Digital Empowerment

2024 Digital Platform series: 1st Seminar on “Digital Platform Government”

The first seminar of the Digital Empowerment – 2024 Digital Platform series, focused on "Digital Platform Government," took place on March 7, 2024. This seminar series, organized by FNF Korea and its partner Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute (KLID), aimed to explore the concept of a digital platform government and its implications for societal advancement and governance in South Korea. FNF and KLID have been organizing online seminars since 2020 to contribute to strengthening digital capacity and capabilities of local governments and related institutions.

The seminar featured two distinguished speakers who provided insights into the evolution of digital governance in South Korea and practical examples of its implementation. Seon Park, Secretary, Presidential Committee on the Digital Platform commenced the seminar by outlining the developmental journey of South Korea's e-government, asserting its position as a global leader in digital governance. However, she acknowledged the existing shortcomings and imperfections within Korea's digital landscape, emphasizing the need for alternative approaches such as the concept of a digital platform government, which the current government define as "The citizens, businesses, and the government work in collaboration to solve social problems and creates new values based on a digital platform where all data is connected."

The next speaker, So Ah Park, Chief, OKESTRO, delved into concrete examples of digital platform government in action, highlighting successful cases of process optimization through smart technologies. She illustrated instances such as the digitization of factory permits and pre-assessment reviews within a digital twin framework, leading to enhanced efficiency and productivity.

The seminar, moderated by Minjung Oh, Professor, Korean National University of Education, concluded with a discussion where the participants asked questions, varying from emerging AI trends in Korean government policies to concerns regarding the digital divide. Seon Park emphasized the significance of the ‘AI normalization’ era and introduced that South Korean government has recently unveiled the ‘National AI Everyday Realization Plan,’ aimed at integrating AI seamlessly into the daily lives of citizens. So Ah Park addressed the issue of digital divide, advocating for more accessible user interfaces (UI) and user experiences (UX) to facilitate digital inclusion, particularly for vulnerable groups like the disabled.

The next seminar of the series will be held in May.

*Lin Choi is the Program & Communications Officer of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Korea office