composition in that important keywords are listed at the beginning of the response output, and links to e-Gov law search and case law search are provided to encourage consultation with experts.

The AUTHBLUE team, which was development, was a team of engineers working at a startup, and from a position that was not specialized in law, I thought that law was important but difficult to understand. They commented that they would be happy if they could contribute to lowering the hurdles related to law.

Next, please look at page 4. This is "LegalLinkInsight" by the py 3.0 team, which won the Business and Legal Award. For law practitioners who frequently view the text of the reference text of law, this work adds a pop-up display function of the reference text to the screen of e-Gov law Search. To make use of the existing UI and search function, it is not built as an independent site, but is development as a browser extension.

Judge Masashima commented that it is simply very convenient and that the idea is based on an understanding of the needs of professionals who can eliminate the hassle of work that legal experts always do. In addition, since many lawyers use e-Gov law search, implementation is also attractive in that the same UI can be used.

The development Center 3.0 team, all of whom are undergraduate students, participated in between classes. We hope to release the service in time for the general release of the API in the future.

Next, please see page 5. This is the "Automatic Examination System for application for building confirmation Using law API" by the bSJ team, which won the Technology Utilization Award. In order to automate the examination of whether the design of a building conforms to the Building Standards Act from the stage of the text of the law, an examination program is generated from the text of the generative AI using the law, and used for the automatic examination. The AI that generates the examination program from the text of the law is fine-tuned to improve the performance against building-related laws and regulations, and is created by combining a BIM model that represents the 3D structure and materials of a building and a UI for the visualization.

Mr. Yagita commented that it was an excellent initiative that highlighted the Issue that even though there is digital data in the construction industry, there is a limit to automatic examination due to low machine-readability on the side of law, and that by overcoming this gap with generative AI, automatic validation will be possible by combining digital data.

The development bSJ Team commented that members of the construction industry participated in the event, and that they were aware of the need to improve machine readability on the law side in order to realize automatic examination at the application for building confirmation, and that this Hackathon was an opportunity to realize that idea, and that they would like to expand the development in the future.

From the next page, page 6, we will introduce other works. In addition to the works that won the prize this time, we have received valuable ideas and works that will be very helpful in realizing a convenient society by utilizing law data. On the development page of the law API Hackathon in Digital Agency, , we have included explanations of works by participating teams. Since there are many, we will make a brief introduction of the explanations here.

First of all, the "law life quiz video game" by the Tanuma team on the left. This quiz is about law related to life events. It was created so that a wide range of age groups can enjoy learning law.

Next is "Shikobi-chan" of the Legal Data Engineers Team on the right. This is a work that uses a calendar to visualization the status of the enforcement date of law for legal officers and samurai who need to understand the revision schedule of law.

Let's go to page 7. This is "legalhost" of the Automatic Public Transmission Server team on the left. This is a work that enables learners of the bar examination to add notes, comments, and study notes to the law text on the device and share them. It was created as a platform that can promote mutual learning and communication.

Next, on the right side, is the "Building Record" of the Archi-Law team. This is a work to build a graph-structured database of building-related law in order to realize a search function of related laws and regulations according to a specific building project.

Let's go to page 8. This is the "Magic Law Book" by the Legal Magic Corps team on the left. This is a work that creates a story picture book based on the text of the law so that children in the lower grades of elementary school can enjoy understanding the law. It is a work that utilizes the generative AI of the text and the image to create the text of the story and the illustration of the picture book, respectively.

Next, the "law Revision Investigation" by Team law Interpretation on the right. This is a work that allows you to search for related parliamentary minutes and precedents based on law revision information, assuming that lawyers and others who investigate the history and arguments concerning law revision will be used.

Let's go to page 9. On the left side, it is "LegalLens" of the DX Division Team. This is a work that analyzes the text using AI, evaluates the degree of observance of the relevant provisions, and performs law in order to confirm whether the text of contracts and rules conforms to visualization.

Next, on the right side, there is the "law Revision Information Automatic Periodic Notice BOT" by the ProfessionalTechLab team. This is a work that enables users such as legal representatives who need to respond to the law revision to receive the notice of the law revision using their usual communication tool instead of a dedicated tool.

Let's go to page 10. On the left side, it is "law Time Machine" by the BAMBOO team. This is a work to compare and visualization the text of law before and after the revision. On the comparison screen, it is possible to highlight differences and to collapse the parts without revision.
Next, on the right, is "The law History" by the Bossa Nova team. This work was created to help you understand the transition of law along with the historical background by displaying the history of law's revisions and social events side by side.

Let's go to page 11. This is "Dr. Revit law Check" from the NYCK team. This work was created so that architects who conduct legal checks of buildings can display the relevant provisions as a checklist on the screen of the design software.

That was the introduction of the submitted works of all 14 teams.

Please see page 12. Finally, I would like to explain the results of the law API Hackathon and the future.

First, I would like to understand the needs for API function expansion. This time, through the hackathon, we were able to obtain needs based on actual experiences in law, such as the need to obtain law data in plain text, not in XML or JSON format, for accurate display in machine learning, chat, etc., and the need for documents on the data structures and item details of development data. We would like to reflect this in the future API prototype development, connect what is possible to the future function expansion implementation, and aim to realize a highly convenient law data utilization environment.

Second, I would like to support private service using law data. At this Hackathon, we were able to propose ideas for novel services such as content for the younger generation and non-professionals by combining law data with building-related data. We believe that it is very meaningful to propose such ideas, so we will continue to promote the use of law API and provide information, and we would like to support the development of private service society using law data.
Finally, my third point is to support technology development using law data. This hackathon was an opportunity for engineers who do not usually touch law to become interested in law data. In addition, some people introduced the technology used for development and the points of ingenuity on SNS. By continuing to make many people interested in law data through open discussion and development, we would like to promote development of technologies that lead to law data utilization and legal affairs digitalization.

That was the result of the law API Hackathon.

That's all for the explanation of the material.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Thank you very much for the review by Mr. Yagita and Mr. Yoneda, who are attending the law API Hackathon today.

Today, due to the convenience of proceeding with the agenda, we will hold a Q & A session and an exchange of opinions at the end of the meeting.

Next, I would like to move on to agenda 2. The National Printing Bureau of Japan will explain "Efforts toward digitalization of Legal Affairs at the National Printing Bureau" in about 15 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Kitada of the National Printing Bureau.

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): National Printing Bureau. Nice to meet you.

I would like to explain about the National Printing Bureau's efforts toward the digitalization of legal affairs. Thank you.

I will explain the contents in accordance with this table of contents.

First of all, let me give you the background. In the fifth meeting of the Digital Extraordinary Administrative Advisory Committee Working Group's Legal and Political Affairs digitalization Review Team, the draft of the process chart for the digitalization of legal affairs showed that in order to quickly realize an environment in which digital originals and the latest version of official law databases, such as the national infrastructure law, can always be referenced, a proof-of-concept at the government and ministerial ordinance level was implemented on data structures and XML editors to realize direct editing of after amendment data and automatic creation of revised bills.

In addition, in the proof of concept, as (1), it was shown that as a development of the regulation Editor, an editor that performs direct editing of the text editor of the after amendment and automatic creation of revised bills will be examined. As (2), as a cooperation examination with the official gazettes Format, it was shown that the standardization of law data by structured data with the official gazettes promulgation process will be examined.

In addition, at the 11th meeting of the Digital Extraordinary Administrative Advisory Committee Working Group, in the "Toward the Realization of Electronic digital completion," among the materials for official gazettes such as administrative procedures based on the requests of the business community, it was shown that the business community pointed out that it is impossible to abolish written documents and reuse data in administrative procedures.
In addition, the abolition of written documents in administrative procedures has been partially implemented. Furthermore, with regard to the realization of electronic official gazettes, a bill on the issuance of official gazettes is currently under deliberation at the 212th extraordinary Diet session.

From the background of the previous slide, I have organized the matters required of the National Printing Bureau.

First, the law database will be shared. In order to work with the official gazettes format, we believe that it is necessary to make the law database stored in the e-LAWS law database the official gazettes submission database. Currently, the Ichitaro Yamazaki and Word databases are the official gazettes submission databases, and the XML, which is the law data format, is not expected to be submitted.

The second is distribution in a machine-readable data format. In order to widely utilize official gazettes data, we believe that it is necessary to distribute machine-readable data such as XML. In addition, since machine-readable data cannot be created from the composition software of the current official gazettes system, which is currently used by the National Printing Bureau for editing official gazettes, PDF and HTML, which are considered to have low machine-readability, are distributed.

In addition, the National Printing Bureau also believes that it is necessary to make efforts to realize BPR in official gazettes operations, so I have listed the current status and official gazettes for each Issue manufacturing process in Table 1. Regarding the submission process, currently, employees of the National Printing Bureau are contacted by phone and other means by persons in charge of each ministry and agency, download the submission data from e-LAWS, and manually register the submission articles and accept the submission in the current official gazettes system. Therefore, we believe that efficiency of the submission means for digitalization is necessary.

In the composition process, format information is currently added manually based on the submission data. We believe that it is necessary to shorten the work period by automating and digitalization this manual work by efficiency.

Regarding the distribution process, PDF and HTML, which are considered to be less machine-readable, are currently distributed, but considering the utilization of data within the National Printing Bureau, we believe that it is necessary to distribute in a machine-readable data format.

In order to respond to the requests and to resolve the Issue mentioned in the previous slide, the National Printing Bureau will work on the development of the new official gazettes system and the development of the new distribution system as shown in Table 2. In addition, the development of the new official gazettes system is carrying out four initiatives.

First, hearings on the official gazettes submission business to the departments in charge of each ministry and agency.

The second is development, a new official gazettes system.

The third is a study on the repeatability of official gazettes paper formats using XML.

The fourth is the XML structure definition for articles not subject to e-LAWS.

As the first initiative, from April to May 2023, we held hearings on the official gazettes submission work for the departments in charge of each ministry and agency. The results of the hearings are shown in Table 3. From the results, it was found that 80% of the respondents were creating manuscripts by referring to the past articles shown in No. 1 and using the data, and as shown in No. 2, 70% of the respondents who answered "I am creating" in No. 1 were creating manuscripts by referring to or using the submission article data from the past five years.

In addition, as shown in No. 3, it was found that 90% of all respondents needed a draft template for submission.

As shown in No. 4, 80% of the total responded that they would like to use electronic submission with system integration, and as shown in No. 5, 90% of the total responded that they would use it if there was a function to check the format before submission.

In addition, as shown in No. 6, 50% of those who answered "Use" in No. 5 answered that they would use the confirmation results for approval use.

In addition, as shown in No. 7, 30% of the respondents answered that the shortening of the period from submission to promulgation, or the extension of the submission deadline, has an effect on their business.

In consideration of the results of this hearing, we have started the official gazettes of the new development system.
As the second initiative, we are advancing the development of the new official gazettes system. The expected impact of the start of operation of the new official gazettes system, which is currently in development, is shown in Table 4. First, regarding the submission data, it is currently Ichitaro Yamazaki and Word, but we expect that it will be changed to law XML data owned by e-LAWS in accordance with the standardization of law data.

As for the method of submission, we expect that online submission will be performed through intersystem cooperation with e-LAWS, and that the contact for submission by telephone, etc., which is currently handled by the person in charge of each ministry and agency, will be unnecessary.

Regarding the official gazettes article editing method in the National Printing Bureau, format information is currently added manually, but it is assumed that automatic composition will be used to automatically add format information.

Regarding the proofreading / reviewing work, we assume that the person in charge of each ministry and agency will confirm the official gazettes publication format before submission. After confirmation, the submitted manuscript will be automatically composed, although it will not be exactly the same as the format confirmed before submission, such as crossing pages due to the composition of the official gazettes booklet, so we assume that we can guarantee that the content is the same as the submitted manuscript.

As for printing, in addition to the current form of booklet, we expect to add a new form of booklet, for example, official gazettes, in which only legal texts are published.

In addition to the current PDF and HTML formats, we expect to create machine-readable data formats such as XML.

Finally, regarding the period from submission to publication, it is assumed that the period can be shortened by automation of editing work, etc.

As a third initiative, we are investigating the repeatability of the official gazettes paper format using XML. In the new official gazettes system, we assume automatic composition using XML, which is the input data, and we are conducting a sample investigation to see how much the current official gazettes paper format can be reproduced with XML. We are confirming the repeatability using Antenna House's Antenna House Formatter, which is expected to be used in the new official gazettes system, and although we are still in the middle of confirmation, it is known that at this point, it is necessary to add special composition format information, and when tables are assembled, some digits are folded. We will continue to investigate this.

As a fourth initiative, we are considering performing XML structure definition for articles not subject to e-LAWS in order to enable automatic composition using the new official gazettes system. As shown in Table 6, there are many article types for articles not subject to e-LAWS. When we consulted with external vendors, they advised us that it is difficult to express all articles in one structure definition, so it is better to perform multiple structure definitions according to the characteristics of the articles. We will continue to consider this.

Next, we will introduce the new distribution system in development. Table 7 shows the expected differences between the current distribution system and the new distribution system. The current distribution system is on-premise and has two bases, and PDF and HTML are distributed in cooperation with the current official gazettes system. In the new distribution system, we expect to use Government Cloud because we will use a cloud to provide multiple bases.

In addition, in response to requests from the business community, we expect to distribute data in machine-readable data formats in addition to PDF and HTML.

In addition, prior to the construction of a new distribution system, we are considering the development of a system for distributing machine-readable data.

I believe that there are several Issue in this initiative.

(1) Regarding the publication format of the new booklet format, according to the repeatability survey of the official gazettes paper format using XML, it has been found that it is difficult to completely reproduce the current official gazettes format by automatic composition.

(2) Regarding the specifications of the submission data from e-LAWS, we believe that it is necessary to coordinate not only the law data of e-LAWS but also the information necessary for posting in official gazettes, the treatment of private characters, and the response to the disclosure of the law data structure in the PoC.

(3) This is about system cooperation with e-LAWS. Since the new official gazettes system is assumed to be inter-system cooperation with e-LAWS, it is assumed to be built and operated on security from the viewpoint of ease of cooperation and height of Government Cloud.

In addition, we assume that the new distribution system will be linked with the new official gazettes system, so we assume that it will be built and operated on Government Cloud, and we are in the process of coordinating with the Government Cloud Government Cloud Team on the use of both systems in Digital Agency.

We will continue to cooperate and coordinate with related parties and others in areas other than Issue as shown here.

Finally, I would like to show you the schedule for these efforts. Regarding the new official gazettes system, we expect to complete the development in fiscal 2024, and after that, we expect to renovate it using Agile in response to the PoC of Digital Agency. In addition, we expect to carry out timely renovation in fiscal 2026 and beyond.

In addition, with regard to the Issue and adjustment matters, etc., it is the assumed schedule for provisional operation during the twenty twenty-five of the fiscal year, and we recognize that it is necessary to continue to make adjustments, etc., after this.

The National Printing Bureau will continue to make efforts in cooperation and coordination with related organizations to realize BPR in digitalization and official gazettes.

That's all for our explanation. Thank you very much.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you very much for your explanation.

Next, I would like to move on to agenda 3. I would like to explain about "review of digital legislation's efforts."

Since August 2022, the Government of Japan has been implementing the review of digital legislation Plan on the bills scheduled to be submitted by each national assembly. So far, the Plan has been implemented three times on the bills scheduled to be submitted to the extraordinary Diet session in the autumn of 2022, the ordinary Diet session, and the extraordinary Diet session this autumn, which is currently in session.

In addition, in June this year, the Basic Act on the Formation of digital society was amended, and Priority plan was approved by the Cabinet, which positioned review of digital legislation as a national policy and decided to implement autonomous and continuous efforts.

With regard to the proposal on how to proceed with review of digital legislation, the Guidelines have been revised at each Diet session, but as I explained earlier, I believe that the review of digital legislation process has been established to a certain extent, and we would like to revise the Guidelines as necessary and confirm the provisions that provide for administrative procedures for which regulations on paper and in-person processes and information systems are expected to be developed.

I would also like to ask another question. The ministries and agencies responsible for the bill, as well as Digital Agency, check each article when they check the regulations on paper and in-person processes. In order to efficiency the work of checking the Digital Agency, we are considering the possibility of development the regulations on paper and in-person processes Inspection Tool alpha version in and distributing it to each ministry and agency to efficiency the work.

Let me briefly explain the alpha version of the regulations on paper and in-person processes Inspection Tool. At present, in the review of digital legislation process, the search words written in the guidelines by officials of the Bill Drafting ministries and agencies and Digital Agency are searched one by one for keywords related to regulations on paper and in-person processes, such as "inspection," "auditing," "entry," "resident," "training," "posting," "browsing," and "magnetic disc," and are checked in visual inspection to check whether there are regulations that may be related to regulations on paper and in-person processes.

This alpha version of the regulations on paper and in-person processes Inspection Tool is basic, but it functions to simultaneously search for multiple search words that correspond to regulations on paper and in-person processes. When the draft article file is loaded, it automatically highlights how many search words there are, for example, 110 for "inspection" and 27 for "investigation", and where the search words are located in the actual draft article file. Although it is a basic function, I believe that there is a considerable amount of efficiency to be done with this, and I would like to use this as an alpha version in Digital Agency and deploy it to each ministry. Of course, going forward, we are considering whether we can improve the tool as necessary and efficiency our work while receiving feedback from each ministry.

That is all for the explanation in Material 3, and Material 4 is a draft of the guidelines for review of digital legislation on the bills to be submitted to the National Assembly.

So, I would like to briefly explain about agenda item 3.

Regarding agenda items 1 to 3, we would like to have about 30 minutes for questions and answers and an exchange of opinions. In addition to the members of this working group, I am aware that there are Mr. Masushima, who was also examined at the law API Hackathon, and Mr. Ochiai, who is also a member of the Review Committee. We would like to hear your opinions and questions, including Mr. Masushima and Mr. Ochiai.
Then, I would like to ask you to raise your hand as usual, but I would like to thank you, Mr. Watanabe, for your prompt raise of your hand.

Watabe Member: . I'm Watanabe. Thank you very much for your wonderful presentation today.

I have a question for you, Mr. National Printing Bureau. First of all, thank you for your detailed presentation. While you are working on your efforts, I understand what is actually Issue and how you are working on it. I really learned a lot. Thank you for your summary.

My question is, among the various Issue that you have announced, if there are any that are currently critical and should be flagged here, I would be grateful if you could tell me that this is the main Issue among the various regions that you have mentioned.

Thank you very much.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your question.

Thank you, Mr. Kitada of the Printing Office.

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): Printing Bureau. Thank you for your question.

Currently, the critical Issue is automatic composition, and we are currently considering the mechanism of automatic composition. Regarding this automatic composition, as I said in my presentation earlier, it is difficult to reproduce the official gazettes format, and we are currently investigating to what extent it can be reproduced.

In addition to that, there are changes to the development and business flow of the entire official gazettes system, and I recognize that there is a fairly large Issue in terms of the internal BPR.

In addition to that, we are aware that the new development system, which is currently being operated, has become an urgent official gazettes for the development of specifications such as submission data when cooperating with e-LAWS in the future. Issue

That's all.

Watabe Member: .

In addition, I would like to ask another question. In this document, it seems that quite positive feedback has been received from government offices. In this document, the numbers are shown. Among those who are actually working, I think that it is probably the government offices that will benefit the most in digitalization, which is in the midst of the legislative process. If you could introduce what kind of positive voices there were, not only us, but also people outside the meeting would know that this is a project of such significance, so I would be grateful if you could introduce some of your voices. Thank you.

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): Printing Bureau.

I'm sorry, but I don't have a summary of this questionnaire right now, so I would like to refrain from introducing it now. I'm sorry.

Watabe Member: No way. I wanted to share the positive feedback with everyone, so I didn't need to do any additional work, and I just wanted to give you the feedback that it was positive.

.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your question.

Next, I would like to ask you, Mr. Fujiwara.

FUJIWARA Member: FUJIWARA. Thank you very much.

First of all, I have some comments and questions about the Hackathon. It was a very interesting initiative, and I renewed my feeling that I wanted to actually see it. A somewhat simple question was that there were many entries in the construction and architecture field, and conversely, there were no entries in other industries. I wonder if there is any reason for this. In addition, the award-winning automatic application system is already being implemented in anticipation of the creation of the law API, which I hoped would be possible in the distant future. Of course, I believe there should be a problem of accuracy, but I would like to know to what extent it is at a level that can be actually used.

That's all.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you very much. Mr. Yamauchi, nice to meet you.

Secretariat (Yamauchi): Now, . Thank you very much for your comment.

Regarding the first reason why there were so many people from the construction industry, we don't know the cause in particular, so it certainly seems that people from the construction industry are participating, but we have learned that new services will be created by combining data from various fields and law.

With regard to the automated screening that you mentioned, I would like to refrain from commenting on how accurate it is. However, we have introduced initiatives such as Rules as Code in foreign countries to promote various machine-readable and automated systems using automated screening from law. I believe this is a meaningful initiative with a considerable future, and I would like to support such initiatives.

That's all.

FUJIWARA Member: Thank you. That's all.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your question.

I believe you have made several proposals related to architecture, but the development itself is done in one week, and how we can develop it in the future is that we will improve the law API, improve the law database, and exchange opinions with the people who actually made the development. I would like to think about how we can develop it in the future, so please continue to give us guidance.

Next, Mr. Yasuno, nice to meet you.

Yasuno Member: . Thank you for your presentation. I would like to make one comment and one question.

One comment was about the law API Hackathon, and I basically thought it was a very good attempt. I think we have learned that such API specifications are necessary by doing it on a small trial basis, rather than just releasing it, and I think it is a quite meaningful effort not only in terms of how to create APIs but also how to spread them.

Many service providers in private sector not only publish APIs, but also hold events and hackathons to spread the word, so I thought it was very good that Mr. Digital Agency was doing such a thing.

My second question is to the National Printing Bureau. It is somewhat related to what Mr. Watanabe asked earlier, but you said that the critical part is that the existing layout cannot be completely reproduced. I would like to understand how critical this is at a higher resolution. Could you tell us more about what problems are critical and what problems are caused?

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your comments and questions.

First of all, could you comment on the law API Hackathon from Mr. Yamauchi?

Secretariat (Yamauchi): Now, .

Thank you for pointing out our efforts not only to create APIs but also to expand their utilization. We would like to promote the development of such technologies, the development of services, and the utilization of APIs by advancing open discussions from the perspective of service development users and technology development users. Thank you.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Next, Mr. Kitada of the Printing Bureau, thank you for your answer.

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): Regarding the critical impact of the fact that the existing layout cannot be fully reproduced, the legal interpretation may change due to the fact that the format cannot be reproduced. This is a part that requires consultation with the Cabinet Office and the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, and this part is handled by Issue.

Yasuno Member: .

I am sorry that I am an amateur, but I have not yet imagined what it means to change the interpretation by changing the format. I would be happy if you could give me an example of that. Is it possible to solve the problem by manually adding special metadata composition information about the format, or is it quite difficult to do that?

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): First of all, regarding the first example, regarding the bills to be submitted to official gazettes by the National Printing Bureau, it is necessary to submit bills that follow the format of the past bills, and there is a concern that the legal effect will change if the format of the bills is different from the format of the past bills.

In addition, with regard to your question on whether it is possible to completely reproduce the composition format when special metadata is added, this is currently under investigation, and as a result of an investigation by a related company, I have heard that it is quite difficult at present.

Yasuno Member: I understand. Thank you very much. I understand that there is a possibility that legal meaning will come out by reproducing it completely.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your response.

As for the submission of the official gazettes and the cooperation with e-LAWS, we are cooperating with the Printing Bureau and Digital Agency, so I would like to consider the relationship between the appearance and the legal effect pointed out by the Yasuno members. Thank you for your question.

Next, Mr. Tsunoda, nice to meet you.

Tsunoda Member: Hello, I'm Tsunoda.

I have two questions. One is about the hackathon, and the other is about the National Printing Bureau.

Regarding the Hackathon, I think it was a very good initiative, but if there are no problems with copyrights, I would appreciate it very much if you could present the source code, if possible, and not only the production but also the story of the difficulties. I would appreciate it very much if you could share information so that people in private sector will be able to enter the development more easily in the future.

In the past, when I proposed research and submitted the results of our development for a national project, although it was not a hackathon, we were supposed to entrust the rights to the government, and the software we submitted, including the source code and documentation, was all provided on the Internet. I thought that was fine. By doing so, I could understand the circumstances of other people's development by looking at the source code, so I thought that it would be good if the results of this hackathon could be shared in some way. In addition, I thought that it would be preferable for people in development to experience the unique wall that IT has when entering the legal field, and for such things to accumulate. I would like to ask you to provide them if possible. This is my first question.

I would also like to ask another question to the Printing Bureau. There was a story in the slide that the telephone process can be eliminated by looking at the materials. In the first place, even from today, for example, if it is normal, exchanging messages by e-mail can be used as evidence, and I think it is fine. But why did you use the telephone so far? On the other hand, if you don't need to use it just because of this incident, it seems that you didn't need to use it much earlier. If you can talk about it briefly, I would appreciate it if you could tell me about your situation. For example, if you have a situation in which you had to send data while consulting with someone, I would like to ask you just in case, so I would appreciate it if you could tell me about your situation.

These are the 2 points.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your two points, comments and questions.

Yamauchi-san, please tell me the first point.

Secretariat (Yamauchi): Now, .

First of all, regarding the Hackathon, we received your opinion on the disclosure of the deliverables. We say that the Hackathon is not an official service that is authorized, disclosed, or distributed. However, we believe that it would be very meaningful if we could share such technical efforts. In fact, there are examples of participants themselves disclosing their code on SNS, GitHub, and so on. We are very grateful for such efforts, and we would like to consider future measures so that technical efforts can spread.

In addition, I would like to hear your comments on, for example, your difficulties and shared efforts to enter private sector, and I would like to hear your thoughts on your difficulties and how you had contact with law Data this time, how you felt, and what kind of future you feel. I would like to increase the number of people who are interested in law Data. I would like to consider our future efforts. Thank you very much.

Tsunoda Member: .

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Next, Mr. Kitada of the Printing Office, nice to meet you.

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): Printing Bureau. Nice to meet you.

As for why we have been conducting telephone contact as you asked, in relation to offline delivery of manuscripts, when the manuscripts were registered on e-LAWS, we were informed that we had registered and would like to receive the manuscripts. We are not only receiving them by phone, but also by e-mail, but we are also receiving them by phone.

That's all.

Tsunoda Member: if we did not take that step?

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): Well, in the future, by cooperating with e-LAWS, we expect that submission will be automatically coordinated with one click of the submission button, and in that case, we expect that we will not need to contact you by phone or email.

Tsunoda Member: I see. I understand. Thank you very much.

That's all.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your response.

Next, Mr. Yoneda, nice to meet you.

Yoneda Member: I'm sorry even though it has been extended to Kagoshima University. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.

There are a few for each of the three topics, and it's a bit complicated, but I would like to give you my impression of being a judge for the API hackathon, and I would like to make the same requests as each teacher.
As you can see from the materials, what came out was support for legal work through a desktop environment, and there was another story from the construction industry, and I think there was participation in the direction of creating a learning tool that promotes understanding of law, which is roughly divided into three parts.

Mr. Fujihara asked me why the building industry should pay attention to this. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has declared that it will implement a complete digitalization of building design information by 2028. Toward that end, at least currently, we are working to create an inspection system for building information management of BIM. If we create an inspection system that reflects law information in real time to inspection information, I think we are working hard because there will be a significant efficiency of business.

I have heard that each company in the building industry has its own system to check. About two years ago, I also received inquiries from several large companies in the building industry about the handling of regulation information. In the end, it is not possible to fully implement the system unless regulation information is also received, so I think we received inquiries.

In addition, at the administrative window, for example, in Fukuoka City, when you go to the window to make a specific application related to architecture, a list of check items according to the content of the application is automatically provided, and I am aware that such a small system development is quite common. I believe that the direction of integrating what can be integrated so that this can be done in a lump to some extent, and so that it can be efficiently advanced, will lead to important development. In particular, for architecture, applications are made at each local government's window, so I think that consistency is necessary in such details. That is the reference information for Dr. Fujiwara's comment.

Next, with regard to the report by Mr. Kitada of the National Printing Bureau, I am concerned about whether the contents and resolutions shown in the schedule in the document are consistent with the assumed schedule shown by Digital Agency to our team in the past. I felt that if the resolutions were to be improved a little, the timing and contents of cooperation would become clear, so I would like to hear Digital Agency's comments on that.

As for the final digital screening, local government will have to work very hard, and as I have talked to several local government recently, it seems that there are major efforts being made to update the entire administrative system and to switch to another vendor. Therefore, I would like to see the efforts of Digital Agency be quickly communicated to the contact point in local government in a way that can be used by disclosing the details of the efforts of Digital Agency as soon as possible and technologically as soon as possible. I am the chairman of the Public Records and Archives Management Committee of Kagoshima Prefecture, but there are still many floppy disk left, and there is a "bundled regulation" or a "bundled bill", and I believe that it is one of the ways that Okinawa can prepare or recommend amendments to be made simultaneously.

That's all. I'm sorry.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you very much for your questions.

May I speak to Mr. Yamauchi?

Secretariat (Yamauchi): Now, , I would like to respond to your opening comments on the hackathon.

Thank you for providing background information on architecture. I understand that this is an example of initiatives that are beginning to advance in various fields to enable the efficiency and sophistication of administration itself by utilizing digital technologies such as machine-readable and automated law, including the initiatives in the architecture field that you mentioned. With such a future image in mind, I would like to promote law, technology development related to legal affairs, and service development, and I would like to build an environment that can promote development.

.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

The second point you pointed out is about cooperation with the official gazettes system. As introduced in the previous Working Group, we are conducting a survey demonstration projects commissioned by Daiichi Hoki and FRAIM. In this survey demonstration projects, after the first User testing is completed, the second and third User testing will be conducted in the future, and work is being done to identify technologies that can be implementation. On the other hand, we also have to decide on the details of the procurement on how to improve the functions of e-LAWS in the future. We are communicating with the Printing Bureau on a daily basis. If we intend to conduct legal affairs in digitalization end-to-end, we have to develop the system in a consistent manner as the law will be promulgated in official gazettes. Therefore, we are now considering the future procurement to increase the resolution. I would like to report on this at this opportunity when it is organized.

My third question is about local government. As you pointed out, I believe this is a very important initiative. Even before the Digital Consultation was progressively reorganized, we have been working to review regulations on paper and in-person processes in local government by developing a manual, utilizing subsidy for the Vision for a Digital Garden City Nation, and reviewing regulations on paper and in-person processes in regulation, rules, and so on. We are currently considering further initiatives. In addition, in regard to how we can cooperate with local local government, in the materials I submitted last year, we stated that the required specifications for the legal affairs system include making the system as open as possible so that it can be deployed in local government and other areas. We have also received requests from people in local government, and we are considering responding in accordance with these requests. Although it is difficult to give a definite answer at this point, we would like to proceed with consideration so that we can make it in accordance with what you pointed out.

First of all, I would like to ask you a question from the Printing Bureau.

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): National Printing Bureau.

As the Secretariat (Nakano) said, the National Printing Bureau will fully support and cooperate with you. Thank you very much.

In addition, we are currently conducting a proof-of-concept with the Ministerial Ordinance and regulations in mind, but it is expected to continue with laws and government ordinances in the future, so I would like to share with you what I think is a good idea to cut the small start.

That's all.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your answer.

Next, Mr. Watanabe, nice to meet you.

Watabe Member: .

This is a follow-up question to the question by Mr. Yasuno. As a lawyer, I have not been able to catch up with the fact that if the format and appearance of official gazettes are changed, it will not be legally effective. I am sorry if I have not studied it. For example, in the context of the layout, or in the first place, digitization, I would like to ask you with respect. I am a little worried that you are too particular about the existing format and lock-in may be working there. I would like you to explain more legally that if the format is changed, it will not be legally effective. Why is it that if the format is different, it will not be legally effective? I of course have many questions about the consideration of changing the format, but I would be grateful if you could let me confirm whether this is the current discussion after something is done. Thank you.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

How are you, Mr. Kitada of the Printing Office?

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): Thank you for your question.

It will lose its legal effect, and in another case, I think the form, etc. can be mentioned. Regarding the form, etc., if the form, etc. is changed, the effect as a form will not be exerted, so it is necessary to completely reproduce the form for such parts.

As you have pointed out, we are bound by this format, and we will consult with the Printing Bureau and the Cabinet Office, and we are considering making adjustments in our response.

That's all.

Watabe Member: .

I have great respect for the work of the Printing Bureau. On the other hand, as Mr. Masushima pointed out in the past, it is not prohibited to use technology to make a machine that stamps. However, I would like to discuss what kinds of changes can be made and what cannot be made. I also have some weak points, but I would like to continue to discuss them. Thank you very much.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Member Yagita, please continue.

Member Yagita: . Nice to meet you.

This time, I am serving as a judge for the law API Hackathon, so I would like to make a few comments on that.

I think there may be some overlap with Mr. Yoneda, but I would like to say again from a technical point of view. As Mr. Fujiwara pointed out, in terms of the technical understanding of why there are many buildings, it seems that in the construction industry, it has begun to be used in practice to create a so-called 3D model and attach data to it. In short, a 3D model exactly the same as a building is created by a computer, and this room of the building is 2,050 millimeters high, the material of the pillars is this, and the thickness is this. It seems that data that includes all these things has already been used in practice to a certain extent. According to a survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the introduction rate of BIM models in Japan is about 50%. Last year, I think there was talk that the Digital Legal Roadmap was divided into Phases 1 to 5, but it is almost a Phase 5 story. It seems that something like a digital twin has already been realized in buildings. In short, I understand that the data necessary for the construction industry is in a highly machine-readable state.

On the other hand, the construction industry naturally has various rules such as the Building Standards Act and regulation, and compliance with them is required very strictly. Therefore, there is a need for automatic validation of law compliance as a natural flow because there is such a BIM model and it is maintained digitally to a considerable extent. In other words, it is my understanding that the construction industry can benefit especially in the near future by disclosing the digital original of law.

Another point is how much it can be used. From the perspective of the construction industry, I am a real amateur, so this is my personal opinion. Based on what the team called bSJ has created, the height of this room in this building is 2,050 millimeters. This data is in the BIM model. If possible, could I share the screen with you?

Secretariat (Nakano): Nice to meet you.

Member Yagita: , I am currently sharing the screen of the Enforcement Order of the Building Standards Act of e-Gov, and Article 21 says that the ceiling height of the room must be at least 2.1 meters. Combining this with the BIM model I mentioned earlier, this room in this building is only 2,050 millimeters, but it says here that it is at least 2.1 meters, so this room does not conform. If we can properly convert this article into a program form, I think it shows that the law conformity inspection can be automatically performed.

In that sense, I believe that there are various law other than this Building Standard Law Enforcement Order. There are some gaps in converting all of these into programs that can be implemented successfully, but if those gaps are filled, I have received the impression that something like validation using the digital twin of the validation I mentioned earlier can be created in this area.

Finally, I would like to say what I thought through it. The story of releasing law in a machine-readable form such as XML and the story of making the details of law machine-readable such as Building Standard Law Enforcement Order, which you are just looking at, seem similar but are slightly different.

What the former says is that, for example, this is the text, but this is the heading, and this is a different thing in the XML data, so the machine-readability of law is high.

Of course, I would like you to do this, but on the other hand, Mr. bSJ is claiming that the wording itself is low in machine-readability. For example, this Building Standard Law Enforcement Order says that the room falls under one of these, and that it is specified by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Therefore, if you want to convert the content, you need to read all of this Japanese, and it is difficult to convert it into a program. In other words, it is low in machine-readability.

These two issues seem to be similar and I thought they were different issues, but I had not been aware of this before I participated in the Hackathon. Through this Hackathon, especially through the presentation by Mr. bSJ, I thought that these two issues seem to be slightly different issues. It may be a bit distant issue, but I thought it would be very useful to raise such an issue.

I'm sorry to have taken your time, but that's all.

Secretariat (Nakano): . Thank you for your valuable opinions.
I'm afraid that time has passed a little, so I would like to ask you to be brief. Mr. Ochiai, please.

Ochiai Review Board Member: Thank you very much for your visit to Thank you very much. I thought all of these efforts were very wonderful.

I would like to ask about the point that Mr. Yagita just mentioned. There are some unclear parts in natural languages in terms of logical relations and logical relations in machine processing, so I thought it was an issue of how much effort should be made to sort them out. I would like to ask Mr. Yagita about this first, but do you think it would be good to take it in that way?

Member Yagita: .

Basically, it is as you said. There are certain parts in law that do not need to be written in natural languages. The purpose of this is that the living room should be no larger than a certain number of meters, or no smaller than a certain number of meters, so that the machine readability is higher.

Ochiai Review Board Member: Thank you very much for your visit to I understand. Thank you very much. I thought this was an important issue in terms of advancing machine readability and machine processing, but on the other hand, I think it is also related to the fundamental way of writing the articles, so if we do not proceed, we will not be able to proceed. So, I think it is better to recognize this as an important Issue and deal with it without fail, but I thought it would be better to proceed with this issue separately. However, I thought it would be important to be able to do that if we are talking about automating law enforcement.

Next, in the discussion by the Printing Bureau earlier, there were aspects such as format and format, but I think it is difficult to ask the Printing Bureau to fully consider the extent to which it is actually necessary to have a binding effect on such matters and the positioning of such matters within the scope of its authority and jurisdiction. Therefore, I thought it would be good for the Working Group or the Parent Committee to take some opportunity to discuss how and to what extent the matters should be organized.

In addition, I would like to ask one question to the Printing Bureau. Are you making preparations in the same way as the related government agencies in the case of applying for advertising from private sector?

That's all for me.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your comments and questions.

Mr. Kitada of the Printing Bureau, it's a little late, so please be brief.

National Printing Bureau (Tachibanata): Printing Bureau.

We are currently considering the submission of the draft by private sector, which you just asked about.

This is a quick answer. Have a good day.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Mr. Ochiai, please.

Ochiai Review Board Member: Thank you very much for your visit to . I would like to ask you to proceed with the visit to private sector. If anything, it is related to the users on the people's side, so I think there is a good timing for that side, but I would like to ask you to do everything without omission.

That's all.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Next, I would like to ask you to be brief, Mr. Tsunoda.

Tsunoda Member: said, it seems that what I talked about last time and the stories that have appeared in the discussions so far are expressed in different ways. So, in order to avoid confusion, please let me organize them.

The part that Professor Yagita has just distinguished, which Professor Ochiai also mentioned earlier as the natural language part, is to be dealt with by a machine, which is exactly what is called Rules as Code. This has been discussed for a long time, and in that case, I have been saying about what kind of problems are likely to occur in the future for a long time, so I would like you to understand that this problem has been regarded as a problem for a long time, rather than a new problem. Of course, if there is a difference between what I have been saying and what Professor Yagita is saying, I would rather have you tell me the difference.

That's all.

Member Yagita: (chat statement) As you said, I believe that the latter part of the arrangement I just mentioned is probably the same purpose as the Rule as Code. Thank you for your point.

Tsunoda Member: (chat statement) That was good. I would be happy if there are opportunities to consider together in the future.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Next, Mr. Yoneda, may I have your attention?

Yoneda Member: I'm sorry even though it has been extended to .

The problem of changing the format of official gazettes will be a big problem for researchers. There are people who have been studying official gazettes by reading a large amount of it, but there is a possibility that their research will stop. Of course, it may be unavoidable to change the format according to the needs, but if you have to read it in a completely new style, your skills will change greatly. It cannot be helped that the research method will change according to the needs of the time, and how much to consider that part is another matter, but let me just comment that it will have an impact. In addition, I strongly agree with Mr. Tsunoda's comment that we should hold a review session or a review session for the hackathon, so if there is any opportunity, I would like to ask for support from Mr. Digital Agency.

That's all.

Secretariat (Nakano): Thank you for your comments.

Well, it's time, so at the end of the meeting, I would like to give an address from Mr. Tomiyasu of Digital Agency, who is serving as the Chief Inspector of this Working Group. May I speak to Mr. Tomiyasu, Director-General?

Director-General Tomiyasu: I'm Tomiyasu from Digital Agency, . Thank you very much as always.

Today's Issue, especially the law API Hackathon, was a challenge for us, and I think many good works came out. In addition, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the professors who took the screening on the day.

In today's discussion, there was a suggestion that law can be further promoted by utilizing the digitalization API, which MOFA has always been promoting the digitization of industry information. I believe that this will be an opportunity for ministries and agencies to think about their own industries, and I would like to firmly share the suggestions made today.

Regarding the Issue you gave us today, we would like to further develop the law API in various ways, so we would like to ask for your continued guidance.

In addition, I received a report from the Printing Bureau on the schedule, Issue, and other matters regarding digitalization, which is a legal office. As for Digital Agency, this is a very large Issue for us, and I believe it will lead to a efficiency of office work for the entire Kasumigaseki Government, so I would like to firmly cooperate with you. Thank you very much.

In addition, thanks to review of digital legislation, we have held three Diet sessions, including the extraordinary Diet session last year, the ordinary Diet session, and the extraordinary Diet session. I believe that we will be able to work as usual to some extent, so I would like to continue to do so.

In addition, regarding the local regulation that you mentioned, we are currently conducting a survey to determine what is still available and what the basis is, and based on that, we would like to revise the manual. We would like to work toward the end of the year.

In addition, as you just mentioned, in fact, it may be good to do something called the General Rule regulation in terms of the General Rule Law, so I think I need to do some research on that. Please continue to give me guidance.

I look forward to working with you again in the future. Thank you very much for your time today.

Secretariat (Nakano): .

Well, I think there is still a lack of discussion, but since time has come, I would like to conclude today's agenda.

If you do not have any objection, we will prepare the minutes of today's meeting and make them public after everyone checks them. All materials will also be made public.

With that being said, I would like to conclude today's meeting. In addition to the various points you pointed out and the points that we need to consider, I believe there are various points that we would like to ask for your continued guidance. I would like to ask for your continued guidance.

Thank you very much for joining us today. We look forward to your continued support.