In India, which has begun a large-scale plan to inoculate 300 million people with the new coronavirus vaccine by the summer, the government has developed a digital platform that centrally manages individual inoculation status, etc. for smooth inoculation. It is a policy to connect.
In India, which has the second highest number of people infected with the new coronavirus in the world, vaccination began last month, and the government prioritizes healthcare workers, people over the age of 50, and people with underlying illnesses, and by summer 300 million. I plan to inoculate people.
To carry out this large-scale plan, the government has developed a new digital platform called "Co-WIN".
Those who wish to receive the vaccination can register by linking the Indian version of My Number, "Ardar", etc. to the dedicated app, and entering the phone number and the presence or absence of the underlying disease.
When you are ready, you will be able to select the venue and date and time to make a reservation with the app, you can manage the number of vaccinations, etc., and the certificate of vaccination will be issued digitally, and you can use transportation and restaurants as needed. It means that you can present it when you do.
For the government as well, it is possible to prevent people who are not subject to priority vaccination from being vaccinated in a rush, and it is also possible to properly grasp the overall status of vaccination and the inventory status of vaccines in each region.
Former Secretary of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Sharma, who is involved in the operation of this system, emphasized its effectiveness, saying, "It is indispensable for recording the status of inoculation, and it is beneficial for both the government and individuals."
Indian version man number plays a big role
In India, the Indian version of My Number called "Adar" plays a major role in the digitization of various administrative services.
"Adar", which means "basic" in Hindi, is a 12-digit personal identification number, created about 10 years ago.
The user registers information such as fingerprints and eye patterns called irises, and associates the individual with the number.
Originally introduced for the distribution of benefits to the poor, various procedures such as identity verification procedures, electronic signatures, and electronic payments can now be performed on smartphones and personal computers, with a population of 1.3 billion. More than 90% of them are registered.
"In a pandemic, paperless, cashless, and a system that works without face-to-face is very convenient," said Nandan Nilekani, chairman of IT company Infosys, who created a digital administration system that utilizes "Ardar."
"The government has different ministries and bureaus, each of which has its own system, and the systems are often not connected. Ardar has a horizontal skewer mechanism, which makes it convenient and easy to use. It is used by many people, "he emphasized convenience.
Digital use of cash benefits
In India, digital technology was also used for cash payments to the poor as a countermeasure against the new coronavirus.
Last March, the Indian government provided cash benefits to the poor and the unemployed due to the serious economic impact of strict restrictions on going out nationwide.
The target was 420 million people, and the total amount was 98 billion yen in Japanese yen.
Benefits were sent online to a personal deposit account tied to Ardar, and the government was able to quickly identify who needed help and benefit quickly.
Ratnes Kashap, who lives with her husband and two children in a poor area of the capital, New Delhi, was also one of the recipients, and her husband, who made a living at a food stall, lost his job due to restrictions on going out and 10,000 a month. The income that was left over the yen is gone.
One week after the government decided to pay the benefits, the first transfer was made, and a total of more than 2000 yen was paid three times, and it was possible to continue living with other support such as food distribution. Says.
Mr. Kashap said, "It was very helpful to be able to buy daily necessities with the benefits."
There are also concerns from the perspective of personal information protection
The Indian government plans to promote digitalization in the medical field as well, but there are concerns from the perspective of protecting personal information.
In his Independence Day speech last August, Prime Minister Modi said, "We will start the'National Digital Health Mission'that will revolutionize the health sector. We will solve problems such as appointments and payments for consultations." However, he announced a policy to promote digitalization.
In the plan, a medical ID will be given to each citizen, and in addition to the illnesses and prescription drugs, the doctors who have been examined and the details of the examination will be recorded and created in a database.
Data will be shared with doctors and medical institutions with the consent of patients, allowing patients to receive prompt and efficient medical care, and governments and private companies will also decide on necessary policies based on vast amounts of data. It is said that it will be possible to develop new services.
Trial operations have begun in some areas and the government plans to expand nationwide, but experts have raised concerns about the protection of personal information.
Raman Jit Singh Chima, an international organization that advocates the protection of personal information in the digital field, said, "India has no proper data protection law, and personal information about health is distributed not only to the government but also to private companies. It is a big concern that it will be provided and used. "
He added, "We are collecting a huge amount of data, but there is no monitoring agency independent of the government. Open discussions should be held by an independent agency that protects data and privacy." Before proceeding with digitalization quickly, individuals He points out that we should promote the creation of mechanisms such as information protection.
Experts
Professor Ichikawa of Hitotsubashi University, who is familiar with the digitization of government, explained that Japan can learn from the case of India. "In the case of India, a new ministry was created to create a personal identification number, and a very powerful private company familiar with digital We put human resources at the top. It is important to create a system that allows the government to think for itself and proceed with the business, rather than simply outsourcing it to the business that builds the system. "
He also pointed out that the current state of administrative digitalization in Japan is "a big issue is whether a system that is easy for the people to use from the user's perspective. It cannot be said that it is easy to use as a whole." ..
Regarding the digitization of information on the vaccination of the new corona vaccine, "There is a debate in the world to make a digital certificate showing that the vaccine has been vaccinated, so in order to use it as a certificate in the future, It is important to properly link the vaccination information and my number, and the challenge is to proceed with such development. "