Feature article: Insights into “Key Points of Economic and Industrial Policies” (3)

In order to promote digitalization throughout Japan, national and local governments must first realize such digitalization internally. It is necessary to realize government infrastructures that allow people to complete administrative governmental procedures without visiting the administrative offices in person.

The My Number Card is an initiative that the entire government is working to spread. The card not only serves as an identification card, but it can be used online for various procedures and transactions with both the public and private sectors. Also, there is a similar mechanism called “gBizID” that can be used for online authentication and procedures for companies and sole proprietors when using administrative services.

Making administrative procedures for companies simpler and once-only efforts

By using gBizID, the login process of entering and confirming the information of the company/sole proprietor, which used to be necessary for each, individual procedure, can be implemented through a single account. Currently, procedures for the subsidies request system and the SME support site offered by METI, social insurance procedures for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan Pension Service), the common application service for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and others, are all available through this system (please refer to the URL for relevant information). Approximately 220,000 accounts have been issued as of the end of October 2020.

In August, rules and regulations were established to allow integration with local governments as well. In the future, in addition to expanding the gBizID service to all departments and agencies, integration with services provided by local governments will be promoted. Additionally, a mechanism will be established where data entered for one administrative procedure can also be used for other procedures, by promoting data linkage between different services while ensuring information security (making such procedures once-only efforts). Such improvements to convenience are hoped to increase in the number of users.

Related information

• Welcome to gBizID. (in Japanese)