Japan to build "one-stop" online public service system by 2013

I / Tokyo July 07, 2009, 14:37 IST

Japan plans to build an online portal allowing citizens "one stop" access to a wide range of public services by fiscal year 2013, the government's IT Strategic Headquarters said.

The system will have an online, high-security "post-office box" that citizens can use to manage personal information online, such as checking the record of their payments into the public pension programme and obtaining a copy of a residency certificate, it said.

The system is a midterm goal of the headquarters' "I-Japan strategy" which is to run through 2015.

The headquarters was set in 2001 to establish an information technology-based society. With the Prime Minister at the helm, the headquarters has all Cabinet ministers and selected experts as members.

Under the strategy, the government has promoted developing online public services, dubbed "e-government," but has fallen behind its target for turning that vision into reality.

"Some matters (regarding the strategy) straddle the responsibilities of more than one Cabinet minister, but I hope the members implement necessary steps with a steady and expeditious manner," Prime Minister Taro Aso was quoted as telling the members.