Ministry of Science and ICT to Soon Announce Joint Ministry 'Digital Platform Development Plan'

'Digital Platform Policy Forum' Final Report Meeting Held
Recommendations for Startup Support and Self-Regulation System
Calls for Platform Adoption Research and Conflict Resolution Principles

The Ministry of Science and ICT held the final report meeting and discussion session for 2022 related to the 'Digital Platform Policy Forum' on the 27th at Ferrum Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul. The photo shows Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT speaking at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting on the 18th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The "Digital Platform Development Plan," which includes measures to enhance the competitiveness of domestic platforms and startups as well as directions for self-regulation, is expected to be announced soon.

The Ministry of Science and ICT held the 2022 final report meeting and discussion session related to the "Digital Platform Policy Forum" on the 27th at Ferrum Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The Digital Platform Policy Forum is a joint industry-academia-research discussion body established in 2020 to discuss healthy development measures for the platform ecosystem. This year, Park Yoon-kyu, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and Lee Won-woo, a professor at Seoul National University Law School, served as co-chairs. In addition to the co-chairs, more than 40 experts participated in the forum, conducting over 50 discussions over 10 months across four subcommittees: a robust industrial ecosystem, systems for innovation and fairness, enhancement of social value, and balance between data protection and utilization.

The 1st subcommittee argued for the need for startup support measures such as the establishment of a "(tentative name) Technology Embassy" to create an environment that promotes innovation and challenges in platforms. They also proposed support measures for platform technology fields such as cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and metaverse (extended virtual world).

The 2nd subcommittee emphasized the necessity of establishing legal grounds for autonomous organizations and preparing government support policies to create an effective self-regulation system. They stated that policies should be pursued based on thorough market research on the dynamic characteristics of platforms and competition-restricting factors.

The 3rd subcommittee presented eight principles to enhance the social value of platforms. The eight principles are: expanding openness and connectivity, pursuing co-evolution, strengthening inclusiveness, responding to social issues, expanding opportunities, building trust processes, promoting diversity, and enhancing safety. They also pointed out the need for systematic research support on platform introduction and neutral conflict resolution principles to resolve conflicts of interest surrounding platforms.

The 4th subcommittee argued for the activation of MyData centered on users rather than providers, securing social consensus on the scope of disclosed data, conditions and limits of utilization, and the need for institutional improvements. They emphasized the importance of pursuing balanced policies between data protection and utilization through these measures.

Additionally, the Ministry of Science and ICT awarded the Minister’s Commendation to Professor Yoo Byung-joon of Seoul National University, Professor Hong Dae-sik of Sogang University, and the Bank권청년창업재단 (dcamp) for their contributions to the development of digital platforms.

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT stated, “Having competitive native platforms is a nationally important task not only for global digital competitiveness but also in terms of data sovereignty. We plan to announce the joint 'Digital Platform Development Plan' of related ministries soon after discussions with academia, industry, stakeholders, and related ministries, including the policy recommendations of the forum.”

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