Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hosts the 9th Cultural Public Data Utilization Contest

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 28th that it will hold the "9th Cultural Public Data Utilization Competition" to discover various cases using public data and generate ideas in collaboration with the Korea Culture Information Service Agency.

Cultural public data refers to public data in fields such as culture and arts, cultural heritage, cultural industry content, books, Hangul, Hallyu, tourism, and sports, which are held and supplied by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliated public institutions.

Since 2013, the Ministry has been expanding the opening of cultural public data and promoting private sector utilization by holding an annual competition. So far, 2,184 cases of public data utilization have been discovered through the competition. Notably, the grand prize-winning work in 2015, Goonies' "Smart Palette," received the Presidential Award at the Government-wide Public Data Utilization Competition.

Anyone with creative ideas, including prospective entrepreneurs, startup companies, and small and medium enterprises, can apply for this competition. The contest is divided into two categories: "Product/Service" for companies and "Idea" for the general public. Participants can select a category and submit an application form along with additional explanations, photos, and videos on the competition website from today until August 1.

In the "Product/Service" category, products (including prototypes) that can promote the spread of cultural public data utilization products and services are recruited. In the "Idea" category, various ideas for new ways to utilize cultural public data and improve the public data supply system and methods are solicited. For the idea category, online judging and other public participation methods will be introduced to increase public interest and participation.

This year, 10 final teams will be selected and awarded certificates and a total prize money of 29.5 million KRW, including the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award. The two grand prize teams from each category will also advance to the finals of the "Government-wide Public Data Utilization Startup Competition." In the government-wide competition, they will compete for the Presidential Award and a total prize of 100 million KRW against grand prize teams from other ministries and local governments. This year’s winners in the "Product/Service" category will also receive additional support linked to the "Cultural Public Data Utilization Enterprise Commercialization Support Project" hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

More detailed information on how to apply and the benefits of support can be found on the competition website.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "Public data in the culture, sports, and tourism sectors has been found to be the most supplied among government public data provision lists, increasing its utilization," adding, "We will further expand user-centered public data provision and utilization in line with government policy directions such as the Digital New Deal."

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