Jan 8, 2021 Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration is gearing up to establish an agency that will lead the digital transformation of Japan. But the key to success is for the agency to create a blueprint for Japan’s digitalization — from administrative services to working with the private sector and nurturing engineers — and have the necessary power to work toward that goal. What needs to be done to prevent the digital agency from being another bureaucratic entity that will simply coordinate policies among relevant ministries? “The digital agency should become a strong organization which can function as a powerful control tower, with highly talented people gathering from both the public and private sectors, to lead the digitalization of the society as a whole,” Suga said on Sept. 23 at a meeting of ministers involved in digital reform.