JICA Digital Transformation Brings Innovation and New Capabilities

The Obstacle

JICA lacked a cohesive digital strategy and approach to address evolving challenges on the front line of its in-country operations, which covers various geographies including Asia & Pacific, Africa, Middle East, and Central & Latin America. Although there was a general understanding that digital transformation (DX) needed to be pursued within JICA itself, there was a lack of clarity on how to proceed, and skepticism within the organization about its potential impact.

What was needed was a structured approach to promote digital solutions and data analytics across JICA’s departments. These would allow them to drive and sustain DX promotion and implementation across JICA’s operations in the long run. With digital transformation sweeping through many other organizations with which it competed and cooperated, JICA was concerned that failure to embrace DX would constrain the impact generation in its frontline programs/projects. Decisive action was needed, therefore, to resolve this impasse quickly and at scale.

Our Approach

The program comprised the following two principal phases:

• BCG worked with JICA’s chief digital officer and its DX Office to develop JICA’s DX vision. Together, they identified areas for digitalization that JICA could potentially support, defined JICA’s vision for DX and created a roadmap for implementation. 
• Working together, BCG and the CDO’s team established JICA’s ‘DXLab’ as a central hub within the DX Office to drive innovation across JICA’s frontline projects.

In line with JICA’s overarching programmatic strategies called “‘Global Agenda’,” BCG and JICA began implementing DXLab programs across around the globe. By introducing cutting-edge digital solutions and data analytics as proofs-of-concept in new and existing JICA projects, and by establishing partnerships with local and global tech companies, DXLab was able to rapidly amplify the impact of digital transformation on the ground.

The focus areas comprised the following three main offerings:

• Digital transformation at the client enterprise level for public service providers, such as “‘water utility DX”’ and “'metro operator DX”’) 
• Promoting Digital Public Infrastructure and Digital Public Good (DPI/DPG) to enable industry-level DX
• Artificial Intelligence as a core enabler for both the Enterprise DX and DPI/DPG 

This agile, “‘learning-by-doing”’ approach proved highly effective at the JICA frontline level and with the beneficiary organizations in developing countries, including those responsible for the infrastructure programs that JICA supports in the transport, agriculture, forest, water supply, education, urban development, as well as related and other domains. Because BCG also has an extensive presence across the regions where JICA operates, the BCG/JICA partnership was able quickly to mobilize local teams to work with JICA offices in countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines, Tanzania and Vietnam.

The Result

Within the first two years of its operations, the DXLab program has had a transformative effect. The creation of DXLab and the development of a comprehensive digital transformation strategy have spurred JICA to mobilize its resources toward a digital future, making it far better equipped to deliver services.

This has further resulted in the following:

• Stronger and faster realization of the development impact 
• Capability/capacity building in digital/data space for JICA’s client organizations in developing countries 
• An agile mindset and the creation of efficient, data-driven internal processes within JICA 
• Capabilities enabling JICA frontline teams to drive and sustain DX more independently 
• A strengthening of JICA’s position among its global stakeholders 
• Innovative partnership with technology companies (both local and global)  

The acceleration of digital/data solutions in JICA’s real-world, on-the-ground programs has effectively enhanced collaboration and service delivery between JICA and local service providers. By integrating DX, local ecosystems have been considerably strengthened, helping them to improve the outcomes of the populations they serve. This has led to capacity building and tech support for in-country DX projects and improved local access to DX strategies and tools.

The development of a strategy for the DPI/DPG and AI domains has introduced new solutions and models for cross-sector collaboration, thereby helping to develop new business and operating models that support sustainable development and improved public service into the future. DXLab will continue to leverage these impacts, focusing on more cutting-edge, cross-cutting domains.