The 2nd Digital Transformation Megatrend Conference will be organized and hosted jointly by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Information Society Development Institute on December 8.

The Road to a Digitally Co-prosperous Society - Moving towards a Digital Society of Solidarity and Inclusion and the Sustainable Digital Economy

378. December 8 (Thursday) the Ministry of Science and ICT(Minister Lee Jong-ho) and the Korea Information Society Development Institute (President Kwon Ho-yeol) jointly hosted the 2nd Digital Transformation Megatrend Conference (main theme: The Road to a Digitally Co-prosperous Society) at the Post Tower in Seoul. This event has been planned with the cooperation of ten associations, including 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).
379. Session 1, three main policy directions, including “fair transformation”, “responsible innovation” and “just execution”, were proposed as the means to achieving a successful transformation to a digitally co-prosperous society. In addition, ten items of agenda related to digital co-prosperity society and seven execution strategies were announced in the areas of innovation ecosystems, technology, human talents, labor, environment, city/space, welfare, government, digital democracy, and global co-prosperity governance. This was followed by Session 2, which introduced the theme of ‘Digital Transformation as a Driver of Innovation and Change’; Session 3, which focused on a ‘Vision for a Sustainable Digital Economy; and Session 4, which presented a ‘Blueprint for Creating a Digital Society of Solidarity and Inclusion’.

.................................................................................................................

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

○ Venue: Main Conference Room, Post Tower,

KISDI’s online live broadcast (http://kisdi- megatrend.com/),

Ministry of Science and ICT’s YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/phbMXIq9m24)

○ Host: Ministry of Science and ICT

○ Organizer: Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI)

On December 8 (Thursday), KISDI (President Kwon Ho-yeol) and the Ministry of Science and ICT(Minister Lee Jong-ho) jointly hosted the 2nd Digital Transformation Megatrend Conference 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, which was chosen by ordinary citizens as part of a megatrend study conducted the previous year. The two organizations also developed desirable national strategies in four main domains: technology/R&D, economy/industry, public services/systems, and society/environment. They also conducted research on digital transformation megatrends as a joint study with some of South Korea’s leading academic societies, such as 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 Senior Research Fellow of KISDI’s Digital Economy & Society Research Division, delivered the main presentation titled ‘The Road to a Digitally Co-prosperous Society’. During the presentation, he proposed ten major agenda items related to the digital co-prosperity society, along with seven execution strategies derived from the following areas: innovation ecosystems, technology, human talents, labor, environment, city/space, welfare, government, digital democracy, and global co-prosperity governance (See attachment).

As the leader of the research, Senior Research Fellow Lee emphasized that, historically speaking, new models of society have emerged in times of crisis, such as war, pandemic or national emergency, and stressed that today is the ideal time to make the transition to a digitally co-prosperous society. In particular, he noted that Big Tech’s socio-economic domination of digital spaces is expanding, and new social threats such as pandemics are affecting our daily lives, and concluded that in the event of digital transformation, the role of government will be to invest in technological innovation and provide a safety net that protects the prosperity of every Korean citizen. He also proposed fair transformation, responsible innovation, and just execution as the three main policy directions that the country ought to follow 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) carried out by KISDI in November 2022, the respondents selected 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, their responses were divided fairly evenly at 39.4% and 35.8%, respectively. On most of the questions asking them to choose between communitarian or liberal values, the respondents generally revealed a significantly greater preference for liberal values over communitarian ones, except for the questions on welfare and livelihood. On these questions, the number of respondents who chose ‘the 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 respondents with low levels of education and income (See attachment).

Senior Research Fellow Lee emphasized that the acceptance of digital transformation may vary from person to person, depending on their socio-economic position and their 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 age of endless competition. He added that to provide a soft landing in digital transformation, the government must build a foundation for cultivating innovation and creativity using a digital social security system.

Session 2 consisted of presentations and debates on the topic of ‘Digital transformation as a driver of innovation and change’.

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’, was given by Professor Kim Do-hoon of KRATP. He discussed the idea of linking 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.

The next presentation, titled 'Convergence of the Virtual and Real Worlds and Hyper-connected Technologies in the Era of Digital Transformation’, was given by Professor Hong In-ki of KICS, who talked about hyper-connected technologies that will enable convergence of the virtual and real worlds. He described the main developmental directions 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 various technological conditions in a hyper-connected society that will ultimately lead to digital co-prosperity.

Next, Professor Kang Jeong-han of the KSA gave a presentation titled ‘Potential Changes in Labor and the Quality of Life Resulting from Digital Transformation’. Professor Kang examined societal changes with the focus on threats and opportunities (in terms of platform labor and the quality of life) and discussed potentially 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’ affiliations.

As the last speaker of Session 2, Professor Moon Myung-jae of KAPS gave a presentation titled ‘The Construction and Operation of Intelligent Government based on Human-AI Cooperation’ in which he envisioned possible forms of human-AI cooperation-based intelligent government and talked about how a next-generation intelligent government should be built 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 were 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 ‘A Vision for the Sustainable Digital Economy‘. Among the presentations given in this session were ‘Strengthening the Competitiveness of South Korea’s Digital Transformation Industry through Sustainable Ecosystem Design’, ‘Intelligence-Based Next-Generation Security Technology Against Cyber Threat’, and ‘Strategies for Developing ICT and Semiconductor Technologies and Training Manpower in the Era of Digital Transformation’.

The first presentation of the 3rd session was given by Professor Kim Yeon-seong of KASBA, who spoke about the need to improve industrial competitiveness at this strategic turning point – namely, “digital transformation” - with the introduction of a new design of 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 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 spoke about the most desirable developmental direction of cybersecurity technologies for ensuring sustainable digital transformation and securing a reliable digital platform.

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

The wrap-up debate was moderated by Professor Kim Jae-goo (Future Head of KASBA, College of Business Administration, Myongji University), with 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) participating in the debate panel.

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

Professor Jang Woo-Young of KPSA, who took to the podium as the first lecturer, argued that digital transformation is providing the momentum for a shift in the existing power structure. He presented his multi-layered analysis of how the adverse effects caused by the rise of the 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 for 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 response (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 tying digital transformation with green transformation in order to pull off a twin transformation. He viewed with special importance the need to improve the complicated process of implementing policies and establish a governance system that operates based on a consensus reached through open communication.

The wrap-up debate in Session 4 was moderated by Professor Lee Duk-ro (Future Head of KPAR, Department of Public Administration, Sejong University), with 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) participating in the debate panel.

This conference served as a forum for providing deep insights and presenting 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’. It is hoped that this conference will pave the way for the digital transformation megatrend 3rd-year research scheduled for next year.

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