Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� June, 2004

The 26th Meeting of the IT Strategic Headquarters Tuesday, June 15, 2004 The 26th meeting of the IT Strategic Headquarters was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At the meeting, the "e-Japan Priority Policy Program - 2004" was decided. The Headquarters, for the past three and a half years, has intensively and continuously implemented various system reforms and policies under its objective for "Japan to become the world's most advanced IT nation by 2005." The "e-Japan Priority Policy Program - 2004" decided upon on this day incorporated priority policies and structural development to achieve its objective for 2005 and the direction to be taken for 2006 and beyond. In more specific terms, the Program indicated policies to be intensively implemented so as to ensure that the objective for 2005 will be achieved, including five areas on which the Government concentrates, such as enhancement of international policy centering around Asia and security policies, together with seven areas closely related and vital to the daily lives of the people such as medical care and food. Furthermore, a demonstration was conducted at the meeting on the e-passport (IC chip embedded passport), the standardization of which is currently being considered around the world. The system verifies on computer the identity of an individual by comparing the data on his or her facial features saved on the IC chip embedded in the passport to the image of that individual taken by camera at the immigration booths at airports. For the demonstration on this day, a test trial was conducted to verify the image of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's face saved on the e-passport with his image taken by a camera on a desktop computer. The experimental trial run of this IC chip embedded passport is scheduled to be launched in early 2005 and fully introduced that same fiscal year.