Fujitsu Builds Shared ICT Platform System for Ibaraki Prefectural Government

Tokyo, March 01, 2010

Fujitsu today announced that it recently built a shared platform system to serve as the information and communications technology (ICT) platform for Ibaraki Prefectural Government based in northeastern Japan. The system went online today.

Ibaraki Prefectural Government has separate information systems for accounting, payroll, and other operations, each developed by their respective departments. As a result, common functions, such as login authentication and electronic authorizations, had to be created separately for each respective system. This caused challenges in cost-reduction efforts and efficient development. The shared platform system developed by Fujitsu is an ICT platform that allows users to utilize these common functions, such as login authentication, and have shared access to an employee database systemwide. By linking soon-to-be rebuilt information systems with this shared platform, greater administrative efficiency will be achieved through seamless system connectivity and cost reductions.

The shared platform system complies with the regional information platform⁽¹⁾ proposal initiated by the regional e-government promotional office in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), and makes Ibaraki Prefecture the first prefecture in Japan to do so.

Background

When the Japanese government's 2004 Trinity Reforms slashed local allocation taxes and national treasury disbursements to local and prefectural governments, these local authorities found themselves facing a harsh new economic reality. This prompted Ibaraki Prefectural Government to start optimizing its various information systems. In 2007, Ibaraki Prefectural Government issued its plan for the comprehensive rationalization of government information systems, which was broken into three steps: (1) building a shared platform, (2) making an open, general-use system, and (3) optimizing shared internal tasks and systems overall. This served as the basis for the prefecture's reform efforts to increase efficiency and lower the costs of its information systems.

In addition to building the shared platform, Fujitsu is consolidating servers for those information systems linked with the shared platform.

Beginning next year, Ibaraki Prefectural Government intends on gradually consolidating its approximately 1,000 servers, currently being maintained by their respective departments, by using virtualization technology. This consolidation will also make it possible for unified management by the information systems department, enabling server administration to become more efficient and less expensive.

Ibaraki Prefectural Government will continue to link existing information systems into the shared platform as part of the rebuilding process. Through server consolidation, Ibaraki Prefectural Government plans to utilize its ICT resources more efficiently, and further optimize the prefecture's ICT system through the use of cloud computing technologies.

Overview of the Shared Platform System

The following Fujitsu products were used in the construction of the shared platform system:

Software

1. INTERCOMMUNITY21 Digital Router: This package complies with the regional information platform proposal. In the shared platform, it is used as a connection platform for linking applications.

2. INTERCOMMUNITY21 Authentication Portal: In the shared platform, the portal is used as an authentication platform, unifying multiple authentication systems and implementing a single sign-on system to create a secure environment.

3. IPKNOWLEDGE Electronic Authorization: An electronic authorization package with functions for processing the various phases of authorizations, including deliberation, consent, approval, and authorization. In the shared platform, it is used to handle the electronic authorization process.

4. IPKNOWLEDGE Document Management: A document management package that comprehensively handles every stage of a document's lifecycle, from document receipt to drafting, executing, storing/archiving, and disposing. In the shared platform, it is used for document management.

5. Systemwalker Centric Manager: Follows the system operations lifecycle (deployment/setup, monitoring, recovery, and assessment) to simplify operation management tasks, such as distribution of software resources, centralized monitoring of systems and networks, and remote system recovery. This is Fujitsu's system-operations management middleware. In the shared platform, it is used for operations management.

Hardware

A total of 29 PRIMERGY PC servers consisting primarily of PRIMERGY BX620 blade servers.