■ Event: 2022 2nd Conference on Digital Transformation Megatrends

■ Date: December 8, 2022(Thursday), 10:00∼17:00

■ Venue: Main Conference Room, Post Tower

On December 8 (Thursday), KISDI (President Kwon Ho-yeol) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho) jointly hosted the 2nd Conference on Digital Transformation Megatrends in the main conference room of the Post Tower.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Science and ICT and KISDI jointly developed the agenda for implementing the 'Digital Co-prosperity Society’– a blueprint for digital transformation in the future that was chosen by members of the public last year as part of a megatrend study. The two organizations also developed various strategies which the country should pursue in four main areas, namely, technology and R&D, economy and industry, public services and systems, and society and environment.

The research on digital transformation megatrends was carried out in the form of joint research projects involving the Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences (KICS), the Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers (KIISE), the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers (IEIE), the Korea Association for Telecommunications Policies (KRATP), the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration (KASBA), the Korean Association for Public Administration (KPAR), the Korean Political Science Association (KPSA), the Korean Association for Policy Studies (KAPS), the Korean Sociological Association (KSA), and the Korean Environment Policy Association (KEPAS).

In session 1, Senior Research Fellow Lee Ho-yeong, the head of KISDI’s Digital Economy & Society Research Division, gave the main presentation on ‘The Road to a Digitally Co-prosperous Society’. During the presentation, Lee proposed ten items of agenda related to the digital co-prosperity society and seven execution strategies derived from the following areas: the innovation ecosystem, technology, human talents, labor, environment, city/space, welfare, government, digital democracy, and global co-prosperity governance.

As the leader of the research, Lee emphasized that, historically speaking, new models of society have often emerged during times of crisis, such as wars, pandemics and other national emergencies, and stressed that today is the perfect time to make the shift to a digitally co-prosperous society. In particular, he noted that Big Tech’s socio-economic domination of digital spaces is increasing all the time, while new social threats such as pandemics are affecting our daily lives, concluding that in the event of a digital transformation, the role of government should be to invest in innovations and provide a safety net that protects the prosperity of all citizens. He suggested ‘fair transformation’, ‘responsible innovation’, and ‘just execution’ as the three pillars of the policy that the government would need to adopt in order to complete a successful transformation into a digitally co-prosperous society.

According to a general public survey (2,031 persons between the ages of 20 and 60 selected by region, gender, and age) conducted by KISDI in November 2022, South Koreans picked the following factors that they felt should be prioritized in the event of digital transformation: equality of opportunity (57.6%) over equality of results (24.6%), and respect for rules (29.9%) over respect for creativity (48.8%). However, when asked to choose between a focus on growth and a focus on distribution, the responses were divided fairly evenly at 39.4% and 35.8%, respectively. On most of the questions requiring them to choose between communitarian values or liberal values, the respondents generally revealed a significantly greater preference for liberal values over communitarian values, except for the questions on welfare and livelihood. Regarding the latter questions, the number of respondents who chose ‘government must bear more responsibility’ (46.0%) exceeded those who opted for ‘the individual must bear more responsibility’ (39.6%). This trend was clearly distinguishable among those with low levels of education and low incomes (See the attachment).

Senior Research Fellow Lee emphasized that the acceptance of digital transformation may vary from person to person, depending on one’s socio-economic position and digital preparedness. For this reason, the costs of digital transformation must be shared between the government, society, and businesses, rather than leaving individuals to fend for themselves in this new era of endless competition. He added that to provide a soft landing for digital transformation, the government must build a foundation for cultivating innovation and creativity using a digital social security system.

In session 2, presentations were given and debates held on the topic of ‘Digital Transformation as a Driver of Innovation and Change’.

Professor Kim Do-hoon of KRATP gave the first presentation, titled ‘An Analysis of the Economic Effects of Digital Megatrends and an Exploration of the Response Strategies: with the Focus on Twin Transformation’, in which he linked digital transformation with digital ESG and proposed new roles and tasks for the TMT (Technology, Media, Telecom) sector that would contribute to a successful digital transformation.

Professor Hong In-ki of KICS gave the next presentation, titled 'Convergence of Virtual and Real Worlds and Hyper-connected Technologies in the Era of Digital Transformation’, and discussed hyper-connected technologies that enable convergence of the virtual and real worlds. He described the main developmental direction of 5G+/6G mobile communications, bi-directional Internet, cloud, satellite communication, and urban air mobility (UAM)/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies, and then explored the technological conditions that would be required in a hyper-connected society to bring about digital co-prosperity.

Next, Professor Kang Jeong-han of KSA gave a presentation on ‘Changes in Labor and the Quality of Life Resulting from Digital Transformation’. He examined societal changes with a focus on threats and opportunities (in platform labor and quality of life), and discussed effective social policies for achieving co-prosperity. In particular, he suggested that social systems must guarantee a stable source of income even during times of labor deskilling and growing uncertainties in laborers’ allegiances.

As the last speaker of Session 2, Professor Moon Myung-jae of KAPS gave a presentation titled ‘On the Construction and Operation of a Human-AI Cooperation Based Intelligent Government’ in which he envisioned what human-AI cooperation-based intelligent government might look like and talked about how the next-generation intelligent government should be constructed and operated.

The wrap-up debate was presided over by Professor Lee Kyung-won (Vice President of KATP, Department of Economics, Donguk University) and attended by the heads of the academic associations participating in the debate. The participants included Professor Lee Hee-jeong (Head of the Korea Association for Telecommunications Policies, Korea University Law School), Professor Shin Yo-han (Head of KICS, School of Electronic Engineering, Soongsil University), Professor Han Joon (Head of the KSA, Department of Sociology, Yonsei University), and Professor Nah Tae-joon (Head of KAPS, Department of Public Policy, Yonsei University).

The general theme of session 3 (afternoon schedule) revolved around the ‘The Vision for a Sustainable Digital Economy‘. The presentations given in this session included ‘Strengthening the Competitiveness of South Korea’s Digital Transformation Industry based on the Design and Development of a Sustainable Ecosystem’, ‘Cyber Threat Intelligence-based Next-Generation Security Technology’, and ‘A Strategy for Developing ICT and Semiconductor Technologies and Training Manpower in the Era of Digital Transformation’.

The first presentation of the third session was given by Professor Kim Yeon-seong of KASBA, who spoke about the need to improve industry competitiveness at this strategic turning point, known as “digital transformation”, introduced a new design for the digital ecosystem, and proposed the construction of a digital transformation platform to make this ecosystem sustainable.

In the next presentation, Professor Hong Ji-man of KIISE explained that domestic cybersecurity solutions are difficult to integrate because development efforts are overly dispersed and fragmented among diverse companies, making it difficult to respond to the emergence of new technologies and changes in the security environment. He then discussed the most desirable direction of development for cybersecurity technologies in order to ensure a sustainable digital transformation and the development of a reliable digital platform.

In the third presentation of Session 3, Professor Kim Hoon of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers analyzed the threat factors in key sectors that are accelerating the digital transformation, with particular reference to AI, data, the metaverse, autonomous driving, and semiconductors. He then presented his ideas on how such technologies should be developed and how human resources should be trained in the mid-to-long-term perspective within a future industrial environment undergoing great changes. In particular, he touched on factors that could constrain digital co-prosperity, for example, the monopolization of digital resources and how gaps in access to these resources could weaken the foundations of collaborative ecosystems, and proposed a series of measures for overcoming such constraints.

The wrap-up debate was moderated by Professor Kim Jae-goo (Future Head of KASBA, College of Business Administration, Myongji University), and featured a panel composed of Professor Han Sang-man (Head of KASBA, College of Business Administration, Sungkyunkwan University), Professor Shim Gyu-seok (Head of KIISE, Department of Electrical Engineering, Seoul National University), and Professor Suh Seung-woo (Head of Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers, Department of Electrical Engineering, Seoul National University).

The last session was held on the theme ‘Moving Towards a Digital Society of Solidarity and Inclusion’ and featured presentations and discussions on the following topics: ‘Building a Virtuous Cycle of Political Processes in the Digital Transformation Era’, ‘The New Digital Divide and the Role of Government in the Digital Transformation Era’, and ‘Strategies for Promoting the Co-existence of Digital Transformation and Green Transformation to Realize Carbon Neutrality’.

Professor Jang Woo-Young of KPSA took to the podium as the first lecturer, arguing that digital transformation is providing the momentum for a major shift in the power structure. Professor Jang presented his multilayered analysis of how the adverse effects caused by the rise of emerging powers and the triggering of political conflicts are shaking the foundations of democracy, and ended his lecture by proposing regulatory, political, and technological solutions for constructing a virtuous cycle in the political process.

In the next lecture, Professor Kim Seo-yong of KPAR claimed that digital transformation is giving rise to a digital gap that is entirely different from the traditional information gap. He emphasized that a comprehensive government policy (i.e. one that takes into account both the macro social structure and micro individual behaviors) and the enthusiastic participation of the public are critical to narrowing this new digital divide.

Professor Choi Chang-yong of KEPAS, the third lecturer, talked about the possibility of co-existence between digital transformation and green transformation, stressing the importance of a collaborative approach to linking the digital transformation with the green transformation in order to pull off a dual transformation of society. He placed special emphasis on the need to improve the complicated process of implementing policies and to establish a governance system that operates based on a consensus built through open communication.

The wrap-up debate was moderated by Professor Lee Duk-ro (Future Head of KPAR, Department of Public Administration, Sejong University) and featured a panel composed of Professor Lim Seong-hak (Head of KPSA, Department of International Relations, University of Seoul), Professor Won Sook-yeon (Head of KPAR, School of Public Administration, Ewha Womans University), and Professor Kim Young-wan (Head of KEPAS, Department of Political Science, Sogang University).

This conference provided deep insights gleaned from the results of a study conducted by academia and the research community on the agenda and policies that our government must develop in order to couple digital transformation with our vision for the ‘2030 Digital Co-prosperity Society’. This conference is expected to pave the way for the third year of research on digital transformation megatrends scheduled for next year.

As in the previous year, this conference was organized as an online-offline hybrid event to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and was broadcast live by KISDI (kisdi-megatrend.com) and on the Ministry of Science and ICT’s YouTube site (https://www.youtube.com/user/withmsip).