[Hwon-Young Kwon's Data Innovation] Data National Strategy for the Next 100 Years

Catching Up with the US and Leading the 3rd Industrial Revolution: Korea's Challenges

The Arrival of a New Data-Centric World
National Data Strategy Is the Historic Mission of the Next President

Must Process Data with National Competitiveness in AI and Applied Technologies
Reconstruct Social Infrastructure Like Cities, Electricity, Roads, and Railways Around Data

"Industrialization was late, but let's lead in informatization." This was the slogan during the Kim Dae-jung administration. It was also a slogan that revived the Korean economy, which had fallen into a quagmire to the extent of needing a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), through the information technology industry. The IT industry boom that continued through the progressive governments of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun was, for the most part, successful. It is a fact that Korea became an advanced country, achieving the world's first commercialization of 5G, ranking first in the UN e-government evaluation for six consecutive years, first in the OECD data evaluation, and becoming an invited country to the G7 summit. All of this was thanks to the success of the Third Industrial Revolution. The Third Industrial Revolution refers to the mobile revolution symbolized by the internet and mobile phones. It was a result of diligently following American technology and policies and implementing them even faster than the United States.

The insight of the Park Chung-hee regime is hidden in the secret of this success. "National modernization" started with the "Five-Year Economic Development Plan." This model was based on the strong leadership of the Economic Planning Board established in 1961. In the same spirit, the Ministry of Communications was reorganized into the Ministry of Information and Communication in 1994, and the Informatization Planning Office was established in 1996, establishing a model of the "Planning Office for Informatization." A five-year plan called the "Basic Plan for Promoting Informatization" was promoted, modeled after the "Five-Year Economic Development Plan."

The subsequent "Cyber Korea," "e-Korea," and "U-Korea" series all correspond to this "Basic Plan for Promoting Informatization." When these policies were promoted, the Clinton administration was referenced. Korea applied the U.S. strategy to secure global digital economic leadership through the internet as its own policy. The results were astonishing. Korea connected households nationwide with ultra-high-speed optical networks faster than the United States, which had initially set the national strategy. From then on, presidents of American computer and internet companies began visiting the Korean president.

The world began to be amazed by Korea's number one status, like the hare in the "Tortoise and the Hare." Meanwhile, traditional manufacturing powerhouses such as Germany and Japan, as well as traditional advanced countries like the United Kingdom and various European nations, started to catch up and ride the wave of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution." This new world goes beyond the popularization of mobile phones, connecting even objects to the internet and analyzing the data obtained there with artificial intelligence. Manufacturing advanced countries call this phenomenon the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" as a continuation of the industrial revolution, but fundamentally, it can be called a "digital transformation." It means that data, not hardware of communication and information systems, has become central.

Korea is also taking the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" as a presidential task and attempting a qualitative transformation through "data," but there is still a long way to go to secure competitiveness. Winning is not a game that can be won by just a few successful startups. Changing the name of e-government to digital government and letting citizens handle national affairs via smartphones is not enough. Korea is not the only country in a hurry. The United Kingdom established a national data strategy in 2020, and Japan newly established a Digital Agency this year. Countries like the United States, Australia, and Singapore, which have realized this, have also accelerated their steps. Looking at various countries' data strategies, one can feel an obsession with securing growth leadership in the digital economy. These strategies include technological and social innovation, government service reform, data-driven policies, and strengthening citizens' capabilities.

Korea's government data strategy is being reviewed by the Data Special Committee under the Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee at the end of the Moon Jae-in administration. A vision from countries that have succeeded in digital transformation must emerge. Only then can those who take office in the next government concretize this strategy as a historical mission. So, what should this vision include? First, it must include ways to secure global superiority based on technology and data. A strategy is needed to have national competitiveness in both foundational technologies like artificial intelligence and applied technologies in data collection and processing. The data infrastructure must be fundamentally reconstructed, including building social overhead capital data networks such as electricity, roads, railways, cities, and construction. The future is bleak if we remain stuck in the people-centered Third Industrial Revolution.

Second, people must be transformed into talents suitable for the digital age. An educational innovation strategy is essential for this. Existing curricula must be completely restructured, and national strategy should be to implement convergence education including digital technology, data capabilities, communication, and leadership. Teaching just some coding as a show is not acceptable. Third, a movement to change perceptions is needed so that social and government innovation continues. There is no reason to refuse even a "Digital Saemaul Movement."

Finally, the national data strategy must be established based on national consensus and leadership. The atmosphere for next year's presidential election is heating up. Interest in the national data strategy is the historical mission of the next president. We must not repeat the mistake of missing the modernization opportunity during the Imjin War or the industrialization opportunity at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, which plunged Koreans' lives into suffering. The time has come to carefully select a leader who will lead the "Korea Data Strategy," which will lay the foundation for a leap forward during the transformative period of digital transformation.