What is DX promoted by the government? Introducing government guidelines and subsidies in an easy-to-understand manner!

Isn’t there a lot of people who want to know about the DX-related measures that the government is promoting?

By knowing the government’s DX-related measures,

There are advantages such as

Therefore, this time, we will introduce three DX-related measures promoted by the government. We will also introduce 5 subsidies that are useful for promoting DX.

What is the government’s view of DX?

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry defines DX as follows.
“Companies respond to drastic changes in the business environment, utilize data and digital technology, and transform their products, services, and business models based on the needs of customers and society. To transform our culture and climate and establish a competitive advantage.”

By doing DX, the government believes that business can be expanded further by transforming the existing system into a digital one and making it more efficient, so we are promoting it.

Reasons why the government promotes DX

In the DX report, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expressed the term “wall of 2025” based on the assumption that if DX does not spread in Japan, there will be an annual economic loss of up to 12 trillion yen after 2025.

Conversely, if we can promote DX, we can expect real GDP to rise by about 130 trillion yen in 2030.

The government believes that promoting DX can improve the economy of Japan as a whole, so it is important. The measures and subsidies that are being implemented for that purpose are also explained in the latter half, so please refer to them.

DX policy set by the government

Know the government’s DX promotion policy and clarify the purpose of your company’s DX efforts. Here, we will introduce what the government wants to achieve by realizing a digital society.

The DX policies set by the government are as follows.

1. Realization of a happy life for the people
2. Realization of a digital society that leaves no one behind
3. Strengthening international competitiveness

I will explain each.

(1) Realization of a happy life for the people

In order to realize “human-friendly digitalization”, the government considers it important to create user experience value from a thorough national perspective.

The point here is not just digitization, but the point of “advancing DX thoroughly from the user’s (citizen’s) perspective”.

As an example of failing to thoroughly understand the user’s perspective, the coronavirus contact confirmation application “COCOA” had a series of problems, such as not receiving a contact notification with an infected person for about four months for some users. (It is believed that one of the reasons is that the number of bug fixes in the app was small.)

In order to realize a happy life for the people, the government needs to thoroughly promote DX from the user’s (citizen’s) perspective.

(2) Realization of a digital society that leaves no one behind

Today’s 20s, who are digital natives, are said to be relatively digitally savvy, but the reality is that many elderly people are not digitally literate.

Therefore, in order to prevent the widening of the information gap between those who have digital knowledge and those who do not, and to ensure that all citizens can receive services equally, the government will carefully explain to the public the changes in administrative procedures due to digitalization.

③Enhancement of international competitiveness

The government aims to strengthen international competitiveness through DX.

Currently, companies such as Amazon and Airbnb that actively promote DX and make use of it in their business are making huge profits. On the other hand, there are only a handful of Japanese companies that are world-famous. Therefore, our policy is to strengthen our international competitiveness by promoting DX.

DX in business that the government thinks

For the first time, DX is a combination of computerization and digitalization. In business, it is important not only to unify paper to PDF, but also to create a new mechanism by converting it to digital data.

Government measures for DX

This time, we will introduce the following three DX-related measures promoted by the government.

1. DX promotion index
2. Creation of the Digital Agency
3. Digital Government Action Plan
4. Local government DX promotion plan

I will explain each.

(1) DX promotion index

Under the current situation that many companies are trying to work on DX, but few companies have actually changed their business, the government has formulated an index to identify issues for promoting DX.

By answering the questions prepared by each company and self-diagnosing, you can grasp the current position of how far your company has progressed in DX, and it is also possible to share issues with companies about what will be needed in the future. is.

(2) Establishment of the Digital Agency

The launch of the Digital Agency on September 1, 2021, which promotes the digitalization of the government, is the biggest DX measure by the government. Details of what the Digital Agency will do in the future are as follows.

First of all, whether or not the Corona Vaccine Passport app can be released within the year will determine the future of the Digital Agency.

(3) Digital Government Action Plan

The “Digital Government Action Plan” was formulated in 2018 with the aim of embodying the direction of the 2017 “Digital Declaration/Public and Private Data Plan.” In principle, the target period is from 2020 to 2026, and the following measures are specified.

④ Local government DX promotion plan

The “Municipal DX Promotion Plan” announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is an issue that became apparent when local governments were busy responding to the spread of the new coronavirus infection (It takes time to apply for benefits, and it takes time to receive benefits. It took a long time, etc.), so it was formulated to promote DX throughout society.

The aforementioned “Digital Government Execution Plan” was approved by the Cabinet in December 2020, and the DX promotion of local governments was included in it. In response to this, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications formulated the “Local Government DX Promotion Plan” to actively participate in this nationally-led plan by the entire local government. It clarifies the system development for DX promotion in local governments, matters that should be addressed in particular, and matters that should be addressed together with DX promotion.

5 subsidies useful for promoting DX

Introducing five subsidies that are useful for promoting DX.

1. IT introduction subsidy
2. Subsidies to promote productivity improvement in manufacturing, commerce, and services
3. Business restructuring subsidy
4. SME Digitalization Support Team Project
5. Strategic Fundamental Technology Advancement Support Project

①IT introduction subsidy

The IT introduction subsidy is a subsidy that partially pays for the cost of introducing IT tools. The goal is to improve efficiency and increase sales. “IT introduction support business” will support the introduction, so you can work on DX with peace of mind.

• subsidized

Eligible subsidies are for SMEs and small businesses (regardless of industrial field)
, and conditions for capital and number of employees are established for each type of industry and organizational form.

• Subsidy amount and subsidy rate

In addition to the regular frame (Types A and B), we will introduce a low-infection risk business frame (Special frame: Types C and D) to work on non-face-to-face work that reduces the chances of interpersonal contact due to the corona crisis. It is divided into four.

(2) Subsidies to promote productivity improvement in manufacturing, commerce, and services

We support the development of new services and the improvement of production processes with the aim of improving the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises.

• subsidized

SMEs and micro businesses that are expected to grow and increase earnings
Conditions for capital and number of employees are set for each industry.

• Subsidy amount and subsidy rate

The general type subsidizes equipment necessary for service development and improvement of production methods, the global type subsidizes capital investment for the expansion and strengthening of overseas business, and the business model type subsidizes large companies supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. It is divided into 3 parts.

• Points of review

Since growth potential as a company and the amount of wage increases for employees are emphasized, companies that hold down the following points will be advantageous.

(3) Subsidies for business restructuring

This is a system to support new business development and business conversion in order to respond to social changes caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

• subsidized

SMEs, small business owners, corporate unions, etc. in a difficult situation due to the corona disaster

④ Small and medium-sized enterprise digitalization support team project

In order to enhance support for digitization and IT utilization for SMEs and small businesses, we introduce IT experts and bear part of the cost.

• subsidized

SMEs and micro businesses who want to work on digitalization

• Subsidy amount

Subsidize up to 3,500 yen/hour (tax included) out of the compensation paid to IT professionals

⑤Strategic basic technology advancement support project

This is a support project aimed at upgrading basic manufacturing technology in order to strengthen the international competitiveness of the manufacturing industry and create new industries. We support research and development and market development for that purpose.

• subsidized

An individual company cannot apply, and it is necessary to create a community centered on small and medium-sized enterprises.

summary

This time, we introduced three DX-related measures promoted by the government and five subsidies that are useful for promoting DX.

Regarding subsidies, in addition to the ones introduced here, there are many other subsidies provided for small and medium-sized businesses. Research the conditions such as the target and find a subsidy that suits your company.