TOKYO: Japanese central government ministries and agencies are finally bidding farewell to rules obliging the use of floppy disks and CD-ROMs in administrative procedures.

The data storage media of the past are expected to go out of use at central government bodies long after floppy disks became largely obsolete in private-sector companies.

More and more government bodies have taken steps to stop using the outdated storage media, hoping to improve administrative efficiency by accelerating the shift to online procedures.

According to the Digital Agency, tasked with the central government’s digital regulatory reforms, 2,095 clauses existed in central government laws and ordinances stipulating what recording devices need to be used in administrative procedures, such as document submission.

Japan aimed to abolish by the end of last year 1,034 clauses in need of revision.

The industry ministry in December last year erased the mentions of floppy disks and other outdated devices from 34 laws and ordinances, such as the mining law and the chambers of commerce and industry law.

Around the same time, the health ministry revised enforcement regulations for a wide range of laws, including the immunization and social welfare laws.

The land ministry changed rules related to the real estate transaction business and other laws, and the Financial Services Agency altered rules linked to the banking and other laws.

Passages mentioning floppy disks and other dinosaur devices were replaced by such expressions as electromagnetic recording media. Passages detailing such devices, such as 90-millimeter flexible disk cartridges, or floppy disks, were erased from laws and ordinances.

The Digital Agency is investigating the progress made in this area at government bodies and will soon release its findings.

JIJI Press