Ministry of the Interior and Safety Holds 'Public Data Strategy Committee' Meeting to Discuss Public Data Policy Development Directions

Strengthening Government Capabilities in the Era of Digital Transformation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 10th that it held a video meeting of the Public Data Strategy Committee. The Public Data Strategy Committee, under the Prime Minister, deliberates and coordinates major government policies and plans related to public data and monitors and evaluates their implementation.

At the meeting, agenda items such as the "Public Data Policy Development Direction" aimed at strengthening government capabilities in the era of digital transformation through data-driven scientific administration were deliberated and resolved, and various discussions related to the promotion of public data policies took place.

The government plans to identify and carry out strategic analysis tasks for scientific decision-making and execution of national tasks and issues through data-driven innovation to achieve visible results. It will also conduct data analysis for early detection and response to future issues. Targets include modeling regional COVID-19 recovery indices for long-term quarantine measures, identifying and preemptively responding to disaster-vulnerable areas such as sea level rise, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by predicting incomplete combustion at power plants. Additionally, innovations in work methods will be promoted by using data to improve common administrative and public institution tasks such as organization, budgeting, and personnel management.

To open high-quality data tailored to public demand, the government will expand public-private collaboration from data collection to utilization and establish a "service-centered public data package opening strategy" that integrates and provides data from multiple agencies necessary for private sector development. For unstructured data, expected to see a surge in usage for purposes such as artificial intelligence (AI) learning, management plans by type will be prepared, and public production unstructured materials will be opened in machine-readable and analyzable formats through data-friendly administrative document innovation.

The government will operate customized public data utilization support programs according to companies' data capabilities and expand follow-up support for participants and awardees of public data utilization contests to devise solutions for social issues such as corporate growth and job creation. Using resident participation infrastructure such as communication cooperation spaces and regional problem-solving platforms, support for public data utilization from project agenda discovery to task execution will be provided, and activation of local-related data such as resident, address, regional economy, and disaster safety data will be actively promoted.

Furthermore, the "National Key Data Opening" project supports opening important data in fields related to new industries and social issues. This year, data in seven thematic areas and 21 fields will be opened, including information on autonomous driving, disaster safety, and resident registration information closely related to public administration and citizens' lives.

Since 2015, the government has opened national key data in 147 fields, and as of the end of 2021, the opened data recorded 7.05 million uses, contributing to the development of new industries in various fields.

Also, the "Public Data Mid- to Long-term Opening Plan" set a goal to open 142,601 public data items over three years and achieved 104% of the target by opening 148,853 items by 2021. The number of public institution data opened increased more than fivefold from 28,400 at the end of 2018 as a result of implementing the mid- to long-term opening plan. Additionally, the Strategy Committee received reports and deliberated on the 2021 evaluation results of public data provision operations and the 2022 implementation plan for activating public data provision and use.

Cho Sung-jun, a private member of the Public Data Strategy Committee, said, "Companies and individuals are actively creating various businesses and new values using public data based on creative ideas," adding, "The government will provide public data at the original level to meet user expectations and ensure easier access to high-quality data in ways desired by the private sector through deliberation and evaluation by the Strategy Committee."

Ko Kyu-chang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, emphasized, "As seen in cases such as public mask inventory, COVID-19 vaccination information, and urea solution inventory data, public data plays a significant role in solving various social problems," and added, "Starting this year, we aim to take a step further from these achievements by conducting strategic analysis on national tasks and issues to support evidence-based scientific administration."

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