Ministry of Science and ICT to Establish Support Teams for Digital Platform Government and Quantum Technology Development

Establishment of Related Departments and Direct Ministerial Organizations to Promote National Tasks

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The Ministry of Science and ICT is establishing the Digital Platform Government Support Team and the Quantum Technology Development Support Team, creating new divisions for each. These teams will focus on key projects of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, including the Digital Platform Government and quantum technology, as priority tasks within the ministry.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 14th, prior to enacting the regulations on the establishment and operation of autonomous organizations on the 10th, it announced the plan to establish the Digital Platform Government Support Team and the Quantum Technology Development Support Team as autonomous organizations directly under the minister. Kang Do-hyun, Director General of the Information and Communication Policy Office, and Kim Seong-su, Director General of the Research and Development Investment Review Bureau, will serve as heads of the Digital Platform Government Support Team and the Quantum Technology Development Support Team, respectively.

The support teams will consist of a head and members, and experts with specialized knowledge and experience in relevant fields will be appointed as advisory committee members as needed. To assist the heads, the 'Digital Platform Government Support Division' and the 'Quantum Technology Development Support Division' will also be newly established. The support teams will be disbanded once their objectives are achieved. The maximum operation period is six months from the initial establishment date, with the possibility of a one-time extension.

The 'Digital Platform Government Support Team' will carry out overall financial projects to realize the Digital Platform Government. It will formulate policies for the development of the digital industry linked to the promotion of the Digital Platform Government and work on institutional improvements to activate the use of private cloud services by administrative public institutions. It will also review matters related to the consultation of information and communication technology (ICT) policies associated with the Digital Platform Government.

The Presidential Digital Platform Government Committee, established two months ago, is currently outlining the blueprint for the Digital Platform Government. Ko Jin, Chairperson of the Digital Platform Government Committee, emphasized in his keynote speech at the '2022 ICT R&D Week' event that the committee aims to integrate the siloed structure between ministries in the existing e-government system, isolated data, and disconnected system infrastructure, and provide citizen services through public-private collaboration.

The committee plans to complete the infrastructure transition to super-large artificial intelligence (AI), data lakes (repositories for raw data), API (application programming interface) platforms, and private cloud through stages including government system linkage, government infrastructure redesign, and establishment of open technology standards. Subsequently, it will abolish regulations and expand the use of MyData. Advanced security technologies such as establishing a personal information access history management system, detecting abnormal personal information usage, strengthening supervision throughout the MyData process, and quantum cryptography communication will be introduced.

The 'Quantum Technology Development Support Team' will establish quantum technology development policies and operate the Quantum Technology Special Committee. It will plan and promote related legislation and financial projects. The government has selected the quantum field as a major national strategic technology project. The initial goal is to develop a 50-qubit quantum computer by 2026. A qubit is the smallest computational unit in quantum computing, and performance improves with more qubits. Currently, performance verification is underway up to 20 qubits. If development succeeds, Korea will become the third country in the world, after the United States and China, to possess a 50-qubit quantum computer.

Following this, the goals include developing quantum sensor products, building an ecosystem, and securing a Korean-style quantum system, aiming to become one of the top four quantum computer powers by 2030. To achieve this, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to concentrate support and investment in the quantum field.

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