“DigiMachi Neighborhood Association LINE” obtains Phase Free certification as a local communication platform linking everyday ties to disaster-time mutual support

Anniversary Concierge Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture; President and CEO: Motoyuki Fukushima) announced that its service “DigiMachi Neighborhood Association LINE” has obtained “Phase Free Certification” from the Phase Free Association. The service was certified because the information platform that supports everyday information sharing and operations for neighborhood and residents’ associations can also be used directly during disasters. As disasters become more severe and frequent, systems designed only for emergencies are increasingly seen as limited. DigiMachi Neighborhood Association LINE aims to build a local communication platform that does not separate normal times from emergencies, enabling rapid information sharing and safety confirmation during disasters through a system residents naturally continue to use in daily life. DigiMachi Neighborhood Association LINE is a phase-free local information platform that supports everything from everyday community communication to disaster-time information sharing. It is designed to digitize neighborhood association operations, reduce the burden on officers, and deliver essential local information to residents without added friction. By enabling digital circular notices, cashless fee collection, household information management, and other tasks previously handled on paper or face-to-face to be managed centrally on LINE, the service reduces administrative workload while helping residents receive local information more easily. Because the system is used continuously in daily life, it can also support rapid information sharing and safety confirmation during disasters. The service functions as an everyday tool for delivering local information to residents, helping create an environment where necessary information is always available, improving convenience, and reducing operational burden. It also has a structure that allows the communication platform residents are already familiar with, as well as household data accumulated during normal times, to be used as-is in emergencies. Everyday features such as digital circular notices, cashless collection, and schedule sharing cultivate a local information infrastructure and community connections. As a result, the service can facilitate smooth information sharing during disasters and support initial responses such as safety confirmation and evacuation shelter operations. In demonstration experiments with Kobe City’s Chuo Ward and others, the company verified the usefulness of resident information registered and accumulated during normal times for safety confirmation and evacuation shelter support. In a region marking 30 years since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the project is testing local disaster-prevention DX under the theme of whether systems used in normal times can become a life-protecting foundation in emergencies. One major challenge for disaster information-sharing services is that systems not used during normal times are difficult to use during emergencies. Because DigiMachi Neighborhood Association LINE is based on LINE, which many residents already use daily, it does not require installing a new app or learning special operations, making it easier for a wide range of generations to keep using. By being used for everyday information distribution such as neighborhood circulars, announcements, and schedule sharing, the service creates an environment in which residents naturally continue using it. This enables safety confirmation and evacuation information to be delivered quickly and smoothly during disasters, demonstrating the effectiveness of a communication platform already used in normal times. The company believes sustainable local disaster prevention depends not on “disaster-prevention tools that people are asked to use,” but on “things already used in daily life becoming disaster prevention as they are.” Going forward, Anniversary Concierge will use this Phase Free certification as an opportunity to further promote systems that can be used seamlessly from daily life to emergencies in local communities, including neighborhood and residents’ associations. Through collaboration with municipalities, related organizations, and private companies, it will also work to advance local disaster-prevention DX and contribute to the sustainable operation of local communities and improved regional safety and security. Phase Free Certification (certification number: PF1426024) is a certification system operated by the Phase Free Association that evaluates products and services that deliver value from daily life to emergencies without separating normal times from times of crisis. The certification review committee noted that typical neighborhood association operations depend heavily on paper and face-to-face processes for circular notices, fee collection, and household information management, creating a heavy burden for officers and slowing information sharing. DigiMachi Neighborhood Association LINE centralizes digital circular notices, collection, household information management, and schedule sharing on LINE, a platform residents already use daily, improving convenience for residents while reducing officers’ workload. The committee highly evaluated the fact that a platform encouraging daily information sharing and community participation can be used directly for emergency safety confirmation, evacuation information sharing, shelter reception, and identifying households needing support. It is expected to spread as a phase-free local operations model that maintains community ties through everyday neighborhood activities and connects those relationships to mutual assistance in emergencies. President and CEO Motoyuki Fukushima said the company is honored that DigiMachi Neighborhood Association LINE has received Phase Free certification. As disasters become part of everyday reality, systems prepared only for emergencies have limits. At the same time, local communities face shortages of people willing to take on roles and an aging population, making it harder to maintain information sharing and community ties in neighborhood associations. The foundation of local society is reaching a major turning point. The company developed the service with the aim of realizing a society where information-sharing systems and human connections naturally used in daily life can also function during emergencies, rather than creating new systems only for disasters. Continuing to deliver information in neighborhood associations helps maintain community ties and nurture relationships that enable people to support one another when needed. As disasters grow more severe and frequent, the company feels that mechanisms that do not divide normal times from emergencies are increasingly required to be put into practical use early as social infrastructure. It will continue working with municipalities and local communities to build foundations that support regional safety and peace of mind.