Editorial: Japan needs to digitally transform people’s ways of life

May 18 , 2020

With the COVID-19 pandemic undermining the very foundations of the way people have lived, Japan must undergo what is known as a “digital transformation.” Known as DX, it calls for the implementation of rapidly evolving digital technology to resolve challenges—and one of the largest of these is for people to keep their social distance.

We see this phenomenon already taking firmer hold as an increasing number of companies utilize Web-based software and services enabling employees to work out of their homes in an effort to cope with the pandemic. On May 11, the powerful Japan Business Federation declared that DX was the future, even after the specter of COVID-19 had receded.

Still, many Japanese workers have had to brave crowded public transportation to get to their offices merely to affix their hanko, or personal stamps, on contracts and other paperwork. The infrastructure to battle the pandemic—from testing to treatment and information sharing—remains equally analog, with reports written up by hand or documents sent by faxes.

According to the OECD, Japan not surprisingly continues to lag behind other member-states in the digitalization of its workplaces and workflows. The time has come for the country to reshape this viral tragedy into a genuine opportunity to improve the quality of life and work through the power of digital transformation.