'Private Investment' SW Projects, ISP Exemption Proposed…Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance "Revitalizing Domestic SW Market"

Ando-geol, 2nd Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] The government is pursuing a plan to exempt the establishment of Information Strategy Plans (ISP) for domestic software (SW) projects with more than 50% private funding.

On the 6th, Ando-geol, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, held a policy meeting on the theme of "Revitalizing the Domestic SW Industry" at the Korea Intelligent Information Society Agency in Jung-gu, Seoul, to discuss related industry revitalization measures.

The private investment-type SW project is a system that allows private investment in public sector SW development projects, which were previously funded entirely by the national treasury. The private sector invests in system construction costs, acquires operational rights during the contract period, while the public sector shares system operation and maintenance costs and supports the private sector's initial investment in installments as rent. However, since its introduction in 2020, no actual cases have been implemented, so additional institutional support is needed to revitalize it.

In principle, projects with "national funding of 30 billion KRW or more and total project costs of 50 billion KRW or more" must undergo preliminary feasibility studies. For others, improvements are derived through external environmental analysis and internal status analysis, and an ISP containing an information system construction plan is established accordingly.

However, since private sector-proposed projects already prepare more detailed business plans than ISPs, the government plans to exempt the ISP to prevent duplication of similar procedures and enable rapid project implementation. In this regard, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance plans to revise the "Detailed Guidelines for Budget and Fund Operation Plan Preparation" in May.

Additionally, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to designate the Korea Intelligent Information Society Agency as a specialized institution to review project feasibility and scale appropriateness and amend related laws.

Vice Minister Ando said, "With the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, global competition in the SW market is accelerating, making the revitalization of the domestic SW market very important for creating future growth engines." He emphasized, "Especially since the domestic SW market is still focused on service construction, the public sector's role in promoting commercial SW is more important than ever." He added, "We will actively support discovering successful cases of private investment-type SW projects," and "In the short term, this will help alleviate fiscal burdens and enable the rapid implementation of systems requiring large budgets."