en.Wedoany.com Reported - In the "Priority Plan for Realizing a Digital Society" released on July 21, Japan's Digital Agency proposed launching a redesigned "next-generation My Number Card" by fiscal 2029. The new card will feature enhanced anti-counterfeiting measures, improved readability for visually impaired individuals, and changes to the information displayed on the card surface.
The next-generation card will no longer display gender on its surface; gender information will only be recorded on the IC chip, and the government will provide a free application for reading chip data. The date of birth will be changed from the Japanese calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Additionally, the number of card passwords will be reduced from four to two, and the validity period of electronic certificates will be extended from five to ten years, aligning with the card's own validity period.
The plan also aims to enable users to utilize AI agents on the administrative service online portal "Myna Portal." To achieve this, the government will build infrastructure supporting the universal standard "MCP" for AI connectivity to administrative systems, with a target completion by fiscal 2027. AI agents will autonomously obtain and provide necessary information based on the user's intentions, automatically linking data so that users can enjoy services without cumbersome procedures.
The key points announced in this plan do not include the Liberal Democratic Party's proposal for "mandatory acquisition of My Number Cards." Digital Minister Maki Matsumoto explained at a press conference on July 21 that from March 2021 to June 2026, card ownership has shown a continuous upward trend, thanks to the Digital Agency's efforts to expand usage scenarios. He stated that, considering the trust maintained through previous efforts and the favorable growth trend, the stage for immediate mandatory implementation has not yet been reached. The agency will continue to expand usage scenarios while working toward the goal of all citizens holding the card.
