National policymakers have recognized the importance of incorporating local government voices into decision-making. Traditional methods, such as questionnaires to prefectures or existing survey systems, are often time-consuming and fail to capture honest opinions due to hierarchical structures. This platform addresses these issues by enabling real-time two-way communication through online chat and direct dialogue, fostering equitable relationships among public officers across Japan. It ensures swift and comprehensive access to local government officers' perspectives, which can be effectively utilized in national policymaking.
For local governments, although gathering efficient information is essential to address challenges, coordinating research both internally and externally was a time-consuming process. Therefore, this platform promotes open knowledge sharing, providing insights into both successes and failures. It enables local government officers to identify solutions effectively.

Since its current version was released in 2021, the number of participants has increased. Participants can submit requests to create channels, and the topics have expanded into various policy areas beyond just "digital." In 2022, as part of a national initiative to enhance user experience of the local government service, a channel dedicated to “One-stop, no writing service” was created, allowing officers to share cases and opinions. In addition to facilitating real-time dialogue, the platform has accumulated various cases, enabling participants to learn the essence of innovation through the interactions of others.
Digital Agency engages in both online and offline community building. They support local government officers in establishing co-creation networks through offline learning events called “Co-Creation Platform Camp,” and encourage participation in the platform. They are also exploring new approaches, such as NFT to evaluate and visualize contributions of the participants.

This project is run by the Open Government team at the Digital Agency. The platform has been co-created with national and local government officers through posts and channel creation. The initiative to nominate local government officers who actively utilize the platform as ambassadors has gradually empowered them to shape the co-creation environment by themselves. Collaboration with private sectors is also important for operating tools and expanding awareness of the platform.

Participation in the platform is limited to national and local government officers, and is not open to ministers, diet members, mayors, and others. The communication on the platform is conducted at an individual level rather than organizations. Requiring participants to use their real names ensures their psychological safety. Policymaking and service designing through knowledge sharing and mentoring among public officers, citizens can get benefits from improved policies and services.

The number of platform users has been increasing exceeding 10,000 as of November 2024. Approximately 9,100 officers from around 80% of local governments and around 1,600 national government officers are currently participating. The monthly active user rate (MAU) has remained at 30-40%, with users actively posting, replying, and requesting the creation of new channels. Furthermore, an ambassador system was launched in July 2024, enhancing a more dynamic connection among users. The management team is aiming for full participation from local governments, a 50% MAU, and increased awareness among all local and national government officers, particularly emphasizing the need for proactive engagement from national government officers.

This project faced three key challenges. First, the restricted network LGWAN used by local governments prevented some public officers from accessing the platform for security reasons. In 2023, additional development for LGWAN significantly increased the number of users. Second, inappropriate behaviour from some participants caused troubles, which were resolved by clarifying the rules and regularly monitoring postings. Finally, to maintain open and flat communication among all users, even when politicians requested participation, the management team carefully persuaded them by explaining the main purpose of the project. Restricting Eligibility for participation to local and national officers increases psychological safety of the participants.

The first condition for the success of the Digital Transformation Co-Creation Platform is to establish clear ground rules. Setting consistent eligibility rules for participation and flexibly changing the rules based on participants' needs provided an open environment that encouraged participants to speak their thoughts. The second is the empowerment of proactive participants. It is necessary to provide institutional incentives, such as an ambassador system to encourage interaction among participants. The third is the promotion of weak ties among the participants. Promoting casual dialogue, fostering a culture of diverse participation, and organizing offline workshops made it easier for public officers to participate.

The case of the Digital Transformation Co-Creation Platform can be replicated in any country or region. In Japan, we selected Slack as our online chat tool, however, it is also possible to use other digital tools for open and flat dialogue. Whatever the tool is, it is necessary to prioritize usability and security when introducing new services to a public sector, particularly in the environments that have utilised legacy systems. Furthermore, it is important to have an organizational structure that not only implements tools but also actively manages the online communities. Lastly, the communication topics are not limited to “digital transformation,” but can be applied to any policy areas where co-creation is required at different government levels.

This innovation has contributed to improve the collaboration among public officers at different government levels through online communication. The following are lessons learned through this innovation.
1. Two-way and real-time chat communication enables timely information exchange
2. The rule that “all comments come from individuals, not organizations” makes it easier for public officers to speak their opinions freely
3. Building relationships through conversations using real names and face-to-face communication leads to deeper discussions
4. Clarify the ground rules create a communication space that foster psychological safety
5. Restricting eligibility for participation helps breakdown power hierarchies and promote equal communication among all participants.