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- Special
Report -
IT Strategies and Supporting Promotional
Activities of the Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion
Council of Japan
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Mr. Tsutomu Kanai,
Vice Chair of the Next Generation Electronic
Commerce Promotion Council of Japan
Chairman Emeritus of Hitachi, Ltd.
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In January 2006, the IT Strategic
Headquarters of the Japanese government (Director-General:
Junichiro Koizumi) announced the "IT New Reform Strategies"
for creating a perfect IT society around 2010. The headquarters
showed a determination to start to create a society in which
many people could enjoy the benefits of IT, based on the recognition
that it had already solidified the foundation for the IT society
by promoting the diffusion and use of IT through the "e-Japan
Strategy" (2001) and the "e-Japan Strategy II"
(2003).
Let's review the development of IT
during the five years following the announcement of the e-Japan
Strategy. Most people think that, although IT has penetrated
the business world, owing to great progress in the social
infrastructure, including broadband, there are still problems
with how to draw out the power of IT to "create new values"
and "solve problems." Let me talk a little about
"electronic commerce," which is deeply related to
our activities. According to a report by the IT Strategic
Headquarters in December 2005, the market size of B2B of "electronic
commerce" as one of the four priority policy areas of
the e-Japan Strategy expanded from 34 trillion yen in 2001
to 102.7 trillion yen in 2004. The B2C market size also expanded
from 1.5 trillion yen in 2001 to 5.6 trillion yen in 2004.
For example, owing to computer network systems, IT has been
introduced into paper- or fax-based ordering operations. The
introduction of IT into business operations is not the only
reason for the market expansion, but it accounts for a large
percentage; the market size will continue to expand further.
Then, as the next step, what should
we do to make use of the power of IT to "create new values"
and "solve problems"?
ECOM has been making efforts to establish
rules for secure electronic commerce, to make proposals to
the government, to promote international standardization and
to implement other similar activities since it was established
in 1996 as the Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan
(The First ECOM). I think that these activities contributed
in a variety of ways to expanding the electronic commerce
market more than threefold in the three years until last year.
On the other hand, social needs have shifted from the stage
of improving efficiency in electronic commerce to a more advanced
stage. To respond to such sophisticated needs, the Next Generation
Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (Next Generation
ECOM) was established in 2005 as the successor organization
to the Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (The
Second ECOM) that was reestablished in 2000.
What does "a more advanced stage"
mean? Specifically, it means a stage of implementing information
systems that enable the supervision of individual products
and real-time sharing of detailed information. "RFID
tags" are spotlighted as new technological tools to achieve
this goal. Not only manufacturers, but also distributors and
consumers, can enjoy the "benefits of IT," because
downsized and low-cost RFID tags can be attached to many products,
and because systems for transferring, accumulating and analyzing
vast quantities of data can be constructed more easily than
before.
For example, distributors are struggling
to find the optimum inventory level in handling vast quantities
of all kinds of products. However, I presume that they seldom
succeed in understanding detailed inventory statuses. The
supervision of individual products will pave the way for maintaining
the "optimum inventory level." For the distribution
industry, it will be a revolution since the introduction of
bar codes.
Let me give you another example. Consumers
sometimes want to know more about products when they come
to shops to purchase them. In the past, only retailers and
producers knew about the products at hand. But consumers will
be able to obtain detailed product information, including
ingredients, manufacturing processes and distribution channels,
just by holding up RFID tags attached to products in front
of readers.
The core theme of the Next Generation
ECOM is the "promotion of the diffusion of RFID tags,
including traceability systems." For example, ECOM is
planning to supervise individual products by making use of
RFID tags in the supply chain management of consumer electronics
companies, from order placement and receipt to manufacturing
process management, quality management, warehousing and delivery
management, sales management, and recycle management. The
aim is to implement next-generation advanced electronic commerce
by incorporating the information of individual products into
information systems through networks. In individual phases
of a supply chain, component manufacturers, processors, distributors
and retailers can enjoy common benefits in relation to the
supervision of individual products by making use of the information
on the RFID tags that are attached to individual products.
For example, when product defects are detected, they can also
trace the production and distribution history, as the word
"traceability" shows.
By the way, there are some problems
in diffusing RFID tag systems that enable the supervision
of individual products under the initiative of the private
sector in principle. It is necessary to make continued efforts
to promote further downsizing, cost reduction and international
standardization of RFID tags and to ensure the security and
reliability of whole systems. At the same time, it is also
important to implement interoperability among systems. We
will not be able to produce adequate results if we do not
use IT in supporting the supply chains connecting component
manufactures, processors, distributors and retailers, but
it is quite difficult to put it into practice, because individual
companies have already introduced systems, many of which are
not designed on the premise of data exchange. Even inside
companies, a lot of time and labor have been given to interconnect
systems that were separately introduced by individual divisions.
If we try to interconnect systems among companies, there will
be no other way than to take one step at a time by beginning
with minor matters, including the setting of specifications
for shared data.
I think that the biggest challenge
is to demonstrate the economic rationality of systems based
on RFID tags. It is necessary to gather many introduction-related
best practices and analyze them, to make a hypothesis if there
are any benefits exceeding cost for system introduction and
operation, to verify the hypothesis by applying it to actual
corporate cases, and to find out to what extent the hypothesis
can be generalized. For the purpose of diffusing RFID tags,
it is also important to fully examine the ensuring of information
security and responses to privacy protection from the viewpoint
of consumers, because RFID tags that are attached to products
retain information on individual products.
Since 1996, ECOM has been consistently
playing a role in supporting the implementation of national
IT strategies. It has been working toward the "expansion
of electronic commerce" as one of the four priority policy
areas of the e-Japan Strategy since it was established. In
relation to the e-Japan Strategy II, ECOM contributed to the
new development of RFID tags and traceability. For the purpose
of promoting industrial restructuring based on IT as the driving
force and solving problems of the people and society with
IT, ECOM recognizes the necessity of supporting the efforts
of Japanese companies to achieve world-leading "IT management"
and the most secure "IT society" in the world by
making full use of IT technologies, including RFID tags and
traceability as business tools.
In consideration of the strategic
policy that IT should be promoted, not under the initiative
of the government, but under the initiative of the private
sector with support from the government, it can be said that
the Next Generation ECOM, the present organization, is on
the cutting edge of IT strategy promotion.
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FY2005 Second
ECOM Board of Directors Meeting
(Held on March 28, 2006)
-Approval of the “FY2006
Activity Plan” and the “FY2006 Budget Balance”-
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On March 28 (Tuesday), 2006,
the FY2005 second ECOM board of directors meeting was held at
the Kikai Shinko Kaikan Building (Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
and the outline is as follows. On the day, all board members
(25 members including letters of attorney) were in attendance
and Mr. Akikazu Sato, Acting Chair of ECOM and Chair of the
ECOM Planning Committee (Kao Corporation) presided on behalf
of Mr. Takuya Goto, Chairperson of ECOM (Kao Corporation).
Prior to the deliberation of the agenda,
Mr. Ryo Nasu, Assistant Director of the Information Economy
Division at the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau of the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), gave a lecture
on the latest informatization measures at the METI, etc. Since
ECOM has much to contribute to the “IT New Reform Strategy”
and other similar initiatives, we will make continued efforts
with the support of members and affiliates.
At the second board of directors meeting,
the first proposal, the “FY2006 Activity Plan (draft)”
was deliberated and unanimously approved together with the second
proposal, the “FY2006 Budget Balance (draft)”. In
addition, a plan to discuss part of the activity plan in detail
at the FY2006 First Planning Committee and to commence the first
round of invitations for participation in working groups (WG)
soon after the First Planning Committee (April 24, Monday) was
also endorsed. The details of the activity plan are expected
to be announced to ECOM members at the time of the WG invitations.
The outline of the FY2006 Activity
Plan for each WG approved at the second board of directors meeting
is as follows:
·“Special Committee on RFID Tags/Traceability”
RFID Tag Utilization Study WG, RFID Tag Field Trial Project,
H18-RFID Tag Demonstration Experiment Liaison Meeting, RFID
Tag Demonstration Experiment Analysis/Enlightenment WG, Diffusion
Promotion & Social Acceptability Studies WG, International
RFID Tag Standardization Promotion Activities, International
Traceability Joint Research WG, RFID Tag/Traceability Workshop
·“EC Safety & Security Group”
Personal Information Protection WG, Security WG (Electronic
Signature Authentication SWG, Long-Term Signature Format Diffusion
SWG), Information Security Workshop, Guidelines (Legal System)
Study WG, etc.
·“IT Utilization Group”
IT Utilization WG, e-Government & Business Collaboration
WG, etc.
·“Technological Infrastructure Development Group”
Information Sharing Technology Promotion WG, Next Generation
EDI (ebXML) Promotion WG, Practical B2B-EC Framework Study and
Diffusion Promotion WG, etc.
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“International Relations Group”
International Collaboration through the “Japan-Korea EC
Promotion Council” and “Liaison Conference of the
Electronic Commerce Associations of Japan, China and Korea”,
etc., and overseas EC field surveys, etc.
·“Public Relations Group”
ECOM Forum 2006, monthly ECOM seminars, special executive seminars,
ECOM Symposium 2006 (tentative name), public relations magazines
(monthly ECOM News and annual ECOM Journals), operation of the
ECOM website, etc.
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New Role of ADR in the
Private Sector
-on Completion of the ADR Demonstration Experiment Project
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Ms. Toshiko Sawada, Research Director
of ECOM (ADR demonstration experiment project), reviews the ADR
(alternative dispute resolution) demonstration experiment project
to be completed at the end of this March and reports on the current
status of the electronic commerce market, the role of ADR in the
private sector, results of the project and future activities.
The Internet Shopping Dispute Consultation
Office, which started as part of activities of the Consumer Protection
WG, will close at the end of March 2006, because of the expiration
of the demonstration experiment period of METI (Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry). I am grateful for the tremendous cooperation
from ECOM member companies, as well as the Secretariat, in coping
with more than 5,000 trouble inquiries. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all of you.
As a matter of fact, Internet transaction
troubles have not increased as much as is rumored. In the early
days of B2C, people were concerned about all kinds of possible
troubles, including "disappearances" and "click
errors." However, in spite of such concerns, legal systems
have been developed. In addition, both business people and consumers
have accumulated knowledge and experience, and market prices have
been established. In other words, the market has become mature.
On the other hand, new types of auction
or cell-phone frauds and other similar crimes have appeared one
after another. However, there are limits to actions that private
ADR can do against frauds and crimes. This is what I recognized
through the demonstration experiment; in this area, it is necessary
to adopt other policies, including the strengthening of law enforcement.
I think that the role of ADR is to "establish
and diffuse desirable market rules" rather than to "help
victimized consumers." With the expansion of the market and
market participants, sellers without full knowledge and awareness
as business people have increased due to vague borders between
business people and individual consumers. Troubles that can never
happen in transactions with business people who run real shops
or major mail-order companies (e.g., an endless problem in deciding
the payer of a return fee of 700 yen) frequently occur in online
transactions. By studying these cases, I have come to a conclusion
that one of the roles of ADR is to shape networks among individuals,
small and medium-sized or mom-and-pop sellers and to establish
good business practices, rather than to help victims in individual
cases. Online transactions are attractive because we can easily
find and purchase products which we are unable to buy elsewhere,
at individual or small and medium-sized or sometimes overseas
shops. I hope that the results of ADR will be used to make online
transactions more comfortable.
Another thing I would like to point out
is that consumer awareness and behavior have also changed. "Consumers"
always exchange information on online discussion boards and tend
to make a fuss for fun about slight mistakes that are made by
business people. Such a tendency is one of the Internet-specific
risks, and major companies can not ignore it any more. With regard
to such cases, the Consultation Office presented both its own
directions from the viewpoint of ADR and legal analyses by determining
what was right and what was wrong, as well as the scope of rights
and duties of the parties involved. Predictability is very important
for market stability. In my opinion, it is highly significant
that ADR's directions are presented before court decisions.
A small private organization will take
over the results of the demonstration experiment. In April, 2006,
ECnetwork (http://www.ecnetwork.jp/),
a limited intermediary corporation, will be established as a membership-based
organization. It aims both to provide information and consulting
services for members, including a wide range of sellers (exhibitors
at online shops and/or auctions), who want to win the trust of
the market by providing satisfactory customer services even if
they are small-sized, and to reduce the cost for dispute resolution
in the overall market, including overseas transactions, by providing
the function of ADR.
I would appreciate it if you, members of major companies, could
kindly understand the aim and cooperate with us.
*This project is jointly implemented
by the Japan Information Processing Development Corporation /
Electronic Commerce Promotion Center and the Next Generation Electronic
Commerce Promotion Council of Japan, as one of the projects commissioned
by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
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Outline of “ebXML
Message Service Ver.3 (ebMS V3)” |
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ebMS (ebXML Message Service) is
part of the ebXML (electronic business XML) core standard and
specifies communication standards between companies. Since the
level of reliability and security of ebMS is high, more vendors
are trying to implement and commercialize it compared to other
ebXML standard technologies. Currently, Ver.2 (ebMS V2) is available,
but an upgrade - Ver.3 (ebMS V3) - is expected to be released
in 2006 and active discussion of its technical specifications
is taking place at this very moment. Mr. Masato Tamori, Research
Director of ECOM (Technological Infrastructure Development Group)
reports below on the outline of the next standard ebMS - ebMS
V3.
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Outline of ebMS |
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(1) What is ebMS?
ebMS is one of the core standard specifications
which forms the international standard specification, ebXML, and
prescribes communication standards between companies: telegram
message (XML message) delivery and data packages. The advantage
of ebMS is the ability to conduct secure BtoB exchanges in an
Internet environment. With the Internet, there are risks such
as the receipt of messages not being able to be confirmed and
having messages read by third parties, so concerns exist if the
Internet was adapted to practical business use as it is. However,
since ebMS has a higher level of security and reliability compared
to other communication protocols, messages can be delivered safely
and reliably.
For the reasons stated above, while the
spread of other ebXML core standard specifications are lagging
somewhat, the number of cases of vendors not simply implementing
ebMS, but employing it in commercialization are comparatively
large.
(2) What are the main functions of ebMS?
The basic function of ebMS is the sending
and receiving of business documents with the advanced features
of security and high reliability, thus making it easy to develop
higher-level applications, etc.
The main functions are as follows:
Sending and receiving function
ebMS specifications conform to SOAP* which
is the widely-used and XML-based communication protocol. As these
specifications do not stipulate delivery protocols in detail,
only for extending SOAP, lower-level protocols for the actual
sending and receiving of data can be chosen from HTTP, SMTP and
FTP, making it easy to use ebMS among companies.
Security function (telesecurity, prevention of falsification,
sending/receiving non-repudiation)
The SSL of communication pathway security
and digital signatures enable telesecurity, the prevention of
falsification and sending/receiving non-repudiation. The contents
of messages sent by the ebXML messaging service are protected
by digital signatures and in cases where entire messages, including
header information, must be protected, SSL is used.
High-reliability messaging function (assurance of arrival and
order, duplicate filtering)
This is a function to ensure the arrival
of messages and message order. This function keeps sending the
same information at a certain interval until it receives an acknowledgment
of the receipt of the transmitted information and can be repeated
up to the limits agreed upon by both parties. If the acknowledgment
of receipt is received prior to the repeat limitation, the message
is assumed to have reached the other party. However, this would
cause the same message to be sent many times to the receiver,
so a duplicate filtering mechanism has also been included.
Error handling function
If there is an error in the received message,
the error is notified to the sender, but in such cases, error
information such as the location and cause(s) can be retained.
Synchronized response function
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| 2.
ebMS V3 |
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(1) Outline of the ebMS V3 specifications
The V3 specifications have additional
and improved features to those that exist in the current V2 specifications,
the most important being the consistency with other web service
specifications to establish interoperability with web services.
Specifically, the following functions have been
added to web services and incorporated into the advanced SOAP.
WS-Addressing: a notation system of end points for senders and
recipients
WS-Reliability: high-reliability push and pull messaging
WS-Security and others
The introduction of WS-Reliability is
expected to be the solution for small and medium-sized companies
which have been slow to adopt ebXML.
Since the contents of the current V2 specifications
(push-type messaging specifications) are based on communication
between servers which have fixed IP addresses, the target users
have inevitably been large and medium-sized enterprises who can
afford servers. Therefore, it has become necessary to establish
specifications that can be adopted and used by computers that
do not have servers and that are used ordinarily by small and
medium-sized companies.
Directed at these market needs and aiming
to facilitate ease of communication with computers (clients),
the specifications which were incorporated into the V3 specifications
using the abovementioned WS-Reliability are those of pull-type
messaging. These specifications were compiled by an ECOM WG
(Next Generation EDI (ebXML) WG) in cooperation with related organizations
and were proposed to the international standardization organization,
OASIS. The following figure shows the image.
(2) Progress of the ebMS V3 specification revisions
1. Configuration of the ebMS V3 specifications
The specifications consist of two parts
and the preparation of the documents is progressing. The first
part consists of core features including security, high-reliability
messaging, pull messaging, error handling, etc., while the second
part comprises optional features such as ping/pong, a message
status service and multi-hop messaging and so forth.
2. Progress of the ebMS V3 revisions
To begin with, the first part covering
the core features is being prioritized and its formulation is
progressing. A working draft (WD) was established in October 2005,
and following several revisions, the committee draft (CD) is currently
available.
*1:SOAP(Simple Object Access Protocol):
SOAP is a protocol for software (objects)
to exchange messages over a network. Specifically, it is a standard
which uses communication protocols such as HTTP and SMTP, and
exchanges methods and return values as XML data. It was jointly
proposed by Microsoft, IBM and others to W3C.
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Outline
of Lectures at the “Tenth ECOM Seminar”
- Latest Trends in Overseas - |
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On February 9 (Thursday), 2006, a
monthly ECOM seminar was held under the above-mentioned theme
at the Kikai Shinko Kaikan Building (Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo).
On the day, 81 visitors including members and the general audience
attended the seminar. In this seminar, the latest trends
on how EC is progressing overseas were reported by four lecturers
with particular focus on the current status and trends in “the
advanced U.S.” and “remarkably growing China”.
In addition, as trends of e-Governments to improve administrative
services, “case examples of electronic applications”
and its underwork “examples of electronic signature and
authentication” were explained.
Lecture materials are released on the website for ECOM members
(http://kaiin.ecom.jp/).
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“The Current Status and Outlook of EC in Europe and the
U.S.” |
Mr. Toru Maegawa
Research Fellow, Economic Research Center
Fujitsu Research Institute
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Internet users have been steadily increasing
in the world. In 2004, the number of Internet users in the world
was 880 million and the population penetration rate was 14% (a
survey by UNCTAD). On the premise of continued growth with this
pace, it is estimated that the number of users (population) has
exceeded one billion and that the penetration rate has increased
to approximately 17% by the end of 2005. On a regional basis,
Asia boasts the largest number of users, Europe ranks second,
and North America ranks third. On the other hand, the lowest population
penetration rate is recorded in Asia (8.7%). The Internet has
spread most in North America, where it was first used, and Oceania,
with a small population and high GDP, ranks second. By country,
the population penetration rates are around 70% in advanced countries,
including the United States, and countries with many users are
the United States, China and Japan.
It is forecasted that the global EC market
size will be 7-9 trillion dollars in 2007 and that the U.S. EC
market size will be approximately 6 trillion dollars in 2008.
In 2003, compared with 1999, the EC market size increased by 15.5%
in the manufacturing industry, and increased by 70% in the wholesale
industry. The online sales ratio in the retail industry was 2.3%
in the third quarter of 2005.
It is estimated that the U.S. online retail
market size will double in 2008 compared with 2004, although there
are differences in exact figures among research companies. The
online ratio is high in computer-related products, and high sales
growth rates are recorded in cosmetics, perfume, sporting goods,
flowers and gift items. Especially, the market of online games
is drastically expanding; it is estimated that its market size
will practically quadruple in 2009 compared with 2005. With the
market expansion, damage caused by frauds in the North American
online retail business increased to 2.8 billion dollars in 2005.
As for threats to online banking, users are afraid of account
information thefts; attacks through key logger (spyware for recording
and transmitting keyboard operation) have been increasing, and
more than 6,000 attacks were reported in 2005 all over the world.
The Canadian EC market size practically quintupled in 2004 compared
with 2000. With regard to proportion between B2B and B2C, the
market size of B2B was 19.8 billion dollars, and that of B2C was
8.5 billion dollars in 2004. In Canada, the B2B market quadrupled
and the B2C market practically quintupled in these three years,
but the growth rates have been drastically downward.
According to a survey by GIA (Global Industry
Analysis) in 2005, the electronic commerce market size in Europe
will be 4.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2008. Countries that boast
high shares are Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and Spain, in
descending order. The growth rates of B2B markets in major countries
are around 35%. B2C business is drastically growing in France,
Italy and Spain. As for the purchase rates of the top four categories
(in major countries), books are popular in Germany, while clothes
are popular in France and videos in the U.K. Major payment methods
are remarkably different in individual (major) countries: payment
by credit card in France, bank transfers in Germany, etc.
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| “The
Current Status and Latest Trends of EC in China” |
Dr. Jian Min Jin
Senior Research Fellow, Economic Research Center
Fujitsu Research Institute
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In spite of drastic fluctuations caused
by the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators at Tiananmen
Square, the economic bubble burst, the Asian financial crisis,
the SARS crisis and other similar incidents, the Chinese economy
has been growing fast due to the rise of the country as a production
base and market, continued investment in information infrastructures,
a stably growing mobile market, promotion of computerization
and other similar reasons. China has been developing computerization
in line with its "techno-jump strategy" since the
end of the 1990s. As "three new major projects," the
Chinese government has been promoting the "e-government
project" (investment of 16 trillion yen over five years)
since 1999 and the "e-business and application project"
and the "e-home project" since 2001. The country aims
to achieve a growth rate of 18% over the five years starting
in 2004 (from 2004 to 2008). Electronic commerce is now active
in China. Although the Chinese EC market size is approximately
8% of the Japanese EC market size, China boasts a very high
growth rate. EC in this country is shifting to a high-growth
stage (a development stage) after a start-up stage (1998-2002)
and a growth stage (2003-2005). To develop EC environment, China
is making efforts for promoting policies, securing the safety
of transactions, establishing systems for credit, logistics
and payment, and developing EC human resources.
It is forecasted that the Chinese EC
market size will be approximately 900 billion yuan (approximately
13 trillion yen) in 2006. Business-to-business transactions
(B2B) account for a large share of the market. It is estimated
that the ratio of individual users of electronic commerce to
all Internet users, which was approximately 5.4% (5.63 million
people) in 2004, will increase to 7.9% (16.21 million people)
in 2007. On the other hand, for corporate users of electronic
commerce, the number of companies that have experienced B2B
transactions by the end of 2004 reached 1.35 million, according
to a survey by iResearch, a private research company. It is
estimated that the number will increase to 2 million in 2007.
Half of B2B sites were established in or after 2004. The top
three business categories into which EC has widely spread are
electronics, metallurgy and automobiles, and the top three places
that boast high numbers of websites are Beijing, Guangdong and
Zhejiang. Meanwhile, due to intensified competition and ongoing
consolidation, the number of B2C websites decreased by 12% in
2004. The top five products are books (47.8%), audio goods (25.5%),
apparel goods (18.1%), gift items (17.9%) and home electric
appliances (15.0%).
For the purpose of conducting a survey
on the current status of electronic commerce companies in China,
I visited the country from October through December, 2005. B2B
business models are classified into the platform-type model
in which, in principle, only information is provided online,
while actual business transactions are conducted offline, and
fee-based services are provided for supplier members while free
services are prepared for buyer members (1), and the specific-company-service
type model in which all business transactions including information
provision, contract conclusion and ordering are conducted on
the Internet and membership and contingent fees are paid by
the buyer and supplier members (2). B2C models are also classified
into the first model, in which only platforms are provided to
the general public and no other services, including delivery
and payment, are provided; the second model, in which manufacturers
and retailers provide information and other services including
logistics / delivery and payment to consumers; the third model,
in which contents including online games and hotel reservations
are sold; and other similar models. Also in China, there are
third-party online payment professionals who are engaged in
solving trust problems and technical problems, such as banking
system connections in electronic commerce, and there is a business
model based on the collection of commissions in proportion to
the transaction value of traders (mainly suppliers).
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Overseas Efforts toward the Utilization of Electronic Applications
~Improvement of administration services by one-stop applications
in Canada and Germany~ |
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Mr. Kazuo Adachi
Research Director
The Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan
Results of a questionnaire
survey by ECOM for the general public are as follows: people have
high expectations of electronic governments and municipalities;
in particular, 90% of them recognize advantages in "saving
the effort of going to administrative contact points" and
"going through procedures at any time they like." Nearly
everyone chooses "applications and notifications" as
the service they want to use. In consideration of the fact that
the low utilization rate of electronic application was discussed
in the Diet last week and the fact that the utilization rate was
less than 1% last year, I feel that there is a big gap here.
On the other hand, people are dissatisfied
at "too few services available," "lack of PR"
and "lack of user-friendliness." It is a fact that there
are many complaints about the current status of development. There
are the following problems with current administrative procedures
in municipalities: procedures that do not require identity verification
are preferentially established, and services that are directly
linked to the most important areas, including life and business,
are still undeveloped. Another problem is that, because there
are many administrative contact points in relation to application
for approval and license for the opening of new stores, the introduction
of online procedures into individual contact points does not necessarily
improve operational efficiency.
Please let me report e-government cases
in Québec, Canada, and Bavaria, Germany.
With regard to electronic tax filing,
the Québec Tax Agency is making efforts, together with
tax agents and software vendors as business partners in an integrated
manner, to increase the satisfaction level of tax payers, who
are also "customers." The characteristics are as follows:
outsourcing of tax investigations to agents (1), construction
of an easy-to-use tax filing system based on support to free development
competition among private vendors (2) and provision of a swift
and easy-to-use system without complicated authentication means
(3). In particular, there is a difference in the use of PKI between
Japan and Québec: in Japan, PKI-based electronic signatures
are considered to be preconditions for electronic tax filing,
but PKI is not used in Québec except for real property
registration because "a complicated system may not be used."
On the other hand, a one-stop portal site
for companies, which is provided by the Ministry of Economic Development,
Innovation and Export of Canada, is also based on a very rational
concept. For example, applicants who want to establish companies
need to go through procedures at all kinds of administrative institutions.
But if they answer the questions that are shown on this portal
site, application documents are automatically prepared. I hear
that the portal site was easily constructed because the ministry
did not dare to change the systems of individual administrative
contact points. In other words, people of the ministry considered
that the provision of a system to prepare all application documents
would contribute to administrative streamlining, based on an analysis
that not application procedures, but filling in different application
forms at various contact points were burdens on applicants.
I hear that Audi, an auto manufacturer
based in Bavaria, Germany, requested the state government to establish
an application bureau for the purpose of simplifying application
procedures at administrative organs, and that it created a system
to enable one-stop applications with its own funds. It is based
on a decision that, in spite of the cost for system development
and maintenance, reduction in the burden of complicated administrative
procedures will lead to cost reduction.
Such a precedent gives us a precious hint
for establishing an ideal e-government in Japan.
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“Trends of Electronic Signature/Authentication in Europe” |
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Dr. Yoji Maeda
Research Director
the Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan
In Japan, although laws
and infrastructures have been developed, electronic signatures
and authentications based on the public key encryption infrastructure
(PKI) have not been used very much. Many European countries are
almost in the same situation; only in a few countries do the majority
of people have public key certificates (PKC). One of the impediments
to the promotion of use is that, in federated nations, federal
governments have difficulty in implementing policies as intended
because individual states and municipalities are highly independent
from central governments.
In the Federal Republic of Germany (population:
82.5 million), approximately 500 services are provided for citizens,
companies and administrative institutions, but users are limited.
Relevant organizations have started to provide support on diffusion
and publicity by placing fliers in trains, producing and delivering
PR goods, and making other similar efforts. In Bavaria, PKI is
mainly used for electronic signatures that are attached to e-mails,
and is hardly used for signatures that are attached to electronic
documents. At present, approximately 3,000 employees of the state
government use signatures in e-mails, and the state government
is trying to increase the number of users to 10,000. In Germany,
the purpose of electronic ID cards, in which electronic signatures
and biometric ID are stored, is to give a common frame for electronic
health insurance cards, job cards, etc.
In the Republic of Italy (population:
57.48 million), electronic ID cards are delivered to all applicants
who are 15 years of age or over. It was decided that paper ID
cards would be terminated by the end of 2005 and that all newly
issued ID cards would be computerized from January 1, 2006. With
a pace of 8 million cards per year, 40 million paper ID cards
will be exchanged with electronic cards in five years.
In the Kingdom of Belgium (population:
10.3 million), all the people are obliged to have electronic ID
cards by the end of 2009. In the Kingdom of Denmark (population:
5.41 million), where e-government infrastructures have been almost
completely established, the government is conducting market surveys
to increase the number of users based on the recognition that
it is indispensable to increase the use of e-government services.
The three Baltic countries, which are
comparatively new in Europe, have started to make efforts for
the use of electronic signatures and authentications. In the Republic
of Estonia (population: 1.35 million), all people who are 15 years
of age or over are obliged to carry electronic ID cards. The cards
are usually prepared as identity verification means that are used
at banks, administrative institutions and other similar places,
in which identification is required for both documents needed
for office processing and all kinds of transactions. In 2005,
on a national basis, Internet polling was introduced into municipal
elections, probably as the first trial in the world.
The Republic of Latvia (population: 2.31
million) has been introducing electronic certificates since January
2006.
In the Republic of Lithuania (population:
3.43 million), public institutions started to exchange electronic
documents with electronic signatures in 2003; in 2007, all public
documents will be computerized. Smart cards with electronic signatures
and secret keys are being delivered to public institutions.
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In Asia, for the expansion
of users of public key certificates (PKC), PKCs are delivered
to people in less populated areas and countries, such as Hong
Kong and Singapore. In Korea, people are obliged to make use of
PKC in Internet banking. I think that all kinds of European approaches
for diffusing PKI in less populated countries will serve as a
reference for Japan. I would like to continue to conduct a survey
on how to diffuse PKI.
* Note: Figures in parentheses are the
populations of individual countries.
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ECOM Press Release |
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Activity Report: “Proposals
to Reduce the Administrative Procedures of Companies”
released on March 29, 2006
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-Improving the Efficiency of Administrative Procedures is the
Key to the Diffusion of Electronic Applications-
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(Released on March 29)
Details
http://www.ecom.jp/press/2005_009.html
Outline
The Next Generation Electronic Commerce
Promotion Council of Japan (Abbr. ECOM, Kikai Shinko Kaikan
Bldg. 3-5-8, Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Chair: Mr. Takuya
Goto, CEO of Kao Corporation) releases a report on e-Government-related
activities in FY2005 entitled “Proposals to Reduce the
Administrative Procedures of Companies”.
The activity report was compiled by
the ECOM 2005 “e-Government & Business Collaboration
WG” and investigated the ways in which electronic applications
ought to reduce the burden of the administrative work of companies
from the standpoints of “employee-related procedures”
and “electronic tax filing”.
Against this background, the current
situation is that companies are spending a total of 200 billion
yen (companies with more than 50 employees and 30 million yen
capital) yearly toward, for example, the reporting of salary
payments and the notification of employee matters to governments
such as annual adjustments. Accordingly, the hypothesis is that
sustained company efforts towards improving the efficiency of
administrative procedures can lead to cost savings in many areas
and an expectation for the rapid diffusion of electronic applications.
ECOM thus conducted a “Survey on Needs for Retirement
Procedures” targeting people in the general affairs and
human resource sections of companies and baby boomers.
In around 2007, eight million baby boomers
will reach the age of sixty and with retirement, re-employment,
a life of freedom, etc., substantial changes will occur in their
social environments. Accompanying these changes, there will
be a flood of administrative procedures that both individuals
and people in the general affairs sections of companies will
have to complete. We therefore set up the hypothesis that, when
establishing administrative procedures for retirement, the capabilities
of e-Governments are expected to contribute to payroll reductions
in general affairs sections and to the foundations of a convenient
life. We received responses from 1,050 companies and 410 baby
boomers and summarized the results.
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Long-term Storage Format
Diffusion Seminar
The Mechanism and Practices of Electronic
Signature Storage
-A Practical Approach to e-Document Law- |
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On February 24 (Friday), 2006, a seminar was
held under the abovementioned theme at the Todofuken Kaikan
Building (Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo). In the seminar,
technologies to realize the long-term storage of electronic
documents were explained, together with an introduction, demonstration
and exhibition of the products that passed the interoperability
test conducted last autumn according to the profile set down
by ECOM for a long-term storage format.
The number of applications we received
was in excess of the quota and were from users from information
system departments, etc. who are considering introducing electronic
signature systems, with more than 100 participants in attendance
on the day.
Responses to the questionnaire conducted
with the nine companies that demonstrated and displayed their
products indicated a high level of satisfaction with the results
of the seminar and all stated that “we would like to participate
in the same kind of opportunity again”. We received other
comments in the free-answer questions such as “Activities
for the long-term storage format are ahead of other countries
in Japan (ECOM)”, “We would like activity results
more widely published in regular seminars and on the web”,
“System operation issues should be investigated in addition
to the verification of technical interconnectivity”, etc.,
indicating expectations for increased activities in the future.
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From the Secretary-General |
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I will leave my position as Secretary
General on April 1, 2006, and return to the headquarters of the
Japan Information Processing Development Corporation (JIPDEC)
after an absence of fourteen years. It is impossible to express
my heartfelt appreciation for your cordial friendships in my six
years at ECOM which began in April, 2000 in this limited space,
but I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you
all. Mr. Kataoka (the current Deputy Secretary General) will take
over my position and we would like to ask for your continued support.
When I look back, being
involved in the world of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) in
July 1992, before the birth of the current concepts of EC (Electronic
Commerce) and e-Business, was when I opened the door of this world.
Ever since, I have belonged to the former CII (Center for the
Informatization of Industry) and the current ECPC (Electronic
Commerce Promotion Center), and have been involved with the establishment
and operation of the JEDIC (Japan Electronic Data Interchange
Council), CIF (CALS Industry Forum Japan), JIPDEC/JSTEP (Japan
STEP Promotion Center), JIPDEC/JECALS (Japan EC/CALS Organization),
ECOM (Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan: 1996-1999;
Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan: 2000-2004; Next
Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan: 2005-)
and PKI-J (Japan PKI Forum).
In the interim, I have
met, and also have had to say goodbye to many people. In particular,
we went through a difficult period when Mr. Oshima (IBM Japan
at the time), Mr. Tae Soo Kim (Director of MOCIE: the Ministry
of Commerce, Industry and Energy of Korea) who contributed to
the establishment and development of the Japan-Korea Electronic
Commerce Promotion Council, and Ms. Sun Ae Kim (Korean-Japanese
interpreter at the time) passed away while they were still in
active service.
On the other hand, it
is extremely gratifying that three ECOM Research Directors have
taught at universities and the fourth director will soon start
teaching as the new school year commences. I am expecting one
of the current research directors to work hard and to become the
fifth director to teach. Finally, to everyone associated with
ECOM, I would, once again, like to ask for your continued support
following my transfer to the JIPDEC headquarters, and to the staff
at the ECOM head office, thank you for everything you did for
me over the years.
(Hamanaka)
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ECOM News No. 12
Issue Date: March 31, 2006
Issuer: Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council
of Japan
Kikai Shinko Kaikan Bldg 3F
3-5-8, Shibakoen, Minato-ku Tokyo 105-0011, Japan
Tel: +81-3-3436-7500, Fax: +81-3-3436-7570
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