Depository Accelerates Management Innovation... Revitalizing Innovation Cities and Leading Korean New Deal for Public Institutions

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Korea Securities Depository (KSD) is accelerating efforts in the second half of this year to implement the 'Management Innovation Strategy' established last year.

According to KSD on the 6th, based on Article 9 of the government's 'Guidelines on Public Institution Innovation' established last year, KSD formulated an innovation strategy and created a foundation and environment for company-wide innovation to efficiently and gradually implement the innovation plan. Accordingly, from the second half of this year, KSD plans to select and actively promote key tasks linked to core competencies according to the innovation plan and direction. A KSD official explained, "We established an innovation promotion plan reflecting government innovation guidelines and internal and external environments with the goal of improving the quality of life for the public," adding, "It reflects major policy issues such as social value creation, the Korean New Deal, and enhancement of public trust, as well as the public's needs arising from recent social changes."

The vision of the innovation strategy selected by KSD is 'An innovative financial platform growing together with the market,' aiming to contribute to the development of the capital market by providing a convenient and safe financial investment infrastructure. The three basic directions for innovation promotion this year are definite achievement of social value, strengthening innovative growth and revitalizing the economy, and enhancing public trust.

Each basic direction includes various detailed tasks. Among the detailed tasks for definite achievement of social value, KSD has selected 'Regional coexistence such as revitalization of innovation cities (Innovation City Regional Contribution Project)' as a key task. For strengthening innovative growth and revitalizing the economy, the key task is 'Leading the Korean New Deal in public institutions (improving service quality through innovative technology utilization, expanding open access to owned data, establishing a venture net platform to support innovative companies),' which will be focused on until the end of the year. The key tasks announced simultaneously with last year's establishment were 'Leading the 4th Industrial Revolution and Korean New Deal in public institutions' and 'Regulatory innovation for SMEs and creating a pro-business environment.'

'Regional coexistence such as revitalization of innovation cities' means supporting regional economic revitalization, job creation, and social contribution as a corporate citizen of Busan, thereby strengthening coexistence and cooperation with the local community. Accordingly, in terms of supporting regional economic revitalization, a Busan social economy support fund has been established to support social enterprises until December. KSD is also actively contributing to the activation of 'Busan City Asia Financial Hub' by supporting the establishment and settlement of foreign custodial institutions' Busan offices. In May, KSD donated 50 million KRW to the Global Fintech Industry Promotion Center to discover and nurture fintech startups in the Busan area.

Regarding job creation, KSD supports customized jobs for vulnerable groups (such as the elderly and women with career interruptions) by discovering and implementing new business models in collaboration with related organizations in the Busan area. Additionally, from last month to July, KSD has been providing job training programs related to the company’s work to university students in Busan, contributing to the development of local talent.

For social contribution, KSD is conducting activities such as briquette sharing sponsorship, delivering support goods to traditional markets, establishing a joint social contribution fund with relocated public institutions, creating school meditation forests, and sponsoring film festivals.

KSD explained, "Regarding 'Regional coexistence such as revitalization of innovation cities,' the mid- to long-term tasks to be carried out from next year include operating the KSD Open Campus, managing the Busan social economy support fund, and supporting jobs for vulnerable groups in the local community."

'Leading the Korean New Deal in public institutions' aims to implement government innovation policies by discovering various innovative services and high value-added data to improve work quality and accelerate the cultivation of innovative talent. Business analysis and model design for proof of concept of distributed ledger infrastructure are underway. Outsourcing for proof of concept and project execution will be promoted until October.

The methodology for deriving and analyzing high value-added data will also be established within this year. This is expected to form the foundation for building an analysis platform for the continuous use of advanced information. KSD stated, "Next year, we plan to build a distributed ledger-based issuance and distribution platform and, in the mid- to long-term, promote integration and advancement of the data analysis platform."

'Expanding open access to owned data (supporting private sector use of big data)' means supporting the fintech ecosystem through government digital financial innovation and preparing for the transition to a digital economy. To this end, KSD plans to expand the service of the integrated information system for securitized bonds by December. Support for innovation growth policies through expanded opening of financial public data will also be carried out within this year. This is expected to create a foundation for the growth of the fintech ecosystem that can contribute to private startups and job creation and provide new value to the public’s lives.

Accordingly, next year, KSD plans to promote quality enhancement management following public data opening and accelerate the construction of a big data-based smart securities information portal starting in 2023.

'Building an innovative company support platform (Venture Net)' is a platform established to support customized securities administration for unlisted innovative companies and automate back-office operations for participants in the venture investment market. Approximately 325 new programs have been implemented, and after integrated participant testing and data conversion, the system is scheduled to be finally opened in October. By the end of the year, KSD plans to prepare policies to activate the Venture Net work system and services. KSD explained, "We will improve functions and strengthen services of Venture Net until next year and plan to expand the service scope from 2023," adding, "We will do our best to upgrade the system and stabilize new service operations thereafter."