Seongdong-gu Wins Presidential Award at 'Korea Knowledge Awards'... First Local Government to Receive Twice Nationwide

[Seoul District News] Seongdong-gu Wins Presidential Award for 1st Place in Knowledge Administration at the 11th Korea Knowledge Awards Hosted by the Ministry of the Interior & Safety & Recognized for Excellence in Establishing Knowledge Administration System, Supporting Knowledge Activities, and Achieving Results Using Big Data Platform

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, and Seongdong-gu officials took a commemorative photo celebrating the 2022 Korea Knowledge Awards Presidential Prize.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) announced that it received the Presidential Award as the 'No. 1 in Knowledge Administration' at the 11th Korea Knowledge Awards ceremony held on the 16th at the Government Seoul Office Annex.

Seongdong-gu, which was the first basic local government nationwide to receive the Presidential Award in 2019, has set a record as the 'first institution among basic local governments nationwide to receive the Presidential Award twice' with this award.

The 11th Korea Knowledge Awards is a contest hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to promote knowledge-based administrative and management culture. The final winners were selected through a first round of expert evaluation and a second round of public voting.

Selected as the 'No. 1 in Knowledge Administration,' Seongdong-gu established a 'knowledge system infrastructure' by operating learning clubs such as the Appropriate Technology Research Association and building the 'e-Seongdongbogam Platform,' a knowledge repository for Seongdong-gu employees. Additionally, by utilizing a big data platform, the district accurately grasped current status data and carefully implemented policies suited to the data, achieving more effective results. Seongdong-gu received high evaluations for linking various knowledge activity support to tangible outcomes.

The key keywords for the achievement of Seongdong-gu's knowledge activities are 'community-based' and 'collaboration.' Instead of traditional government-centered administration, knowledge activities are promoted in collaboration with residents living in the Seongdong-gu area to create results.

A representative example is the 'Data-based Household Waste Reduction System' started in Sageun-dong, where university students and residents in the area jointly planned the project to solve local problems. It attracted attention for addressing the characteristics of Sageun-dong, which has many single-person households, through a living lab with students from Hanyang University and Hanyang Women's University.

Also, Seongdong-gu's 'Coffee Grounds Recycling Project,' the first of its kind in Seoul, began from concerns about coffee grounds disposal, as only 0.2% of coffee beans are used during espresso extraction and 99.8% are discarded.

Coffee grounds have a high carbon content and high calorific value per unit, making them a promising renewable energy source, but due to the lack of a separate collection system, they have been landfilled or discarded as waste. In response, the district found the optimal collection routes for coffee grounds by utilizing big data and involving 210 coffee shops including Daerim Warehouse, Blue Bottle, and Cafe Onion. Furthermore, in collaboration with local companies possessing technical expertise, the district is actively promoting projects to recycle coffee grounds into recycled plastics, recycled wood, and other resources.

The 'Children’s Safe School Route Living Lab' policy, started in 2018, also engaged children this year. Elementary school students created a game called 'Sweet Home, Safe School' on Roblox, the most popular metaverse game among children. Based on opinions gathered from the children's living lab classes, the district plans to install various smart solutions such as responsive Keybots, smart reflectors, intelligent electronic signboards, and intelligent CCTVs along school routes.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, "The Korea Knowledge Awards is the most prestigious award evaluating administrative agencies and companies nationwide. Receiving the Presidential Award this time is very meaningful as it recognizes Seongdong-gu’s efforts to improve residents’ quality of life," and added, "In a diversifying society, we will continue to work on resident-centered, community-based innovative administration by fostering flexible communication between residents and staff to create policies together."

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