Establishment of the 'Specialized Contract System' to Drive Growth in the Digital Service Industry

Full Allowance of Private Contracts... Introduction of New Catalog Contract Method

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] A specialized contract system will be established to drive the growth of the digital service industry.

On the 23rd, the government reported and confirmed the "Introduction Plan for the Digital Service Specialized Contract System" at the Cabinet meeting presided over by President Moon Jae-in.

First, the government will separately establish a specialized contract track tailored to digital services. Unlike the existing contract methods, this is a new contract method where demand agencies select and contract digital services they want from a list of digital services carefully selected in advance by a specialized organization. To this end, a "Digital Service Specialized Committee" composed of related ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Public Procurement Service, and experts will be established.

The Specialized Committee will receive applications from suppliers, review and evaluate the services, and create a list of digital services eligible for public contracts. Demand agencies will be able to freely select and purchase desired services from the prepared digital service list.

Additionally, to enhance the speed and flexibility of contracts, direct contracts will be allowed for digital services registered on the list, and a catalog contract method will be introduced to allow demand agencies to flexibly change contract conditions as they wish.

Furthermore, to support the entire process from digital service search to contract, a dedicated online platform for digital services will be established.

The listing system will provide the selected digital service list and related information, and the distribution platform will function as a digital service exclusive shopping mall that conveniently supports contracts. The two systems, specialized by function, will be organically linked to improve the convenience of use for demand agencies.

A government official stated, "In the future, the government plans to complete legal revisions by September through inter-ministerial cooperation so that the digital service specialized contract system can be implemented in line with the full revision of the 'Procurement Business Act.' The digital service online platform will also be built by September to be available simultaneously with the legal revisions."

He added, "With the establishment of this specialized contract system, instead of the public sector directly building services, the efficiency and quality of public services will improve by utilizing high-quality private digital services. It is expected that the public sector will be able to support the growth of the digital service industry by expanding its role as a catalyst in public procurement."

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