Busan City Selected for 2nd Consecutive Year in Ministry of Science and ICT's 'Digital Problem-Solving Support' Contest Project

Ministry of Science and ICT National Task Promotion Contest Project, Busan City Solely Selected

Eliminating Digital Blind Spots... Project Targeting Literacy Instructors 추진

Busan City has been selected for the Ministry of Science and ICT's ‘2024 Digital Problem-Solving Support’ public contest project, securing 582 million KRW in national funding.

The ‘Digital Problem-Solving Support’ project is a public contest initiative promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT as a national agenda to enhance the digital capabilities of all citizens and establish digital universality and accessibility rights.

The Ministry of Science and ICT has finalized the selection of one institution for ‘Digital Assistant Training Education’ and two institutions for ‘Digital Future Design Education for Vulnerable Youth’ among two project categories.

The city applied for the contest to eliminate digital blind spots in the local community and was the only one nationwide to be solely selected for the ‘Digital Assistant Training Education’ project for two consecutive years.

In the first year of the contest project last year, the city received 400 million KRW in national funding for the digital assistant training education project targeting social welfare workers in the welfare sector, acquiring about 1 billion KRW in national funding over two years as project expenses.

With this contest project selection, the city plans to train literacy instructors as digital assistants to provide not only basic literacy education such as reading and writing for illiterate and low-educated adults but also customized digital education.

Literacy instructors are responsible for elementary and middle school level education for illiterate and low-educated individuals who missed educational opportunities due to social and economic circumstances and lack basic skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Illiterate individuals, even after basic literacy education, can become digitally illiterate in a digital world where ordering via kiosks at restaurants and cafes is common, so digital education linked to real life is necessary. However, it is difficult to secure professional literacy instructors who understand the characteristics of literacy education recipients and possess digital capabilities.

Accordingly, to strengthen the expertise of digital assistants this year, the city will establish the ‘Busan Women’s Family and Lifelong Education Promotion Institute,’ designated as the city literacy education center, as the project’s overall operating center, and provide 50 hours of digital capability enhancement and teaching method education per person to 300 currently active literacy instructors.

Kim Bong-cheol, Director of the City Administration and Autonomy Bureau, stated, “With the acceleration of digital transformation, non-face-to-face and unmanned services such as kiosks and internet banking have become commonplace.” He added, “If literacy instructors are trained as digital assistants in this digital world, it is expected that they will improve not only basic literacy education such as reading and writing for illiterate and low-educated adults but also digital life skills, thereby bridging the digital divide and expanding opportunities for social participation.”

Busan City Hall.

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