At the Ministry of Economy and Finance Forum, Proposals to Prepare for Post-COVID Digital Divide by Social Class

2021 2nd Future Strategy Forum... Economy and Industry Sector

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] At a future strategy forum hosted by the government, concerns were raised that social disparities could widen due to differences in digital infrastructure accessibility among age groups.

At the second 2021 Future Strategy Forum held at 2:30 p.m. on the 4th by the Sejong Economic and Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council, hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Jo Juhee, team leader of the Economic Information Center at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), made these remarks while analyzing social changes after COVID-19.

Team leader Jo diagnosed that the digital transformation, which had been centered on companies, has now fully entered everyday life. For example, mobile shopping transaction volume increased nearly twofold from 52.9 trillion won in 2017 to 108.3 trillion won last year.

However, he noted that the gap in digital device utilization skills by age group is large and could act as a factor expanding polarization in the future. According to him, in a survey asking about kiosk usage ability, 95.9% of respondents in their teens answered "very proficient" or "proficient," whereas only 66.1% of those aged 60 and above did so.

Other future tasks identified included the creation of "good jobs" where technology and capital converge, and the advancement of industrial structures linking manufacturing and service industries.

A Ministry of Economy and Finance official said, "The forum discussion contents will be reflected in future discussions of the Ministry’s 5th Mid- to Long-term Strategy Committee."

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