President Moon Visits Data and AI Companies... Emphasizes Speed in Digital New Deal

President Moon Jae-in visited Duzon Bizon, a big data platform operating company located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on the 18th, encouraging employees developing innovative services that combine data and AI. 2020.6.18 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in emphasized on the 18th that the public and private sectors must work together to swiftly advance the 'Digital New Deal,' one of the core pillars of the Korean New Deal. The data and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors are regarded as key areas to achieve a leading economy in the 'post-COVID-19' era.

On the morning of the same day, President Moon visited the data and AI company 'Duzon Bizon' Gangchon Campus located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, stating, "It is important to create a new industrial ecosystem where large and small-to-medium enterprises collaborate and coexist through the promotion of the Digital New Deal." Based on this, he encouraged active overseas market expansion by innovative companies based on data and AI.

The Moon Jae-in administration declared a transition to a 'data economy' in August 2018 and has been promoting related policies. Following the announcement of the 'AI National Strategy' in December last year, the administration revised the three data-related laws (Personal Information Protection Act, Information and Communications Network Act, Credit Information Act) in February this year to establish an institutional foundation. The plan is to invest 13.4 trillion won in the Digital New Deal sector by 2022, creating a total of 330,000 jobs.

'Duzon Bizon,' which President Moon visited as his first field activity related to the Digital New Deal, is a data and AI specialized company. It has been recognized for contributing to revitalizing the local economy by providing a contactless service platform free of charge to small and medium enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 1,500 employees work there, with about half recruited from local talent in Gangwon Province.

At the site, President Moon observed a demonstration of the process of developing AI services through data collection and processing. He then visited the workspace where AI service developers work, held a roundtable meeting with local talents, women re-entering the workforce after career breaks, and developers, listening to their difficulties and suggestions.

The event was attended by government officials including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Science and ICT Choi Ki-young, Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun, as well as Yoon Sung-ro, Chairman of the Presidential 4th Industrial Revolution Committee, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Lee Ho-seung, and Science and Technology Advisor Park Soo-kyung.

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