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2023 (2023) The 4th Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review Expert Meeting

Overview

  • Date: Tuesday, August 8, 2023 (2023) from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm
  • Location: Hybrid
  • Summary of proceedings:
    1. Opening
    2. Proceedings
      1. A review of the discussion so far
      2. Direction of improvement in each business
        1. Government Common Website (1 Project)
        2. Common System for Internal Management of Travel Expenses, etc. (SEABIS) (1 project)
        3. Information System for Services Related to Personnel Affairs and Remuneration (1 business)
        4. Employee Authentication Service, Attribute Information Management Infrastructure for Government Employees, etc. (2 projects)
    3. Adjournment

Materials

Summary of proceedings

Date

Tuesday, August 8, 2023 (2023), from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Location

Hybrid event

Attendees

Chairman Sato, Committee Member Iwasaki, Committee Member Sasajima, Committee Member Shimada, Committee Member Mito

Summary of proceedings

Following the opening statement by the Secretariat, Minister for Digital Transformation Kono delivered an address on the occasion of the opening of the plenary session, and the meeting proceeded under the chairmanship of the Secretariat.

First, the Chairman of the Advisory Panel explained the direction toward project improvement based on the report compiled at the Second Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review Advisory Panel and the discussion at the Third Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review Advisory Panel (Disclosure Process). After that, each project manager reported on the direction of project improvement based on the report and the disclosure process. The expert and Minister for Digital Transformation Kono expressed their opinions on the report from each project manager, and Parliamentary Vice-Minister Minister for Digital Transformation Ozaki gave a closing address.

Greetings from Minister for Digital Transformation Kono
I would like to thank all the experts for taking the time to attend. I would also like to thank you again for your discussions so far.

In Digital Agency, the Policy Evaluation and the Administrative Project Review have been discussed at separate meetings until now, but from this fiscal year, we asked experts to discuss the Policy Evaluation and the Administrative Project Review at the same meeting, and we asked them to discuss the direction of how to improve the project in Digital Agency's efforts.

Today, we will receive a report summarizing the contents discussed by the experts so far, and the person in charge of the business will report on the direction of business improvement based on the report. Thank you very much.

Secretariat
Thank you very much. Then, I would like the chairman of the Advisory Council to explain about the report.

Chairman of the Advisory Council
I have summarized the discussions with five external experts, including myself, and I would like to explain about this report.
First, the conventional policy evaluation and administrative project review

  • From the viewpoint of the original section, it seemed to be similar efforts, and there was a sense of overlap.
  • In the previous administrative project reviews, it was difficult to reflect the schedule in the budget.

Therefore, Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review have been integrated, and discussions have been advanced on the four projects selected this time.

In addition, at such an evaluation meeting, there is psychological anxiety that the evaluated person "does not know what will be pointed out," so in order to dispel such anxiety, we set a framework for discussion and conducted evaluation. Now, I would like to report on the discussions so far for each project.

Government Common Website

In terms of the policy purpose, the business and the audience of the website in each ministries and agencies are different. Therefore, we believe that the policy purpose should not be aimed at standardization and unification, but should be implemented from the viewpoint that it is highly convenient for users and important information can be obtained.

In light of the change in the policy objectives, it is requested that the target be revised.

As a policy measure, rather than creating a unified website by the government, I think it would be good to cooperate in building a website for each ministries and agencies, especially to cooperate with development in a follow-up manner. From the perspective of accessibility, I think it is necessary to draw up a guidebook and a summary of ideas unique to the Digi-cho.

In addition, we believe that it is important to provide information on public authorities's website over a long period of time, so we would like you to consider doing so.

As a system, I believe that it is important to strengthen the system because it is difficult to respond with one or two people when it comes to listening to and advising on various problems in each ministries and agencies.

Finally, as a stakeholder, although it will eventually benefit the people, we would like you to first communicate with the person in charge of the website in each ministries and agencies and work to reduce the burden on the person in charge.

Common system for internal management of travel expenses, etc.

Such a system must be customized in accordance with the requirements of each ministries and agencies, and we believe that it is difficult to build a standard system. Under such circumstances, when customizing in accordance with the requirements of each ministries and agencies, we would like you to respond with policies rather than responding individually.

In addition, this travel expense system utilizes the package software of a specific company. However, it is considered to be as good as possible to use the package as it is because customizing the package for such business operations costs more and is more likely to cause problems. On the other hand, since the system is built in accordance with the Travel Expense Act, the package must be customized in accordance with the Travel Expense Act. However, we would like Digital Agency and the relevant government agencies to make adjustments so that the system requirements can be incorporated from the revision stage.

From the perspective of the system, we concluded that it is necessary to expand the system as soon as possible in order to address the matters mentioned so far.

Finally, as for stakeholders, travel expenses are linked to various things such as salaries, so I would like to ask for cooperation with related systems.

Personnel Affairs and Payroll Information System

I have pointed out the scope of the personnel management system at some private sector companies, which includes a lot of information such as personnel evaluation and others.

In addition, the users of this system are the personnel managers of each ministries and agencies, and it can be said that it is smaller than expected, and in addition to adjusting to the actual situation of each ministries and agencies, I have heard that requests for improvement have been received from each ministries and agencies, so I would like to ask for your response.

With regard to the system, I would like you to consider whether this number is appropriate for considering the scope and resolving the Issue issue.

Finally, this system is also related to the employee authentication system, which I will explain later, so I would like you to proceed in cooperation with such related departments.

Employee Identification Services (GIMA) and Government Employee Attribute Information Management Infrastructure

First of all, since we are cooperating with the personnel and salary systems, we would like to have the teams in charge cooperate with each other, so I believe that this expert meeting could have created an opportunity for that.

In addition, regarding the approach, we are advancing the transition to the corporate authentication system, so-called Zero Trust Network. Zero Trust Network is often used by companies because it is resistant to attacks. On the other hand, there are difficulties in user ID management and in particular access control, and it will be dangerous if not set accurately and finely. Therefore, we would like you to carefully study the Issue at private sector companies and take thorough measures, including access control.

Finally, this system is a very important system, and we are planning quite drastic changes in the future, so I would like you to proceed with careful planning.

Secretariat
Thank you very much. Then, please explain the report compiled by the 2nd Expert Meeting and the status of business improvement studies and measures taken for the 3rd Expert Meeting from the person in charge of the business.

Person in charge of business
Government Common Website
The government common website is a website developed by each ministry.

  • Not necessarily highly accessible
  • The system-related side of each ministry and agency does not have the know-how about the cost of operation and how to improve it.
    There are such Issue, and in order to solve the Issue, we have been considering the direction of formulating a single website by the government. In such a situation, as the chairman pointed out earlier, we should realize a state in which each site is clearly easy to see despite different users and purposes, so when we were considering changing the direction, we received advice from experts.

Therefore, in light of your comments, we have changed our policies from standardization and unification of websites to support the improvement of the transmission power of government websites. For example, we would like to change our policies so that each ministry and agency can more easily realize the necessary functions by providing common infrastructure, maintenance of functions, standards, reference materials, etc. In order to realize this, we believe it is necessary to create a conference body, and we have also reviewed the contents of "Digital Agency for the Realization of digital society". We have revised the contents of "Priority plan for the Realization of Kyoto City".

Under such circumstances, we would like to create a forum in which people in charge can exchange information in the form of a conference body or community, and we have revised our target setting.

In addition, in response to your suggestion that we should present a concept that can be used as a reference by ministries and agencies, such as the ideal website, Digital Agency has released materials such as a design guidebook and an accessibility introduction guidebook, but we are currently preparing to further organize them and make them more user-friendly and comprehensive in the form of standard guidelines.

In addition, in response to your comment that we should provide cooperation type support to each ministries and agencies, Digital Agency has experience based on the establishment of the Digital Agency website and the Children and Families Agency website, so we would like to provide such experience first, and based on the situation in other ministries and agencies, we would like to provide support so that the person in charge of each ministries and agencies can run on their own. Along with that, you pointed out the strengthening of the system and the consideration of the content of the project commensurate with the system. We are currently preparing to consider a more rational way of proceeding, such as the operation of the community in a form that can be outsourced for the other parts, while the personnel of Digital Agency will realize the parts that only the personnel of Digital Agency can realize.

Lastly, you pointed out that we will utilize the existing framework for communication with the Cabinet Office and each Ministry. By utilizing the existing framework as much as possible and developing a foundation for mutual information exchange among communities using tools on the Internet, we believe that we can steadily provide necessary information, particularly to the officials in charge, and provide necessary discussions in a way that does not burden the Cabinet Office and each Ministry. We will respond to the points you pointed out by responding to parts, tools, and know-how provided by Digital Agency.

Common system for internal management of travel expenses, etc.
I would like to explain the points emphasized by the Chairman. First of all, you pointed out that we will consider a system that overcomes the disadvantages of using packages and that we will minimize the customization of packages as much as possible. Regarding this point, we are collecting information on the technological trends of packages in private sector. In addition, regarding the institutional revision of travel expenses, we have already requested a simple institutional design to Ministry of Finance, which is an institutional government agency. We will continue to make specific requests in the future, and we will aim to build a simple and highly scalable system when we renovate the system in the future.

In addition, with regard to your point about the system, we were able to significantly increase the number of personnel through this year's transfer. With this increase in the number of personnel, we are holding a study meeting jointly with Ministry of Finance and the Secretariat of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Administrative Reform of the Cabinet Secretariat, including the movement in private sector, as mentioned earlier, and making requests from the system side for future system reviews.

As for the examination of indicators to evaluate positive effects on users, we plan to set the convenience of users as an indicator when the system is renewed in the future.

In addition, regarding the point that there will be differences and complications in operation on the ground, the Secretariat of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Administrative Reform of the Cabinet Secretariat has held hearings with each ministry regarding the revision of the system, and I would like to firmly consider system-side measures in cooperation with BPR for standardization and simplification of travel expense operations.

The last point is about the action as a team with the division in charge of the system and the business implementation division. We will closely cooperate with the system government agencies, etc., and closely cooperate on data collection, process improvement, etc.

Personnel Affairs and Payroll Information System
With regard to the policy objectives, in response to your comment that the current scope should be reviewed when the system is renewed, we are currently working with National Personnel Authority and Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs, which are responsible for human resources-related systems, to consider systemizing other human resources areas that are not covered by the current system. The next renewal of the human resources system is scheduled to be around fiscal 2028, and we would like to proceed with consideration of the scope of the human resources system in cooperation with National Personnel Authority and Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs toward the renewal.

With regard to your comments on the setting of targets that the Government of Japan should immediately respond to the requests of the Cabinet Office and each Ministry, we will prioritize those that are expected to be effective and have many requests, starting with those that can be done.

In addition, with regard to the data connections with the employee identification system, so-called GIMA, we will work with the team in charge of GIMA to sort out the Issue after confirming the purpose and specifications of each system, and consider improvement measures so that it will be more convenient for the Cabinet Office and Ministries, which are users.

Among the points related to policy measures and approaches, we will continue to investigate and pursue the root causes that are not used and are difficult to use, while listening to the voices of users in addition to analyzing data and logs.

Regarding the latter part, I would like to report separately on the notification and application function, which will be seen by many users, and other parts. First of all, regarding the notification and application function, we have already started to create a prototype in consideration of service design, and based on the results obtained there, we would like to prepare for implementation of the system itself. In addition, regarding the parts other than the notification and application function, we would like to proceed with the improvement of UI and UX sequentially from what can be done, as was the request from the Cabinet Office and the Ministry earlier.

Finally, regarding the system and stakeholders, we are currently considering improvement measures for business methods and cooperation methods with National Personnel Authority, Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs, and others so that we can respond more accurately in terms of actual operation. While advancing such improvement measures, we would like to make efforts so that you can eventually participate in the development process such as requirements definition and testing.

Employee Identification Services (GIMA) and Government Employee Attribute Information Management Infrastructure
Regarding the current system currently used in the login authentication part of the system and the move toward the next platform of the Government Employee Attribution Information Management Platform, the Employee Identification Service received a proposal on the current Issue and what needs to be considered for the next platform.

First of all, regarding the point that further cooperation with the personnel and payroll system should be made, the person in charge of the personnel and payroll system also reported. While cooperating, we would like to consider and develop a new attribute information management platform architecture premised on a review of what kind of data is to be cooperated when actually cooperating.

At that time, you pointed out that the existing cooperation data and personnel information are not sufficient, so we recognize that it is important to further utilize personnel information. With regard to this, as the Prime Minister stated earlier, while closely cooperating with the relevant ministries and agencies, we will specifically determine what kind of data should be coordinated and how it should be coordinated, including how it should be coordinated with the personnel system.

In addition, in order to realize zero Trust, access rights and identity verification are important, and you have pointed out that we should consider whether it will be a practical mechanism from the viewpoint of operation. With regard to this, we will review and consider the methods and means of identity verification again, and then build a mechanism for procedures and systems that can efficiently realize business operation and can be continuously maintained and thoroughly implemented. In addition, we will firmly build not only the system but also the procedures. At the same time, we will consider a mechanism that takes into account the diversification of the working styles of government officials and diverse human resources.

Finally, in response to the suggestion that careful planning should be made because the transition will be between different architectures, we will provide certification services, so we will need to connect to a wide variety of systems in each ministry, which will require transition work. Therefore, we will firmly grasp the specifications of the system to which we will connect, clearly define the transition process and schedule, and work on it after careful and detailed planning, including consensus building.

Secretariat
Thank you very much. Then, I would like to ask the members of the Advisory Council to give their comments, and finally, I would like to ask the Chairman of the Advisory Council to give his comments.

Member of the Advisory Council
This time, in the course of aiming to integrate policy evaluation and administrative project review, we have evaluated four projects. Since the Issue has become very clear, the direction of the projects will be shown, and I expect that appropriate improvements will be made while rotating the PDCA cycle.

Originally, organic cooperation was required in order to eliminate the sense of overlap and burden between policies and projects, but I feel that through this evaluation and review, we were able to have a very meaningful exchange of opinions and discussions rich in suggestions about the four projects.

In particular, as you explained earlier, government websites operated by various ministries and agencies had a Issue in usability due to a lack of consistency in UI and UX and a lack of users' perspective. In addition, the system infrastructure owned by ministries and agencies and the content management system led to an increase in cost and a shortage of human resources. However, I believe that we were able to set a direction for improvement based on a focus on users' perspective while reviewing the Priority plan of standardization and unification of operations.

In addition, as the shortage of human resources becomes serious, I believe that perspectives such as external appointment, human resource development, and in-house production will be required in the future in terms of how to satisfy human resources on the Digital Agency side, how to secure human resources indispensable for each project and policy, and so on. I believe that it is necessary to proceed with a sense of speed while appropriately implementing the review and examination that have already been raised.

In the future, I would like you to build a governance system that can demonstrate strong communication and public relations capabilities to persuade other central government agencies, local local government, and the people in all activities, not only in the four projects.

Member of the Advisory Council
Overall, I believe that there is an urgent need to expand the system. In any system, there are still many Issue that take time and effort.

In actually solving these problems, I believe that it is a very bad way to solve them by relying only on the efforts of individuals. Therefore, from such a perspective, I would like you to firmly establish a system to solve the problems.

Member of the Advisory Council
When people feel waste, their motivation tends to decline, so I think it is very important to advance efforts so that such motivation does not decline.

If we can create a team that can feel psychological safety and can communicate well, engagement will improve. It is not that one person and one person can be combined into two and have an effect, but that one person and one person can be combined into two or more and have an effect. This is what we are doing as a team, so I would like you to proceed with your efforts while paying attention to such points.

I believe that the purpose of Digital Agency's existence is clear, but I believe that Well-being also exists in the realization of the happiness of each person through the use of digital technology.

Therefore, although you have reported various things this time, I would like you to make sure that the purpose is not to work on it. I believe that the motivation, engagement, and well-being of those who work on it are really important, so I would like the five of us to be involved in it in a positive manner while continuing our efforts.

Finally, when we do something about the problem of insufficient human resources, we always lack human resources, so instead of focusing on that, I think it would be good to pay attention to whether we lack skills or a mindset.

Member of the Advisory Council
First of all, I would like to give the highest praise to Digital Agency for making it easier to reflect the results in the budget earlier by combining the Policy Evaluation and the Administrative Project Review. I am a member of the Administrative Reform Secretariat in my ninth year, and I was most moved. Personally, I would like other ministries and agencies to refer to this initiative, so I would like to leave a comment.

With regard to the content, I would like to make a special comment on the Common Government Website. First of all, the purpose of Priority plan was changed from standardization and unification to support for improving the ability to communicate, but it seems abstract and I think it is a very important modification. I think standardization and unification are terms from the perspective of efficiency on the part of the creator, so when I think about it from the perspective of the user, the purpose of this policy was to focus on how to contribute to improving the ability to communicate, and I think the subsequent detailed policy revisions were also of great significance.

If I were to say anything, I think it would be good to go further and make the wording more user-oriented, such as usability and accessibility, in the future.

In this context, I have also looked at the Digital Agency site, and with high expectations, I would like to see the Digital Agency site have a method of creation and usability that can serve as a model for other ministries and agencies. To be honest, I still have some complaints. To put it with high expectations, for example, if you enter "My Number Card" into the search engines of private sector companies, I think a variety of articles will come up easily. On the other hand, in the case of Digital Agency, even if you enter "My Number Card" or "," only a large page will come up, so I think there is still room for improvement.

As you mentioned earlier, in the case of the Government, I think it comes from the point that it is meaningful to keep information such as stability and permanence, but I think it is very common to approach information by sensory search, in which multiple keywords are entered and if they do not match, they are changed to another one. I think it would be very good if you could make it and review it from such a perspective, and I think it will be a model for other ministries and agencies. I am counting on you.

Chairman of the Advisory Council
First of all, as I said at the beginning, I believe that this Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review was a new and meaningful attempt, and I hope that it will be a reference for other ministries and agencies.

Second, failure is inherent in IT. public office does not tolerate failure, but in the case of Digital Agency, considering the handling of IT and digital, I believe it is necessary to create a mechanism that allows failure. Originally, policy evaluation was intended to create a system that allows failure by evaluating the results, even though the administration may fail.

Therefore, while Digital Agency is working on various measures in the future, everything may not go smoothly, but in that case, I believe it would be good if the Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review could be used as a mechanism to correct the course.

Secretariat
Thank you very much. Then, I would like to have a comment from Minister for Digital Transformation Kono.

Kono Minister for Digital Transformation
Thank you very much, Chairman and everyone.

When I was first appointed Minister in charge of Administrative Reform, SEABIS and other organizations had many different operations depending on the ministry and agency, and there were some operations unique to Kasumigaseki that were different from general common sense. Therefore, I referred to the efforts of private sector companies a number of times. I believe that Kasumigaseki will become closer to private sector companies by introducing the package you pointed out without customizing it as much as possible.

In addition, in Digital Agency, we are increasing the number of employees, but we feel that the back office is difficult, and you pointed out that it is not good to rely only on the hard work of individuals, but I believe that it is necessary to make up for this point with a system. In addition, I believe that it is important to build a digitalization system that does not burden the back office, so if we can realize it in the way you pointed out, it will probably be a change in the work environment for not only the back office in Digital Agency but also each ministry and agency in Kasumigaseki.

Furthermore, with regard to the fact that there is a labor shortage, I believe that we must think about what to do when there is a labor shortage everywhere.

We are grateful that we have received many comments, that the person in charge has taken them seriously, and that they have led to various specific discussions. I think it was good that the two meetings so far were combined into one for consideration and discussion.

Based on the points you pointed out, we would like to make sure that we can improve our other efforts, so we would like to ask for your continued guidance.

Secretariat
Thank you very much. Then, Mr. Minister for Digital Transformation Ozaki, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, would like to make a speech.

Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Minister for Digital Transformation Ozaki
Today, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the distinguished professors for their valuable opinions.

When I heard the plan from the Secretariat for the first time, I thought that this series of efforts to conduct Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review in an integrated manner was truly epoch-making. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Secretariat for achieving the desired effects.

I think it was significant that the integrated implementation of the Policy Evaluation and the Administrative Project Review led to the improvement of overlapping operations. Above all, it was very significant that the review was conducted earlier and in line with the period when Kasumigaseki is planning to reform and is thinking about what to do with the next fiscal year's budget.

Some of the items you have already pointed out were reflected in the Priority plan Plan that was approved by the Cabinet in June this year. In addition, I believe that we will greatly discuss the matters you pointed out when formulating the budget. You made very meaningful efforts from both sides of promoting the EBPM Plan in Kasumigaseki and the PDCA cycle, and I first made them in Digital Agency.

Once again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for this wonderful review. Thank you very much.

Secretariat
With that, we conclude the 4th Policy Evaluation and Administrative Project Review Expert Meeting.

End

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