Praised for Breaking Down Silos, Public Perception, and Innovative Cases
Expansion of Integrated Care and Public Nighttime Children's Hospital Nationwide
Gwangju City received the Presidential Award last year in the "Government Innovation Championship" hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Photo by Gwangju City
Gwangju City announced on the 26th that it has been selected as an outstanding institution in the "2024 Local Government Innovation Evaluation" hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
In this evaluation, the city received high marks in six indicators: ▲improvement of resident services and addressing administrative blind spots ▲breaking down silos and cooperation ▲institutional flagship tasks ▲public perception ▲dissemination of excellent innovation cases (extra points), among others.
Since the 8th popularly elected administration, the city has implemented administrative innovation with the slogan "Now, It Works" as its goal, earning recognition for driving visible and tangible changes and achievements. Notable examples include "policy-themed work reports" that break down barriers between departments, diversified communication channels such as "Policy Picnic" and the online citizen plaza "Gwangju ON," which reflect citizens' opinions in policymaking, and the "Policy Evaluation Expo," where citizens participate from policy selection to evaluation.
"Gwangju-daum Integrated Care" was recognized for transforming the application-based selective care system into a universal integrated care system, thereby improving resident services and addressing administrative blind spots through social relationship care, and received the Presidential Award at the "Government Innovation King of Kings Contest" hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
The nation's first 24-hour "Public Nighttime Children's Hospital" served over 35,000 visitors last year, and was recognized as an innovative pediatric and adolescent healthcare policy that helped resolve the "open run" phenomenon at children's hospitals. As a result, it was awarded the Presidential Medal and selected as Gwangju's top star policy by the Ministry of Personnel Management and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in the 2024 Active Administration Merit Awards.
The "New Vitality Administrative Council" for one-stop administrative processing of complex shopping malls received high marks for conducting rapid, fair, and transparent administrative procedures?such as preliminary urban planning negotiations, district unit planning, and building permits?as well as for listening to citizen opinions.
Four initiatives?Gwangju-daum Integrated Care, the 24-hour Public Nighttime Children's Hospital, the 10 a.m. start for elementary school parents, and the Youth Dream Bank?are being benchmarked by other local governments and are spreading nationwide.
Mayor Kang Gijung stated, "Being selected as an outstanding institution in this local government innovation evaluation is the result of all public officials prioritizing citizen happiness and promoting innovative ideas and proactive administration. We will continue to pursue various policies and implement governance together with citizens to enhance Gwangju's development?Korea's pride and engine of vitality?and improve the quality of life for our citizens."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
