[The Editors' Verdict] Digital Inclusion Has Now Become Essential

Recently, while leaving a discount store I frequently visit after selecting items, I was taken aback to find no cashier present and only a QR code scanner installed. Additionally, many fast-food restaurants nowadays have unmanned ordering kiosks, but people with disabilities or the elderly often find it difficult to use the touchscreen and end up giving up on placing orders. Side effects caused by unprepared digitalization without prior notice are being discovered in various places.

In the late 1990s, the Ministry of Information and Communication, although late in industrialization, implemented a policy under the slogan of advancing informatization ahead, aiming to secure the public's access to information devices by pursuing the goal of “making Korea the country that uses computers best in the world.” The awareness was that computers are the most fundamental devices for leading a digital life, so the distribution and utilization of computers were absolutely necessary.

Since then, until 2005, when informatization was still in its early stages, the government provided internet education to the entire population, and as informatization matured, it shifted to policies focusing on supporting vulnerable groups intensively. However, recently, there have been significant changes in the digital usage environment of the public. The biggest change is the opening of a non-face-to-face online society due to COVID-19.

Fundamentally, COVID-19 has spread digital transformation centered on unmanned and non-face-to-face interactions throughout daily life. Due to COVID-19, as of April this year, offline retail payment amounts decreased by 28.6%, online shopping transaction amounts increased by 25%, and domestic companies’ video conferencing time surged 29 times compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak. The transition to a non-face-to-face society unfolding after COVID-19 raises concerns that the digital divide will deepen social and economic opportunity discrimination and inequality, going beyond mere inconvenience in daily life. In particular, as in the examples above, the elderly and people with disabilities may face exclusion from overall daily life.

Recently, on the 22nd, the government announced a comprehensive digital inclusion strategy. According to the plan, to enable anyone to easily receive digital education, nearby living SOC facilities such as community centers, libraries, and science museums will be established as “Digital Capability Centers (tentative name).” For severely disabled people who have difficulty accessing living SOC, one-on-one visiting education will be expanded. Environmental improvements will also be strengthened. By 2022, public Wi-Fi will be newly installed at 41,000 public places nationwide, including community centers and village halls, and high-speed internet networks will be built in about 1,300 rural fishing villages and other areas where internet use is difficult. To guarantee digital usage, smart devices and communication fees will be supported for the elderly and people with disabilities. Furthermore, the government plans to promote the enactment of a (tentative) Digital Inclusion Act, which will include obligations to eliminate the digital divide and establish a system for promoting digital inclusion-related policies and projects.

Broadly speaking, the government’s plan consists of two pillars: strengthening the public’s access rights to the digital environment and enhancing digital capabilities through education, along with establishing a legal foundation to promote these policies. This is evaluated as a reasonable direction. However, the regrettable point is that although there have been many cases where government policies were consolidated into grand master plans, the process of implementing policies on the ground, evaluating them afterward, and feeding back these evaluations has rarely been seen. Also, most policies have focused only on quantitative goals, often neglecting qualitative goals such as public satisfaction.

Now, digital inclusion is not only an issue for specific groups but also an essential concern for the entire population due to rapidly advancing digital technologies. In this regard, it should be noted that digital inclusion is no longer a matter that can be chosen between growth or opposition to growth. We hope that the Digital New Deal policy will be implemented substantively with this understanding.

Seong-Yeop Lee, Professor, Graduate School of Technology Management, Korea University / President, Korea Data Law and Policy Association

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