Industry 'Welcomes' Digital New Deal... Calls for Regulatory Easing Also Raised

"No Large-Scale Fiscal Injection Without Regulatory Relaxation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] The IT industry has expressed a welcoming stance toward the government's 'Digital New Deal' policy. However, voices are also emerging that private sector data-related regulations need to be further relaxed for the industry to grow.

Han Seong-sook, CEO of Naver, said on the 14th regarding the government's Digital New Deal policy, "I hope the government will create new policies and systems to help us get ahead in global competition," adding, "If the public, government, and companies unite with one heart and strength, I am confident that becoming a digital powerhouse will not be a dream but our reality."

A portal industry insider, Mr. A, said, "In the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, data management and utilization are essential for service innovation," and predicted, "For digital transformation to be realized, data centers must be systematically managed, and if the government supports improving the data ecosystem, the speed of service innovation will accelerate even more."

Industry insider Mr. B also said, "Since the government recognizes the importance of data, companies will be able to accelerate the establishment of domestic data centers that oversee data management," and forecasted, "With the explosive growth in data utilization, we will be able to secure data competitiveness in the global market."

However, there are also calls for the government to ease regulations on data. Although the 'Data 3 Laws' have been amended, the industry has pointed out that stricter enforcement decrees have made private data utilization more difficult.

An ICT industry official said, "There are limits to achieving innovation by merely investing large-scale finances without easing data-related regulations," and pointed out, "For the Digital New Deal to be effective, private data regulations must be significantly relaxed."

Industry insider Mr. C lamented, "Even though the Data 3 Laws have been amended, compared to advanced countries' data-related regulations, our country's regulations are still strict, and there are many restrictions on the scope of data utilization, making it difficult to freely expand data-related businesses domestically."

Startup insider Mr. D said, "The US and China have adopted a negative regulation approach that allows new services first and prohibits them exceptionally in terms of data-related regulations, but Korea still uses a positive regulation approach where only certain things are allowed and others are not, making small and medium-sized enterprises or startups that have started new businesses particularly vulnerable to regulations."