The Country' s First City to Publicize Information with the Use of the Web
Alleviating Updating Tasks through the Installation of CMS[3]Komae City, Tokyo Metropolis

Increased Contents Led to a Reduction in Public Record Release Requests

Publicizing public records is a very important system. Providing sufficient information on the Internet right from the beginning was sure to reduce the number of requests for the release of documentation. Also, the number of records publicized was great and the amount that was publicized at each uploading was equivalent to the amount of information that was formerly provided over the counter. It became clear that the manpower in the Information Section was not enough to cope with uploading sufficient contents to the web that would satisfy the requirements of the local residents. One of the section's boasts was that "contents that are not updated by the predetermined date do not exist" (according to Mr. Shiratori) but the sheer enormity of the task meant that they were always pressured for time.

AssetNow was upgraded at the end of 2003 in the year following the start of our information disclosure system and the stiff City Hall design was renewed with a layout that was more soothing. This increased its usability level. We also enlarged the size of the font so that it was easily viewable by elderly people and others who were not used to using the Internet, and this improved accessibility. In addition, we also created the Komae City Homepage Guidelines in May of 2004, and this enabled us to proceed onto a phase in which the people in charge of each section were able upload data to the web site while following the instructions in the guidelines.

We implemented a training project for creating web contents with the use of CMS, attended by the people in charge of each section. The participants were required to create a system in which the site contents could be updated in accordance with the stipulated workflow laid out in the guidelines, and this produced a huge leap forward with regard to the fullness of the information being posted on the site. This proved extremely advantageous, as the people in charge were able to immediately upload to the site the minutes of the council meetings that each section carries out.

The number of records that can currently be viewed on the site stands at 300,000. This is double the 150,000 records that existed when the site was first established. The search function is also much better now that an upgraded version of AssetNow is available, and this has dramatically improved user-friendliness. The number of requests for record release in accordance with the information disclosure system is increasing on an annual basis, with the total number of over-the-counter requests and web site requests being 192 in fiscal 2001, 254 in fiscal 2002, 285 in fiscal 2003, and 321 in fiscal 2004.

Each section is able to upload major contents to the site themselves, and the selection of records now available on the site has been greatly improved. The effects of this resulted in a 35 percent drop in requests for public record release in fiscal 2005 over the previous year to 208. The number of requests received as of January 1st, 2007, is 140, which indicates that this figure will drop even further for fiscal 2007. There is a definite relative relationship between the quality of documentation posted on the web site and the number of requests for public record release. As Mr. Yamaguchi say, "The more we advance with releasing information on the web, the less requests we receive for its release."

Of the number of release requests received in fiscal 2005, the number of over-the-counter requests in which applicants actually visited the City Hall stood at 88% of the overall total, and the number of requests via the web site was 12%, putting it in the minority. However, when examining the time frames in which these requests were made to the web site, it becomes clear that approximately half of them were made at night. Komae City covers a small area of land and there is a comparatively large number of citizens who are able to visit the City Hall during the daytime, but Mr. Yamaguchi evaluates this as, "We think that most of these requests were from people who were not able to visit the City Hall during the daytime due to work or other commitments."

We placed a lot of emphasis on removing the records that received many requests and were publicized with great frequency from the information disclosure system so that we could post them in their entirety on the site as web contents. The reason why the number of requests has been reduced is owing to the fact that a system is in place in which each section is able to update their own contents, which reduces the reliance on Information Section manpower, and enables the information to the provided in a smooth and efficient manner.

We intend to create a system in the future to ensure that even more accuracy is achieved in providing information to people making use of the information disclosure system. Cases still exist in which the records referenced on the web site and then requested turn out to be different to the information the user was actually searching for, and there are also cases where the information they need is already available in the public domain on the Internet. This includes cases in which, for example, the minutes of a certain council meeting are requested when in fact that they are no longer covered by the information disclosure system and are available on the site as normal contents. The main cause behind this is that it is difficult to know exactly where each item of information resides, and there are no links between records.

Being able to trace links for publicized information from public records for referencing purposes will prevent unwanted records from being mistakenly requested. Road maps and similar items of information were originally covered by the information disclosure system, but a copying service for administrative records is now widely available. One method of alleviating the problem of mistaken requests would be to advertise this service and provide a link to the relevant page. It is necessary to provide a system in which maps and similar documents can be digitalized and transmitted as attachments. We still have many areas for improving the user-friendliness of these systems from the point of view of the user.