Conditions for the Success of the Korean Version of the Digital New Deal

Noh Kyuseong, Chairman of Korea Productivity Center

Noh Gyu-seong, Chairman of the Korea Productivity Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] A few days ago, at the 'Korean New Deal National Report Conference,' the top 10 flagship projects of the Korean New Deal were announced. The 10 flagship projects, including the Data Dam, Intelligent Government, Smart Medical Infrastructure, Green Smart School, Digital Twin, Digitalization of National Safety Social Overhead Capital (SOC), Smart Green Industrial Complex, Green Remodeling, Green Energy, and Eco-friendly Future Mobility, will lead Korea's great transformation going forward.

The Korean New Deal is broadly composed of the Digital New Deal, the Green New Deal, and the strengthening of the employment safety net, with the Digital New Deal occupying a very large portion. Among the total 28 tasks, 12 are Digital New Deal tasks, and among the top 10 priority flagship tasks, 7 are related to the Digital New Deal.

This Digital New Deal is carried out mainly in four areas. First, strengthening the D.N.A. (Data, Network, AI) ecosystem. Despite Korea's strengths such as excellent hardware (HW) infrastructure like 5G and vast data holdings, the utilization of D, N, A in industries, education, and infrastructure is low. The Korean New Deal envisions digital innovation across all industries through the construction, opening, and utilization of a data dam in areas closely related to citizens' lives.

Second, digital transformation of educational infrastructure. As seen in the educational confusion during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, contrary to the common perception of Korea as an ICT powerhouse, insufficient infrastructure investment has resulted in low levels of educational informatization, such as the PC-to-student ratio, use of digital devices in schools, and digital competency, ranking in the lower tier among OECD countries. Prompt investment in education environment innovation based on Edutech is necessary.

Third, fostering non-face-to-face industries. Large corporations and major retailers responded relatively well to the spread of online consumption and remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, traditional service industries and small and medium-sized manufacturers with weak digital foundations faced significant difficulties. Therefore, the Korean New Deal plans to focus on expanding remote work for SMEs and supporting online business for small merchants.

Fourth, digitalization of SOC. To ensure that the New Deal's effects are felt by all citizens, digitalization in areas related to daily life is essential. The Korean New Deal promotes digitalization of core infrastructures in four major areas: transportation, digital twin, water resources, and disaster response. It also pursues the digitalization of living and working spaces through the expansion of smart cities, digitalization of industrial complexes, and establishment of smart logistics systems. Once these smart SOCs are well established, they will serve as a foundation for the development of new industries such as autonomous vehicles and drones, contributing to improved productivity and competitiveness of companies.

If the large-scale ICT investment undertaken by the People's Government in 1998 had not occurred, Korea's history of responding to COVID-19 would have been written differently. Korea in 2020 can be the world's only reference because of the ICT infrastructure and technological capabilities that began then. The Korean New Deal newly promoted by the current government will also be a new starting point to overcome crises and will continue to evolve.

For the five-year Korean New Deal to achieve better results, it is necessary to concretize the vision of the Digital New Deal. Here, we propose the vision of a 'Digital Superpower' that achieves a 'Digital Ultra-Gap' through a 'Digital Great Transformation.' We hope that the Korean Digital New Deal strategy will enable the early realization of a digital superpower leading the global economy in the post-COVID era. In the process of promoting the Korean New Deal, placing people, especially the socially and economically vulnerable, at the center and using the fruits of achievements as resources to pursue inclusive growth will make it possible to realize a Korea where everyone lives well together.

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