In 2021, There Was a Renewed Sense of Hope and Service
（日本語版あり）
Below is the letter that I enclosed in this year’s Christmas cards.
With the holiday season fast approaching, I hope this letter finds you well.
It’s quite unlike me, but this year I’d like to talk a bit about my work.
My current job involves working to persuade the Japanese public sector to adopt the use of cloud services. Governments tend to be beholden to past practices, and Japan is no different. It takes a lot of time and effort to bring about change in my work.
In the face of such challenge, in 2021, the public sector in Japan experienced a titanic shift. In September, the Digital Agency was established with a mission to bring about digital transformation throughout all of Japan. Soon thereafter, it entered into direct agreements with several cloud service providers. Collectively, these historic accomplishments reveal a strong commitment by the Japanese government to recover from lost time as the nation had fallen seriously behind in digital transformation over the last two decades.
I played a small part in these moments, and as I did so, I kept thinking back to my life motto, “Change Japan, Impact the World.”
The work I do with the Digital Agency is very much about working to change Japan. There is profound satisfaction that comes from a sense of public service, in contributing to the betterment of the nation at large. Back when I was just starting my career I had a brief stint as a government employee, and in my current work, I get great enjoyment from the fact that I am reliving the sense of service from that period.
The establishment of the Digital Agency was a key policy initiative of the previous prime minister Yoshihide Suga, who was forced out of office after only one year. He had a sense of urgency about the nation’s lack of progress in digital transformation and exercised strong leadership to ensure that the Digital Agency was established and staffed with reform-minded people. It was that drive that allowed Japan to achieve a historical first in a manner of months when similar effort took years to achieve overseas.
I have faith in politics as a source of power to bring about great changes. That’s why I’m fond of saying “To make a difference, you need to go into politics.” Often that can be seen as idealistic wishful thinking, but the establishment of the Digital Agency and its accomplishments this year prove that that need not be so. It’s easy to get cynical over politics, but this year, more than most, I experienced a renewed sense of hope thanks to the Digital Agency and the work I do.
While not nearly as important as the Digital Agency, another major milestone this year was that I advanced a level in shogi, reaching the level of four kyu. Just as bettering myself in shogiis an unending pursuit, so too is the effort in striving to make society a better place. 2021 ended up being quite a fulfilling year, but I hope to contribute to achieving a better, brighter future in 2022 and beyond.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
