‘Online Gwanakcheong(聽)’ Selected as an OECD Public Sector Innovation Case

Improved accessibility through unification of dispersed resident participation channels, highly praised for enabling constant participation

Among 94 countries' innovation cases, 5 from South Korea selected, with Gwanak-gu being the only district-level local government nationwide

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) has had its direct democracy platform, ‘Online Gwanakcheong (聽)’, selected as an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) public sector innovation case in 2022.

Since 2013, the OECD has operated a public innovation council, annually discovering excellent public sector innovation cases that contribute to solving complex and diverse social issues and sharing them with the international community.

In this competition, a total of 1,084 innovation cases were submitted from 94 countries, and as a result of the evaluation, only 5 cases from South Korea were selected, with Gwanak-gu’s case being the only one among district-level local governments nationwide.

‘Online Gwanakcheong (聽)’ is a 365-day direct democracy online platform where anyone can freely participate in district administration via the internet. In 2019, Gwanak-gu integrated various resident participation channels that had been operated separately into a one-stop comprehensive portal for resident participation consisting of six menus: ▲Gwanakcheong (聽) ▲Policy Participation ▲Resident Participatory Budget ▲Co-governance Gwanak ▲Manifesto & Pledges ▲Resident Autonomy Council.

As of the end of 2022, ‘Online Gwanakcheong (聽)’ recorded about 270,000 participants, 332 proposals under ‘Policy Participation’, 465 proposals under ‘Resident Participatory Budget’, and 371 posts under ‘Co-governance Gwanak’, confirming it as a highly active public portal for resident participation.

In particular, this OECD government innovation excellence case competition highlighted the unification of dispersed resident participation channels to improve accessibility and efficiency, the thorough analysis and reflection of residents’ opinions and demands on the platform, and the establishment of a resident participation platform without spatial or temporal constraints.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “We are very pleased that Gwanak-gu’s efforts to guarantee opportunities for resident participation and its value have been recognized globally through this OECD innovation case selection,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to create innovative results that residents can feel and to lead administrative advancement.”

In addition to Gwanak-gu’s ‘Online Gwanakcheong (聽)’, other selected excellent innovation cases can be found on the official website of the OECD Public Innovation Council.

Gangbuk-gu Establishes Festival Safety Management Measures

Safety management plans established and reviewed even for ‘festivals without organizers’

Safety management plans required for mass gatherings without organizers of 1,000 or more people, outdoor events of 500 or more people, etc.

Joint inspection team conducts safety checks 1?2 days before festival

Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Soon-hee) announced that it has prepared ‘Festival Safety Management Measures’ to prevent recurrence of accidents like the Itaewon tragedy and to ensure citizens’ safety.

On December 30 last year, the district enacted the ‘Ordinance on Safety Management of Outdoor Events in Gangbuk-gu’, and starting this year, it announced a plan to establish and review safety management plans and conduct safety inspections for mass gatherings of a certain scale, including festivals without organizers.

According to this plan, from this year, safety management plans must be established and reviewed not only for festivals with 1,000 or more attendees but also for mass gatherings without organizers of 1,000 or more people and outdoor events with 500 or more people.

The subjects for plan establishment include ▲festivals with a maximum instantaneous audience of 1,000 or more ▲mountain and water surface festivals ▲festivals using explosive materials such as fire, fireworks, or flammable gas ▲outdoor events hosted, funded, or sponsored by Gangbuk-gu ▲outdoor events with 500 or more participants or expected to have a maximum instantaneous attendance of 500 or more.

These festivals must establish safety management plans including deployment of safety personnel, maintenance of visitor movement routes and emergency evacuation, and measures based on prediction and detection of crowd congestion.

The established plans undergo review by related agencies such as Gangbuk Fire Station and Gangbuk Police Station and are finalized after deliberation by the Gangbuk-gu Safety Policy Working Committee. If deficiencies in safety measures are not corrected, the festival cannot be held.

Additionally, the district will form a joint inspection team composed of district office and related agency officials to conduct safety inspections 1?2 days before the event.

Furthermore, the district will respond to issues pointed out by the Itaewon National Assembly Investigation Special Committee.

First, it has strengthened the expertise of night duty workers by producing a simple manual to help them easily use the national disaster management system and disaster safety communication network.

It will also keep a disaster response workflow chart on the duty room TV monitor at all times and establish a system for rapid response to disasters through education.

Moreover, it will prepare to maintain the reporting system at all times during incidents such as the ‘Kakao outage’ in October last year by utilizing the ‘Gangbuk Smart Disaster Cooperation Response System’, which was first introduced nationwide in 2019.

Finally, starting this year, the district will promote an urban safety network construction project linked with CCTV. The district plans to improve the system so that all CCTVs, including illegal parking CCTVs, can be used for urban safety purposes when necessary, and to strengthen the control system to connect CCTV footage with safety-related agencies (112 and 119 situation rooms, Seoul CCTV Safety Center) in case of various disasters and incidents.

Mayor Lee Soon-hee of Gangbuk-gu said, “Regardless of whether there is an organizer, I hope tragedies like the Itaewon disaster never happen again,” and added, “We will continue to develop a safety management system so that residents can enjoy local festivals with peace of mind.”

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