Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your participation in MyData Japan 2025.
Those gathered here today include people from various fields of expertise, including business people, government officials, engineers, researchers, and members of the public. However, we have all come together with a common goal: to build a better relationship with data across society.
The MyData initiative has progressed from an "ideal" to a "system," and is now moving on to "practice." Today marks a special turning point in this process.
MyData in one word:
"Empowering me to make decisions about my information."
This is not just about protecting personal information. It is a fundamental issue of human dignity and choice that touches every aspect of our daily lives, including healthcare, education, government, and more.
We aim to create a society where:
- A society in which control of information is returned from organizations to individuals.
- A shift from "being used" to "making use of."
- A society in which "one-click rights" such as consent, correction, deletion, and reuse can be exercised on a daily basis.
The MyData principles are our compass for realizing this vision, and you are all here today, the agents of this change.
To what extent are we aware of how information about us is being used?
The moment you open your smartphone, the moment you use your transportation IC card, the moment you press "like" on social media...
Each time, "my data" is stored somewhere, analyzed, and potentially used to help someone make decisions.
"Who decides what my identity is?"
"Was the consent that you thought you had chosen truly convincing?"
This question encourages us to "reconsider how we interact with information."
MyData is a design concept for a new society that asks not only "how to protect information," but also "how to utilize information" and "how to live in the information age."
This year's theme is "MyData in Practice"
The challenge is to move from "concept" to "design" and from "design" to "implementation."
The 2024 theme, "MyData by Design," delved into the design of BLTS from the perspectives of business, law, technology, and society. This year, we will take it a step further and challenge ourselves to think about how to make it work in the real world.
At this conference,
- Implementing Distributed ID with DID/VC
- Designing governance for the use of camera images
- The information environment surrounding children and its protection
"Practical knowledge" will be shared through actual projects such as these.
Through dialogue and collaboration among a diverse range of players, knowledge from the field will be gathered and become a new common foundation. That is the true value of MyData Japan.
Finally, I would like to ask you all a question.
- Does your organization have a system in place that allows individuals to make use of information?
- Does the technology you work on support human dignity and freedom?
- Can you talk about your own information?
MyData is not something that someone else will do for you.
MyData is the society that your practices shape.
I hope that the encounters and learnings we have here today will lead to at least one action tomorrow. The accumulation of such actions will become the foundation for a "society that suits us" five or ten years from now.
So then──
MyData Japan 2025 is now open.
Thank you all!