[Interview] Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, "Committed to the Role of Local Government Responding to the 4th Industrial Revolution and Post-Corona Era"

Seoul's First Wireless Internet Network Established in All Local Schools... Construction and Operation of 4th Industrial Specialized Education Institutions 'Lifelong Learning Center & Convergence Talent Education Center'... 'Seodaemun-gu New Deal' Promoting 4th Industrial Talent Development Including AI, Big Data, and Coding

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), our daily lives have changed significantly from before. Non-face-to-face and contactless cultures such as remote lectures and telecommuting have become the new normal, and as demand for new technologies in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution rapidly increases, the role of local governments will become even more important.”

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu (photo), announced plans to “redouble efforts on the role of local governments that respond to the 4th Industrial Revolution and the post-COVID era.”

In early April this year, ahead of the online school opening, Seodaemun-gu proposed that “local governments take the initiative to distribute digital devices such as laptops and tablet PCs.” As a result, Seoul City, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and 25 districts discussed together and were able to provide digital devices to students eligible for educational welfare. Schools were also supported with webcams, microphones, and stands to facilitate smooth remote classes.

Furthermore, the district provided digital devices to some students who were not eligible for educational welfare. This was because some households did not have a computer, or had multiple children but only one computer at home.

In addition, to ensure students could smoothly attend digital classes, Seodaemun-gu became the first in Seoul to establish wireless internet networks in all schools within the district. To this end, wireless APs, PoE switches, and optical cable construction were supported at 30 elementary, middle, and high schools and 4 attached kindergartens in the area. As a result, Wi-Fi networks were activated in each classroom, making education using smart devices more seamless.

Seodaemun-gu’s project is evaluated as a pioneering exemplary case achieved through collaboration among the basic local government, education support office, and each school for “smooth online learning progress due to COVID-19” and “establishing a future-oriented digital learning foundation for schools.”

Mayor Moon also explained about the “Lifelong Learning Center and Convergence Talent Education Center” which opened in Yeonhui-dong at the end of June this year, stating, “Unlike past state-led development, we judged that it is necessary to build a region-led bottom-up New Deal model, and we are positioning this center as an advanced base leading the future.”

This center, a specialized 4th Industrial Revolution education institution for local elementary, middle, and high school students and residents, is equipped with smart spaces, big data rooms, 3D making rooms, digital drawing rooms, coding cafes, deep learning rooms, artificial intelligence (AI) rooms, drone and autonomous driving rooms, media production rooms, and more, in line with its founding purpose of “providing systematic and intensive support to nurture creative talents who will lead future changes.”

The educational content covers virtual reality, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, big data, drones, Internet of Things, robotics, 3D production, digital experiences, and fostering citizenship in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. It also supports youth and adult learning club activities related to the 4th Industrial Revolution, volunteer activity linkage, online educational content production support, and teacher training programs.

Mayor Moon Seok-jin said, “To resolve the digital academic gap and simultaneously create youth jobs, we are supporting ‘Teaching Assistants (TA)’ capable of digital education and one-on-one customized learning guidance at each school,” expressing his ambition for the “Seodaemun-gu-type New Deal” that combines the digital New Deal and human New Deal to cultivate 4th Industrial Revolution talents in AI, big data, and coding.