The Ministry of Science and ICT (“MSIT”; Minister Lim Hyesook), jointly with relevant ministries, briefed the public on the outcomes and the major achievements of the Digital New Deal from the past one year of its implementation, and announced the way forward for Digital New Deal 2.0, laying out the key policy directions.

The Ministry virtually held a Public Briefing Session on the Digital New Deal, participated by relevant institutions and businesses, and celebrated the economic and societal changes brought by the initiative.

The Digital New Deal, that was first launched on July 14, 2020, is a national innovation project to overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and to accelerate digital transformation in order to boost the country’s national and industrial competitiveness.

A summary of the outcomes and achievements of the Digital New Deal for the past one year is as follows.

[1] (Revitalize the private sector) The major projects of the Digital New Deal implemented by the government (2020-2021) was participated by more than 170,000 businesses and institutions of all sizes, revolving around private businesses, and joined by public institutions, local governments, medical institutions, and research institutions.

In particular, a majority of the participating businesses were SMEs and startups (163,000 SMEs and start-ups, making up 95.3% of the total), which demonstrates that the Digital New Deal contributed to revitalize domestic economy that had been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[2] (Significant public participation) The Digital New Deal helped tackle the employment crisis by having approximately 90,000 people participate in its flagship projects, such as Data dam project (participated by approximately 50,000 people), Internships for young people to build public database (participated by approximately 15,000 people), and Operation of Digital Learning Centers (participated by approximately 8,000 people).

[Real-life examples] Creation of digital-sector jobs for all Koreans

· (Young people) Mr. A, a university student, who was forced to quit his part-time job due to a sudden illness, was able to make a living and earned enough money for his treatment by participating in an data compilation project for AI machine learning. · (Career interrupted women) Ms. B, who put her career on hold for several years as she gave birth to her child, re-entered the job market by participating as a “Digital Learning Center Supporter” to educate people on how to use mobile devices and kiosks.

[3] (Growth of emerging industries and markets) The Data Dam project is one of the flagship projects of the Digital New Deal initiative. It led to collection of substantial amounts of data, and it also provided support to businesses and all sectors of society so that they could better utilize data and advanced AI.

As existing SW and SI businesses started to actively participate in Data Dam project, the number of businesses providing data services increased by 2.9 times (from 393 in 2019→ to 1,126 in 2021), and the number of businesses providing AI-based services increased by 4.5 times (from 220 in 2019→ to 991 in 2021).
※ The number of businesses participating in Data and AI voucher program to provide their services (2019-2021)
- The number of businesses providing AI-based service in 2019 is based on a survey on SMEs and start-ups (as of December 2019)

The domestic data market saw a 14.3% year-over-year growth^1」, with the collection, release and use of more than 1 billion pieces, or 4300 types^2」 of data from diverse sectors, including finance, transport, culture and healthcare.
1」 KRW 16.9 trillion (2019) → KRW 19.3 trillion (2020), 14.3% year-over-year growth
2」 Big data platform (4,036 types), AI training data (48 million pieces), public data (105,000 pieces)

[4] (Digitalization of businesses) Vouchers have been provided to 127,000 SMEs so that they can smoothly adapt to the contactless environment and innovate their businesses through data and AI.

As 12,000 out of the 12,7000 companies (94.6%) are non-ICT companies, the voucher support is spurring digitalization among businesses and growth of service providers.

Moreover, the government has partnered with the industry to identify and address* 70 common issues faced by the 10 major industries (e.g. steel, automobile), facilitating sector-specific digitalization.
* Partnership center for supporting private firms, Digitalization Industry Innovation Fund (worth KRW 100 billion), etc.

About 8,000 factories and 4,000 micro-businesses have adopted smart technologies, and the impact of digitalization, such as increased productivity, is becoming visible.
* Companies that rolled out smart factories saw 28.5% growth in productivity, 42.5% growth in quality and 15.5% reduction in production costs.

[5] (Development and spread of technologies) Through R&D programs, 787 future-leading key technologies, such as AI, Processing in Memory (PIM) and immersive content, have been developed, while 167 cases of technological transfer and 407 granted patents were acquired.
* AI, PIM, immersive content, autonomous vehicle, micro medical robot, contactless business technology

To facilitate the adoption of these technologies in the field, 177 technologies, including autonomous vehicles and XR, have been piloted^1」, and 89 digital products and services^2」, including AI precision medicine software (Doctor Answer, 21 types) and robot caregivers (4 types) have been developed and are in use.
1」 5G MEC, XR, autonomous vehicle, smart construction, high-tech agricultural machinery, etc.
2」 Cloud services for logistics and education, etc.

[6] (Global Index) Thanks to the innovation efforts made by the public and the private sectors, Korea's rankings in global index of digital readiness have gone up significantly.

Korea ranked 8th in IMD's 2020 World Digital Competitiveness (10th in 2019 → 8th in 2020) and rose 19 places to 7th in Oxford Insight's Government AI Readiness Index 2020 (26th in 2019 → 7th in 2020)

Moreover, thanks to the government's efforts such as the K-Cybersecurity Promotion Strategy, Korea ranked 4th in ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) (15th in 2019 → 4th in 2021), achieving the Digital New Deal’s goal of ranking 5th in the GCI by 2025.

[7] (Public service) Diverse digital services have been developed and deployed so as to improve people’s access to public services and share more digital benefits in different areas of society, including education, culture and social welfare.

A total of 424 public digital services, such as Virtual Assistant Service for the Public (19 types) and Subsidy24 (300+ types), have been provided, and more than 2.2 million people were able to enjoy digital services such as K-MOOC (800,000 people), travel forecast service (130,000 people), VR sports rooms (100,000 people) and mobile healthcare service (35,000 people).

[8] (Digital SOC) Digital infrastructure is being established to ensure safety and convenience in people’s lives and support digital innovation in industry.

High-performance WiFi has been installed in 310,000 K-12 classrooms, and Smart City Platforms, which link smart flood management (807 centers), disaster early warning system (170 centers) and local CCTV cameras with the National Police Agency and the National Fire Agency, have been installed in 108 local governments to ensure safety in people’s lives.

National territory infrastructure, including nationwide 3-dimensional precision map (36,000km2) and Underground Geospatial Information Map (52 businesses), has been established, and the establishment of seven smart green industrial complexes, two smart common logistics centers and four smart farm innovation valleys are under way to promote digital innovation of industry, logistics and agriculture.

[9] (Digital Inclusion) To share digital benefits without leaving anyone behind, policies for improving digital access have been implemented.

The government contributed to closing the digital gap for more than 600,000 people through support programs such as digital capacity building training courses at more than 1,000 digital learning centers across the country (480,000 people), telecommunications network advancement in rural and coastal areas (58,000 households), free WiFi in public spaces such as bus stops (10,000 added; 18,000 in 2019 → 28,000 in 2020), MyPCCare (58,000 people).

[10] (Innovative Talent) Innovation Education Infrastructure has been established to help businesses secure digital talent and nurture young talent into the driving force of the digital future.

Innovation Education Infrastructure has been expanded and 30,000 key digital talent* have been nurtured. Ten AI graduate schools and 41 software-centered colleges have been established to nurture AI talent with master's and doctoral degrees, Innovation Squares have been established in five regions to provide AI training in partnership with local technology companies, and Innovation Academy has been built to offer innovative software training.
* Key talent for AI and software: 14,000 in 2020 → 16,000 in 2021

The Korean government announced the Korean New Deal 2.0 at the Fourth Korean New Deal Strategy Meeting held on July 14.

The Digital New Deal 2.0, under the Korean New Deal 2.0, will be expanded nationwide and across industry based on the progress so far, and will be implemented in three directions, focusing on new industries of the future that will lead global markets.

[1] Strengthen “private sector-led utilization” based on digital infrastructure

Actively use digital infrastructure including data dam and 5G expressway in various private sector areas and provide multi-faceted support for creating industry ecosystem in order to facilitate private sector-led innovation such as proactive use of private cloud in the public sector

[2] Spread the digital outcomes of priority projects to all regions and industries

Implement large-scale projects which reflect regional and industrial characteristics, so that tangible outcomes from 5G and AI projects can be distributed, and promote convergence with key technologies including digital twin and other industries

[3] Support global expansion and nurture emerging industries along with boosting domestic demand

Ensure digital innovation technologies and services secured by Korean businesses to go global and nurture hyper-connected and immersive emerging industries which will lead the digital future

The policy direction in each key sector is as follows.

➊ (Data) Data dam will continue to be constructed in the future. The data will be integrated with de-identified data for the accumulated data to be used in all industries and utilization in the private sector will be facilitated through data use contests.
* Create 1,300 types of data for training AI by 2025, and establish 31 big data platforms

➋ (Network) Preemptively deploy 5G dedicated network to key services having high industrial and social ripple effects, so that 5G dedicated network can be used in overall industries, and support global expansion of 5G businesses. By the year’s end, system will be overhauled for facilitating the construction of 5G dedicated network and spectrum will be allocated.

- Policy will be made specific through the “5G convergence service promotion strategy (tentative name)” to be announced in the second half of this year.

➌ (AI) Large-scale projects focused on regional hubs will be planned and implemented for AI use to be spread to overall industries and regions.

- In July this year, “AI expansion plan by regional hubs” will be finalized and announced in an attempt to support AI-based digital innovation in each region by reflecting strengths and characteristics.

➍ (Smart healthcare) Advancement of services including “smart hospitals and AI precision healthcare (Dr. Answer)“ will be accelerated and best practices will be applied to regional hospitals across the nation and global expansion will be supported.

- “Precision healthcare software promotion plan (tentative name)” will be formulated and announced this year to distribute precision healthcare software to society and nurture relevant industries.

➎ (Metaverse) Open metaverse platform will be established for various businesses to accumulate and utilize data, and new contents and services will be developed. The platform provides comprehensive support for producing metaverse contents and developing key technologies.

- With the Metaverse Alliance playing a central role, which consists of 181 businesses and agencies from supply and demand businesses, telecom operators and media industry, a metaverse ecosystem will be created, with the private sector taking initiative and the government providing support.

➏ (Cloud) Prioritize on deploying cloud solutions in public sector for the sector to be digitally competitive and contribute to the development of domestic cloud industry (-2025), and support cloud deployment in competitive software services

- Based on the third framework plan for cloud computing development to be announced in the future, the competitiveness of domestic cloud industry will be enhanced and detailed policy measures will be implemented to create cloud industry ecosystem.

➐ (Digital twin) The use of digital twin will be expanded to resolve complex and various social issues and innovate industries. Digital twin can be applied to increase safety of manufacturing sites and key technologies will be developed to link digital twins in each stage.

- In addition, “digital twin industry promotion strategy (tentative name)” will be announced, which includes the establishment of digital twin utilization infrastructure and creation of industry ecosystem in the second half of this year.

➑ (Blockchain and IoT) Large-scale project will be implemented to apply blockchain and intelligent IoT technology to overall industries. Support for SMEs and start-ups will be strengthened such as establishing demonstration environment and providing technical assistance.

➒ (Develop core technologies) From 2022, large funding will be injected into key technologies which will lead digital future, including PIM (Integration of memory with processor) AI semiconductors, original technology for AI, and 6G mobile communication.

Minister Lim Hyesook of Science and ICT said, "Relevant ministries will work together to establish digital new deal 2.0, which evolves continuously."

"We will use various channels to collaborate and communicate with the private sector. Specific implementation plans of digital new deal 2.0 will be announced and carried out to create innovative changes that can be felt by the public."

For further information, please contact Deputy Director Na Sang-min (E-mail : nsm0137@korea.kr) of the Ministry of Science and ICT.