TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) - Japan's Parliament approved a law to set up a new Digital Agency as the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including stumbles in its vaccine roll-out, underscored the country's need to catch up on technology.
The Bill, which passed in the Upper House on Wednesday (May 12) following approval in the more powerful Lower House last month, establishes an agency aimed at bringing greater digitalisation to ministries and administrative bodies.
The Digital Agency, to be launched in September with an initial staff of 500, will also plan a nationwide shift of local government processes into the cloud and try to help facilitate digitalisation in the private sector.
From delayed cash handouts at the beginning of the pandemic last year to the low uptake of remote work and problems with online booking systems for vaccination appointments, the virus has highlighted Japan's difficulty in taking advantage of more efficient ways of working.
Many Japanese in recent days have struggled to access websites from the local authorities to book appointments for coronavirus vaccinations, contributing to a slow roll-out that has irked the public and ranked Japan among the slowest in developed nations.
Last year, many waited months for emergency cash handouts meant to help them weather the economic hit of the Covid-19 pandemic, while the process went far more smoothly in places such as neighbouring South Korea.
A survey published by broadcaster JNN on Monday found that support for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet fell to 40 per cent, its lowest since he took office in September last year.
More than 60 per cent of respondents said they did not approve of the government's virus management and about three quarters did not think the government would meet its target of vaccinating those aged 65 and over by the end of July.
Mr Suga's predecessor, Mr Shinzo Abe, urged a rethink of traditional clerical practices last year when he was prime minister, after the custom of hand-stamping paperwork was found to be hampering government targets for reducing the number of commuters to rein in virus infections.
