All Administrative and Public Institution Information Systems to Transition to the Cloud by 2025

Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Plan to Transition and Integrate Administrative and Public Institution Information Resources into the Cloud

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government plans to transition all information systems of administrative and public institutions to a cloud-based integrated management and operation environment by 2025.

On the 26th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the "Plan for Cloud Transition and Integration of Information Resources in Administrative and Public Institutions," stating that over the next five years starting this year, all 10,009 information systems operated by administrative and public institutions will be fully transitioned and integrated into the cloud.

This plan includes detailed implementation measures to achieve "100% cloud transition rate for administrative and public institutions by 2025," which was unveiled at the 4th Electronic Government Day ceremony last June as part of the "Second Basic Plan for Electronic Government," itself a component of last year's announced "Digital Government Innovation Development Plan for the Post-COVID Era" and the "Korean New Deal Comprehensive Plan."

Currently, about 83% of information systems in administrative and public institutions are operated individually by each institution, with most being small-scale, lacking adequate facilities and dedicated personnel, making them vulnerable to security risks. Additionally, over 50% of information resources such as servers and storage that make up public sector information systems have exceeded their service life (over six years), leading to decreased operational efficiency and difficulties in providing stable services to the public.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to first strengthen security and stability and enhance technological capabilities by utilizing specialized public and private cloud centers. The public cloud centers designated by the Minister of the Interior and Safety will operate information systems handling national security, investigation and trials, and internal administrative tasks according to the "Standards for Integration of Information Resources of Administrative and Public Institutions." Accordingly, by 2025, nearly half (46%) of public sector information systems are expected to use private cloud services.

The Ministry plans to invest 860 billion KRW by 2025, supporting transition costs until 2022 and subsidizing usage fees for the first year after cloud transition to ensure a swift and secure migration.

Furthermore, to respond quickly to rapidly changing digital demands, when transitioning public sector cloud systems, if public business systems can be replaced with Software as a Service (SaaS), private cloud SaaS services will be prioritized. Utilizing already verified private cloud SaaS services allows immediate service use and requires only usage fees instead of construction and maintenance costs, resulting in budget savings compared to transitioning or newly developing business systems commonly operated by multiple institutions on the cloud.

Accordingly, in June, the Ministry selected 109 services from 87 institutions as eligible for usage fee support to promote early adoption of private cloud SaaS, with usage beginning sequentially from this month.

A Ministry official explained, "Currently, only 23 private cloud SaaS services are available for public use. To address this, the Ministry plans to select and support the development of business functions that can be jointly utilized based on public demand, proactively expanding private cloud SaaS services available in the public sector. Through this, the number of private cloud SaaS services obtaining security certification will increase, public sector usage will expand, and the competitiveness of the domestic software industry is expected to be strengthened."

Meanwhile, systems of central government ministries will be prioritized for cloud transition and integration at the National Information Resources Service centers in Daejeon and Gwangju, designated in March, and public institution systems will be transitioned at the Daegu center, opening in 2022. Systems of local governments can transition to the cloud through various methods considering regional characteristics, financial conditions, and informatization capabilities, such as building their own cloud centers, utilizing the Korea Local Information Development Institute (KLID), or through public-private cooperation.

Minister Jeon Hae-cheol stated, "Through the full transition of the public sector to the cloud, we will establish a foundation for providing trustworthy public services to citizens and actively utilize private clouds for the growth of related industries," and requested that the private sector also consider efforts and development plans to stably provide high-quality cloud services.