Digital Platform Government Facing Challenges Even Before Launch ②
From the left, Moon Hyung-nam, Professor at Sookmyung Women's University Graduate School of Business Administration; Lee Seong-yeop, Professor at Korea University Graduate School of Technology Management; Lee Sang-yong, CEO of DataStreams.
[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] One of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's key pledges, the 'Digital Platform Government,' is facing criticism for lacking distinctiveness and practicality even before serious discussions begin. Experts have called for a comprehensive review of the pledge, focusing on expanding private sector cooperation.
The Digital Platform Government, which aims to unify government services used by the public, has been pointed out to have little difference from the current administration's 'Government 3.0.' Moon Hyung-nam, professor at Sookmyung Women's University Graduate School of Business (CEO of Web Development Institute), said, "There is concern about budget waste due to overlapping investments just because the name 'platform' is attached."
Lee Sang-yang, CEO of Datastreams, stated, "Different ministries and local governments express the same data differently, making data integration itself difficult." The analysis suggests that the initiative remains at the level of an expanded version of 'Government 3.0,' and due to various legislative amendments required for data integration and practical technical issues, it will be difficult to realize the pledge within President Yoon's term.
Professor Lee Sung-yeop of Korea University Graduate School of Technology Management advised that while administrative agencies should operate government data, data analysis and integration should rely on private sector companies.
Professor Lee said, "Just as Naver and Kakao handled the vaccine reservation system, highly skilled private companies should take charge of data combination and analysis, and the government should utilize this, which will enable the next administration to provide the desired services." He also added, "The current government has prepared a mechanism to prioritize the use of private clouds through the third cloud plan last year, and this should be well utilized."
There were also criticisms about the absolute shortage of organizations, authority, and experts with top technical skills. CEO Lee Sang-yang said, "An organization that can oversee the entire nation should be established under the Presidential Office or Prime Minister's Office and be given authority," adding, "This control tower should be composed of actual data and server experts from the market." There was also an opinion that a longer-term perspective is needed to prepare for the next generation.
Professor Moon advised, "The next step after e-government and mobile government should not be a digital government but a metaverse (extended virtual world) government," and added, "Seoul City announced a five-year plan for a metaverse platform, and expanding this through collaboration among local governments seems appropriate."
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