[Asking the Way to the Data Economy] Adding Insult to Injury... No Skilled Professionals Either

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] There is no disagreement that the world has entered the era of the data economy. In South Korea, there is great anticipation that the soon-to-be-enforced Data 3 Laws (Personal Information Protection Act, Information and Communications Network Act, Credit Information Act) will serve as a catalyst to open the door to this era. However, the shortage of skilled professionals compared to the rapidly growing market is a cause for concern. It is pointed out that, combined with stricter regulations compared to competing countries, the shortage of experts could become a limitation in the data economy era.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Data Industry Promotion Agency on the 18th, the domestic data industry market size this year is estimated to be around 19.2 trillion KRW. It is expected to continue double-digit growth and approach 33 trillion KRW by 2025.

However, the growth rate of data professionals in South Korea is not keeping pace with this growth trend. As of last year, the total number of workers in the data industry was 334,672. Among them, only 89,058 were data-related professionals. Although this number increased by 7-8% compared to the previous year, it still remains in the single digits percentage-wise. In particular, the number of core experts in big data (9,572) is even more insufficient.

In the United States, which recognized the importance of the data economy earlier and actively promoted it, the number of data experts was estimated at 14.01 million (2017). During the same period, the European Union (28 countries) had 7.29 million, Japan had 4.04 million, and Brazil had 1.17 million.

Lee Seong-yeop, president of the Korea Data Law and Policy Association (professor at Korea University Graduate School of Technology Management), said, "Although Korea leads in IT, networks, and content, it has not advanced at all in data utilization due to various regulations. That is why big data analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) are not possible. Because business development lags behind, there are no data utilization experts either."

An official working in the data industry expressed concern, saying, "Even when trying to invite AI experts, they rarely come to Korea. The number of data professionals needed is not proportional to the growing size of the data market, but it is important to secure initial core personnel centered on data analysts and data planners who can maximize data value in the long term."

The Korea Data Industry Promotion Agency predicted that within the next five years, the shortage of data analysts and data scientists in the data industry will become prominent. The Korea Software Industry Association stated, "There is a consensus that both the government and companies must pursue innovative growth through big data," but also evaluated that "there are limitations to activating the data economy due to regulations related to personal information and data utilization, as well as a shortage of skilled professionals."