Government Improves 'Public Data Operation' Ratings from 57% to 68% for Excellent and Average Grades... Evaluation of 535 Institutions

Improvement in Public Data Provision Levels in the Public Sector... Average Score Across All Agencies Increases
Evaluation of Public Data Management System, Opening, Utilization, Quality, and Other 5 Areas... Utilization Area Remains Insufficient

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been revealed that the level of public data management by central administrative agencies, local governments, and public institutions has been continuously improving. The proportion of institutions rated as excellent or average among the evaluated agencies increased by more than 11 percentage points over the past year, and the average score of all institutions has steadily risen.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 20th, the evaluation results of public data provision and operation last year showed that among 535 evaluated institutions, the proportion of excellent and average ratings was 68.0%, up from 56.7% in 2019. The average score for all types of institutions increased from 60.8 points in 2018 to 62.7 points in 2019, and 67.6 points last year. The Ministry reported these results of the 'Public Data Provision and Operation Evaluation' to the Cabinet meeting.

The public data provision and operation evaluation has been conducted since 2018 under Article 9 of the Public Data Act to secure government-wide momentum for full public data disclosure. To ensure objective and fair evaluation, the evaluation team is composed of private sector members.

The Ministry evaluated five areas: public data management system, disclosure, utilization, quality, and others (including bonus and penalty points). In particular, the weight of the disclosure area was increased to focus on agencies' efforts and achievements in providing user-centered public data, such as opening new data based on user feedback. For the first time, quality evaluation was conducted for public enterprises and other public institutions, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of all institutions. The average scores by area were 67.4 points for disclosure, 73.1 points for quality, 62.7 points for management system, and 50.1 points for utilization.

For central administrative agencies, the number of excellent institutions increased from 17 to 32, and metropolitan local governments increased from 2 to 5. The number of underperforming basic local governments decreased by nearly half, from 105 to 58, and the proportion of underperforming public institutions also declined, showing overall improvement. By area, the 'disclosure area,' which evaluates the expansion of public data disclosure and management level of open data, and the 'quality area,' which assesses management activities to ensure appropriate quality levels of public data, were favorable. In particular, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Incheon Metropolitan City, Yangju City, and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea were evaluated as excellent in user-centered public data disclosure by reflecting user opinions and actively discovering and opening new data through a full survey of agency-held data.

The 'utilization area,' which evaluates the enhancement of private sector use of public data and startup support achievements, was rated relatively lower compared to other areas. Although many public institutions manage the quality of open data to facilitate easy use by the private sector, progress has been slow. Among them, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Sejong Special Self-Governing City, Pohang City, and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service received excellent evaluations in the utilization area by promoting startup support and public data workforce development using public data.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to disseminate best practices so that efforts for user-centered public data disclosure and private sector utilization can spread to all institutions. Government awards and incentives will be given to excellent institutions based on this evaluation, and education and customized consulting support will be expanded for underperforming institutions.

Meanwhile, the Ministry plans to establish and promote the 'Public Data Disclosure 2.0' strategy, which moves beyond the supplier-centered quantitative supply method to conveniently provide various types of data needed by users through public-private collaboration.

Minister Jeon Hae-cheol stated, “The public data evaluation aims to diagnose the level of public data provision by institutions and improve weak areas so that high-quality public data can be provided to the public.” He added, “The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will reflect the transition from supplier-centered to user-centered 'Public Data Disclosure 2.0' in agency evaluations and open public data needed by the public to be utilized as a core resource in the data economy era.”

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