4th Committee Strengthens Government Policy Recommendation Function, Reflecting on "Tada Issue" Response

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] The Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution has acknowledged the limitations of its first and second terms and announced plans to establish an operational direction that strengthens its role in recommending government policies.

On the afternoon of the 28th, the Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee (4th IRC) held its 15th plenary meeting and deliberated and approved the 'Operational Direction for the 3rd Term of the 4th IRC.'

The 4th IRC self-assessed that "although it achieved the outcome of reaching social consensus that laid the foundation for the amendment of the Data 3 Act, it showed limitations in failing to lead discussions on sensitive issues such as Tada and not significantly driving substantive changes in government policies."

Accordingly, the 3rd term 4th IRC has set its main operational directions as ▲ strengthening government policy recommendations related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution ▲ reviewing and advising on cross-ministerial Fourth Industrial Revolution policies ▲ creating tangible benefits for the public through proactive discovery and improvement of regulations.

Regarding government policy recommendations, the frequency will change from the existing once a year to 2-3 times a year on an as-needed basis. This aims to enhance the timeliness of policy recommendations and coordinate so that ministries sequentially draft policies following the 4th IRC's recommendations, thereby securing effectiveness.

Also, as it serves as the national AI committee, it will hold a plenary meeting once every quarter to strengthen the management of cross-ministerial Fourth Industrial Revolution policies and AI policies.

Under the 4th IRC, a 'Digital Healthcare Special Committee' will be established to promote the use of personal-led medical data, and a 'Smart City Special Committee' will be set up to support smart city construction and overseas expansion.

For regulatory improvement, a 'Data Ombudsman' and a 'Data Institutional Innovation Research Group' will be operated to support the government's follow-up measures on the Data 3 Act. Regarding the 'Regulation and Institutional Innovation Hackathon,' the plan is to strengthen connectivity with related ministries throughout the entire process of agenda discovery, operation, and management. Additionally, a dedicated department responsible for the hackathon will be newly established to enhance its outcomes.

The 4th IRC pointed out that the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has caused serious gaps in digital innovation in fields such as healthcare, education, and welfare.

Accordingly, the 4th IRC will actively recommend and advise on policies related to ▲ establishing a data economy foundation ▲ improving regulations in vulnerable digital innovation sectors such as healthcare and education ▲ addressing the negative effects of digital transformation such as infodemics (epidemics of misinformation) and privacy violations.

It will also operate an 'Edutech Task Force (TF)' to advance education such as remote learning and express opinions on social issues related to COVID-19.

Yoon Seong-ro, chairman of the 4th IRC, stated, "The COVID-19 crisis has once again brought attention to Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI, data, cloud, and 5G, and online education, untact medical treatment, and untact industries based on this digital infrastructure are newly emerging. The 4th IRC will focus on this area, gather expert opinions to promote regulatory reform, and help South Korea leap forward as an advanced country by further accelerating digital innovation in our society."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.