Seoul City to Invest 345.9 Billion KRW in Post-COVID 'Digital Transformation'

Infrastructure Development for Introducing Digital New Technologies in Administrative Services such as Metaverse, Big Data, and AI

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 13th, Seoul City announced that it will intensively invest a budget of 345.9 billion KRW in 1,067 informatization projects this year to accelerate the ‘digital transformation’ in preparation for the post-COVID era.

Seoul City will primarily invest 112.6 billion KRW (253 projects) in the ‘smart city sector’ alone. In line with the digital transformation era, new technologies such as the metaverse, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) will be introduced into administrative services to enhance citizen convenience and efficiency by building related infrastructure. Additionally, the city will expand the introduction of ‘intelligent CCTV’ combined with AI to strengthen the citizen safety network and reinforce educational projects to ensure that digitally vulnerable groups are not left behind.

By institution, the budget is allocated as follows: ▲Seoul City 175.3 billion KRW (399 projects) ▲25 autonomous districts 106.7 billion KRW (548 projects) ▲investment and affiliated institutions 63.9 billion KRW (120 projects). By project type: ▲system construction 78.4 billion KRW (67 projects) ▲HW and SW introduction 56.8 billion KRW (178 projects) ▲S/W development 10.8 billion KRW (60 projects), etc.

The project ordering schedule is 457 projects (43%) in Q1, 120 projects (11%) in Q2, and 32 projects (3%) after Q3. Through this, 3,494 jobs will be created to secure youth employment, which has been stagnant due to COVID-19, and it is expected to play a leading role in the growth of small and medium ICT companies. In particular, about half, 577 projects (54%), will be ordered in the first half of the year to contribute maximally to economic revitalization.

The main contents of Seoul City’s informatization projects this year are ▲expansion of citizen services using metaverse and virtual reality technologies ▲provision of digital administrative services integrating new technologies such as big data and AI ▲expansion of intelligent CCTV ▲education for digitally vulnerable groups.

First, in line with global trends in the post-COVID era, a total project cost of 7 billion KRW will be invested in utilizing metaverse technology. For the first time among local governments, the city will build its own metaverse platform called ‘Metaverse Seoul’ (tentative name) to diversify non-face-to-face communication channels. Immersive content using virtual reality technology (VR·AR) will also be actively discovered and serviced. Furthermore, new technologies such as big data, AI, Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain will be integrated and applied throughout city administration to provide a higher level of digital administrative services. The budget for related fields is 67.7 billion KRW.

Efforts to expand the citizen safety network will be strengthened by installing intelligent CCTV to prevent missing elderly dementia patients. The budget for this area has increased by 6.2 billion KRW compared to the previous year, totaling 37.9 billion KRW. Through continuous education for digitally vulnerable groups such as the elderly and disabled, the city will lead the realization of a digitally inclusive society. In particular, education on everyday life necessities, such as how to order via kiosks in stores, which has increased due to the expansion of non-face-to-face services, will be conducted simultaneously. The budget for this area is 2 billion KRW.

Details of Seoul City’s informatization projects and ordering schedules can be checked from 5 p.m. today on the ‘2022 Seoul City Informatization Project Ordering Information’ website. Park Jong-su, Director of Seoul City’s Smart City Policy Division, said, “We are entering a new era never experienced before due to the COVID pandemic and the ICT technological revolution,” adding, “We will expand new-concept administrative services through digital technology to enhance convenience and efficiency across all aspects of citizens’ lives.”

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