"Strengthening Development and Utilization of Data Protection Technologies" Ministry of Science and ICT Announces 'Core Data Protection Technology Development Strategy'

Focused Investment on Core Data Protection Technologies such as De-identification, Homomorphic Encryption, and Differential Privacy
Strengthening Use of Data Protection Technologies in National Statistical Systems, Healthcare, Logistics, and Distribution
Enhancing Professional Workforce Training with Two Newly Designated Specialized 'Information Security Universities'

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The government is taking steps to secure data protection technologies to activate data utilization and transition to a safe data economy.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced the "Core Technology Development Strategy for Data Protection" at the 7th meeting of the Data Special Committee under the Presidential 4th Industrial Revolution Committee held on the 18th.

To secure international-level competitiveness in data protection technology, the government will focus on acquiring common foundational technologies to strengthen data protection and utilization. To this end, it will advance privacy-enhancing technologies (PET) that mask sensitive information within data. The development of de-identification technologies that automatically pseudonymize and anonymize sensitive information in various data types such as video and audio will be expanded, and new investments will be made in differential privacy technologies to prevent inference-based identification of sensitive information from publicly available data.

It will also secure cryptographic source technologies to safely protect important data through encryption. Investment will be expanded in newly emerging data protection technologies such as homomorphic encryption, which allows data analysis and computation in an encrypted state, and quantum-resistant cryptography, which is difficult to hack even with attacks using quantum computers.

Alongside this, efforts will be made to prevent leakage of sensitive information during data processing, utilization, and in converged services. First, the development of data protection technologies using artificial intelligence (AI) and data rights protection technologies to ensure trust in data distribution processes will be expanded. Using AI technology, the government will pursue securing synthetic data generation technologies that follow the statistical characteristics of original data without privacy leakage concerns, and develop technologies such as blockchain and data sovereignty protection to guarantee data trust and data owners' rights, applying them in data distribution processes. Additionally, support will be provided for the development of data security technologies for converged industries to safely manage and utilize personal information and medical information generated in converged service environments such as smart cities and digital healthcare.

Support for market adoption will also be strengthened by proactively applying the results of data protection technology development to various pilot projects and government systems. First, in pilot projects utilizing data in fields such as healthcare, transportation, and logistics, data protection technologies such as de-identification and blockchain will be proactively applied, and security evaluation criteria will include whether core data protection technologies are applied. Furthermore, in cooperation with Statistics Korea, new data protection technologies will be actively applied to the "K-Statistics System," which links and utilizes data scattered across government and public institutions, to strengthen the utilization of public data.

Finally, to establish a sustainable growth foundation for data protection technologies, the government will cultivate specialized data protection personnel. It plans to newly designate two "Information Security Specialized Universities" (each training about 30 students) focused on nurturing talent in data protection technologies, and expand education courses related to data protection technologies within information security training programs for job seekers.

Moreover, support and public-private cooperation will be expanded to facilitate easy application of data protection technologies in the private sector. Guidelines presenting appropriate levels of protection and utilization will be prepared and distributed to enable new data protection technologies to be easily applied in the market. Through consultative bodies composed of public institutions and private companies, demand-driven R&D task discovery will be continuously expanded, and demonstration and pilot projects will be supported after technology development to shorten the time for technology development outcomes to be applied in the market.

Cho Kyung-sik, Vice Minister of MSIT, stated, "A safe environment free from concerns such as personal information leakage is important to promote data utilization," adding, "We will create a safe data usage environment through data protection technologies and preserve the economic value of data to support the growth of new data industries."