Photo/Illutration Yoko Ishikura, the chief digital officer of the Digital Agency, addresses its inauguration ceremony on Sept. 1, 2021. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Digital Agency’s highest-ranked bureaucrat is expected to step down soon for health reasons, less than a year after the organization was set up to streamline administrative procedures, sources said.

Yoko Ishikura, the chief digital officer, has often missed work since the beginning of this year, citing poor health.

Ishikura, 73, is a former professor emerita of innovation strategy at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. She was tapped for the position due to her expertise in organizational reforms and cultivation of human resources.

Takashi Asanuma, the agency’s chief design officer, who was lured to the agency from the private sector, is considered to be the leading candidate to succeed her.

(This article was written by Yasuyuki Onaya and Emi Hirai.)