Fujitsu's New Software for Resident Information Systems Deployed by Local Governments

Tokyo, May 31, 2010

Fujitsu today announced that its new software for resident information systems for local governments has been deployed by Awaji City, Aioi City (Hyogo Prefecture), and Kamikitayama Village (Nara Prefecture) in Japan. The new software has been operational as of April 2010.

The new software is intended for local municipalities with populations of less than 100,000 residents, which is approximately 80% of the 1,750 municipalities found in Japan. The software known as MICJET MISALIO offers support essential to office operations involving resident information services provided by local governments through applications for child-support along with resident registration and taxation. By including sample forms and numerous other templates, the software can be deployed in a shorter period of time. This enabled Awaji City to deploy a resident registration system, which would have taken approximately a year using previous software, in roughly 6 months, thereby allowing the city to improve its residential services. As well, users can reduce their annual costs by up to 50% compared to regular software, with a monthly usage fee.

Fujitsu is currently configuring systems for nine other organizations.

Local governments in Japan have struggled with public financial challenges resulting from cuts in subsidies and declining tax revenues. This has led to the need to reduce the total cost ownership for local government information systems through the standardization of these systems. Furthermore, due to changes in both political administration and society, it is expected that revisions to the laws and institutions surrounding local governments will increase thus making it imperative that systems are flexible enough to handle such legal changes.

In the midst of this, Fujitsu has accumulated the know-how it has acquired through thirty years of experience in supporting local government business systems to develop MICJET MISALIO, a new resident information software that standardizes the core operational systems of local governments, which focus on resident registration information, including resident certificates, and tax information. The new software, which was launched in April 2010, is a comprehensive package that handles information related to resident registration, taxation, and child-support, which are important key functions for municipalities with populations of less than 100,000 residents. Loaded with sample forms and menus that allow the service to be applied to fit the operations of each individual local government, it can be deployed without customization in half the usual time. In addition, the service can be utilized for a flat-rate fee depending on the population of the municipality, enabling municipalities to reduce their annual costs by up to 50% when compared with previous products for small organizations. This monthly fee also covers any software upgrades needed to accommodate frequent legal changes.

As these types of service applications matched the needs of Awaji City, Aioi City, and Kamikitayama Village, the software was deployed by each respective local government.

Awaji City was able to reduce the time needed to deploy a resident registration system, which would have taken approximately a year using previous products, down to roughly 6 months. By reducing the amount of work initially needed to deploy the system, the city has been able to improve its residential services, including enhanced receptionist desk response speeds and an improvement in the quality of employee responses to inquiries from various residents.

Fujitsu plans to sell the software to 200 organizations within the next three years.

New Software Features

1. Fast system deployment through system standardization and various templates
By standardizing systems that incorporate important key functions for municipalities with populations of less than 100,000 residents, as well as by preparing various templates, such as menus and sample forms, systems can be up and running in roughly half the time compared to previous products.

2. Enables users to cut total cost ownership by guaranteeing long-term use and leveling costs through a monthly fee system
As the cost of the software is in the form of a monthly fee, users are able to incur over time what would otherwise be upfront deployment expenses. Furthermore, software upgrades needed to accommodate frequent legal changes and to further improve residential services are also included in the monthly fee. Fujitsu will guarantee continuous system operations for ten years from the time services are initiated.

3. Compliant with the regional information platform⁽¹⁾ proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
The software is compliant with the regional information platform, a shared platform structure that is expected to become widely used in municipalities. In addition, the software is thin client-compatible, thereby enabling it to reduce administration costs and ensure system security by preventing personal information leaks.

4. Can be shared between local governments
In order to ensure compatibility with the municipal cloud project⁽²⁾ proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, this software can also be used as SaaS⁽³⁾. This enables users to reduce costs by sharing the service among multiple local governments.