First, here is a breaking news report.

　We held a symposium to commemorate the promulgation and enforcement of the “Act on the Promotion of Information Technology in School Education” in June 2019.This bill was drafted by the “Parliamentary League for Promoting the Use of ICT in Education,” a bipartisan group of Diet members from both the ruling and opposition parties, and we also participated in its development as expert advisors.
http://lot.or.jp/wp/project/1349/

　First, here is the report on Part 1, which featured discussions among members of the parliamentary group, representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
　The panelists were Toshimitsu Endo, Member of the House of Representatives; Masaharu Nakagawa, Member of the House of Representatives; Masahito Moriyama, Member of the House of Representatives; Michihiro Ishibashi, Member of the House of Councillors; Hiroki Takaya, Section Chief at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology;Daisuke Asano, Section Chief at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Masahiko Yoshida, Section Chief at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; and Ichiya Nakamura, Professor at Keio University. I served as the moderator.

　At the outset, Mr. Endo, Chairman of the Parliamentary League, delivered an opening address, stating, “Now that the law has been enacted, it is important that education moving forward not only focus on cramming knowledge into students but also on enhancing the abilities of each and every child who will shape the next generation. To that end, we consider ICT education to be one of the three pillars—alongside English education and science education—and view it as crucial. I hope we can all work together to move this forward.”

　At the outset, Endo, Chair of the Parliamentary League, delivered opening remarks: “With the enactment of this law, it is crucial that education moving forward not only focus on cramming knowledge into students’ heads but also on enhancing the abilities of each and every child who will shape the next generation. To that end, we consider ICT education to be one of the three key pillars, alongside English and science education. I hope we can all work together to move this forward.”
　Next, former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Nakagawa affirmed that the national government is promoting ICT education as a national strategy and then pointed out two challenges. “While textbooks are provided free of charge, both paper and digital versions are used in parallel. We need to discuss how to address the financial burden this entails.“Furthermore, how do we address disparities among municipalities regarding hardware? Since this is covered by the Local Allocation Tax, differences arise depending on the judgment of individual municipalities. We need to find a way to address this.”
　Furthermore, Secretary-General Ishibashi cited the following as effects of legal codification:“1. Elimination of disparities among local governments and schools; 2. Promotion of fiscal measures and budget execution; 3. Reduction of implementation costs and expansion of options; 4. Formal recognition of true ‘digital textbooks’; and 5. Teacher training and reduction of teachers’ workload.”He also stated that digital textbooks are the cornerstone of this law, adding, “Currently, we are converting paper textbooks into digital ones, but in the future, we aim to enable digital textbooks themselves to be used as approved textbooks.
This is just the beginning.” 　Finally, Secretary-General Moriyama explained the specific details of the newly enacted “Act on the Promotion of the Informatization of School Education,” including its purpose, definitions, basic principles, national responsibilities, legal measures, promotion plans, and basic policies. He pointed out that “the challenge lies in how to utilize ICT to drive this initiative forward.”

　Next, representatives from three ministries provided updates on their respective policies.
　Mr. Takaya, Section Chief at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), explained that Japan is lagging behind internationally in the development of school ICT infrastructure and that there are significant regional disparities. He outlined the ministry’s policy to advance the development of school ICT infrastructure through the use of cloud computing and affordable devices, and emphasized the ministry’s commitment to promoting the effective use of cutting-edge technologies and educational big data.
　Section Chief Yoshida of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications explained efforts to develop standard specifications for communication technologies that enable data integration between school administration systems and classroom/learning systems.He also discussed initiatives to establish mechanisms for sharing knowledge and experience across generations regarding ICT skills—such as programming—through “Regional ICT Clubs,” where children, working adults, seniors, and others in the community learn together about making things and operating robots, including the status of pilot tests.
　Mr. Asano, Section Chief at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), explained initiatives aimed at the “Classroom of the Future,” which focuses on making learning self-directed and individually optimized, incorporating STEAM education, and building a new learning infrastructure. He spoke about how he intends to significantly expand the collaboration between school education, private education, industry, and universities through innovation.
　For my part, I spoke about the background and my vision leading up to the enactment of the legislation—including the “Act on the Promotion of Children’s Use of Digital Technology,” which I proposed when CANVAS was established in 2002; the “Randoseru PC” concept, which began in 2005; and the story behind the name change from “digital randoseru” to “digital textbooks.”

　We then moved on to the discussion.
Based on the recognition that Japan is lagging behind in the digitization of education, several reasons were pointed out: specifically, that although evidence and results were presented to secure funding, the Ministry of Finance could not be persuaded, and that ICT and PCs are not recognized as educational tools. The discussion emphasized that, with the passage of this bill, it is crucial for the public to develop a shared consensus and a mindset to invest in this area.
　Furthermore, in the discussion on whether Japan’s educational environment can evolve into one of the world’s most advanced in the age of AI, Section Chief Takaya of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) stated that the goal is to pursue a “Japanese-style AI education,”and emphasized the need to incorporate ICT and AI while capitalizing on the strengths of Japan’s education system. He pointed out that by combining Japan’s unique characteristics and strengths with technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Japan’s education sector has the potential to develop into an export industry.
Based on everyone’s opinions,
I concluded the first part of the discussion by summarizing that the most important factors are “commitment and determination.” 　Since some of the discussion involved panelists responding to my questions with “○” or “☓,” I will organize those responses and report on them at a later date.