On 6 May 2022, during an official visit to Estonia, Dr. Karen Makishima, then Minister for Digital, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in the digital field with Mr. Andres Sutt, Minister for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology of the Republic of Estonia, in Tallinn.

Minister Makishima expressed her desire to leverage this MoC to establish more specific cooperation with Estonia, a digitally advanced nation that shares common values. She emphasized the importance of enhancing mutual understanding of innovative digital government practices, sharing expertise to address social challenges, promoting joint events, and advancing collaboration in the Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT) initiative.

The objective of the Memorandum of Cooperation was to promote collaboration and enhance mutual understanding between Japan's Digital Agency and the Estonian Ministry of Economy and Communications. Key areas of cooperation include exchanging best practices, experiences, and expertise in innovative and effective digital government solutions, policies, and regulations, as well as exploring innovative public procurement and governance models. The MoC also aims to explore the possibility of formalizing an arrangement for the exchange of experts or officials to deepen potential areas of cooperation. From May to July 2024, the Digital Agency of Japan dispatched an expert to Estonia to analyze the i-voting system more closely. The current Minister for Digital Transformation, Mr. Taro Kono, is considering introducing online voting in Japan, starting with Japanese nationals living overseas, utilizing the My Number card.

This cooperation between Japan's Digital Agency and Estonia serves as a strong example of how best practices and experiences can be shared across borders between countries with similar needs.

Source: Embassy of Estonia in Tokyo