Unified Party Promotes 'Data Cheong Establishment'... "Good Ideas Will Be Immediately Reflected"

Kim Jong-in "Data is the raw material of the 4th Industrial Revolution"... Expert Roundtable Held

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The United Future Party has launched an initiative to establish a 'Data Agency' to respond to the 4th Industrial Revolution. On the 11th, the party's Science, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and the Yeouido Research Institute held an expert roundtable to discuss the establishment of the Data Agency.

Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman, stated at the Data Agency expert roundtable held at the National Assembly in the afternoon, "I proposed the establishment of the Data Agency because I believe it is a prerequisite to create an organization that comprehensively manages data held by the government and privately owned data so that companies or individuals who need data can use it efficiently."

Chairman Kim emphasized, "This can be an opportunity to accelerate the promotion of the 4th Industrial Revolution, which has only been talked about and postponed," adding, "The future of the 4th industry depends on how well we manage the data that can serve as the raw material for the 4th industry."

Joo Ho-young, the floor leader, said, "Our country is called the world's top IT powerhouse in terms of infrastructure and hardware, but I don't think we can say the same about data," and added, "If good proposals regarding the Data Agency come out, we will immediately reflect them in the government organization law amendment." Lee Jong-bae, the policy committee chairman, expressed, "I hope this beneficial forum will be the first step toward the early realization of the Data Agency."

The roundtable was chaired by Professor Jung Soo-hwan of Soongsil University's Department of Electronic Information Engineering. Discussants included Professor Do Kyung-hwa of Konkuk University's Department of Computer Science, Cho Kwang-won, president of the Korea Data Industry Association, Professor Yoon Ji-young, invited professor at Ewha Womans University Graduate School of Education, and Kim Jin-wook, director of the Korea IT Law Research Institute.

Professor Do said, "Even if the Data 3 Laws are passed, it is important to concretely present and plan practical methods for data collection, management, disclosure, and utilization, but there are no specifics yet," adding, "A specialized organization that creates an environment for data utilization is necessary. I believe now is the time."

President Cho proposed establishing an independent organization at the committee level that can independently promote innovation and change while compensating for the agency's practical shortcomings, and suggested building an operational system as a business-type organization. He proposed naming the committee the National Future Growth Committee.

Professor Yoon stated, "It is now necessary to make innovative decisions. To enable more efficient data utilization in line with the times, the establishment of the Data Agency is essential," adding, "Through the Data Agency, data that has been mixed across ministries, agencies, and the private sector should be managed integrally to function as a reliable data source. Also, the most important point is data standardization, and realistic data laws and systems must be implemented together."

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