KISDI Media Room(detail) − KISDI KOREA INFORMATION SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE

✅ Title: The 4th Conference on Digital Transformation Megatrends
✅ Time/Date: 10:00-17:30, Thursday, December 5, 2024
✅ Venue: Conference Room, Post Tower, live-streamed on KISDI’s YouTube channel
✅ Registration: https://event-us.kr/megatrendcon/event/95433

The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI, Acting President Kim Jung-un) and the Ministry of Science & ICT (Minister Yoo Sang-im) jointly held the 4th Conference on Digital Transformation Megatrends on Thursday, December 5, 2024 at the Conference Room of the Post Tower. During the conference, the two organizations crystalized mid- to long-term policy tasks and presented a roadmap for the implementation of future strategies to achieve “a digitally co-prosperous society” which has been identified as the most desirable direction for digital transformation in the megatrend research conducted in 2024.

Research on digital transformation megatrends has been conducted separately and jointly by numerous organizations including the Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences, the Korea Association for Telecommunications Policies (KATP), the Korean Association for Public Administration, the Korean Political Science Association, the Korean Sociological Association, the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration, the Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers, the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers, and the Korean Association for Policy Studies. These organizations have taken turns hosting a seminar for experts in academia, industry and research in order to share their ideas, and they have conducted research on changes in digital transformation megatrends by sector and on mid- to long-term policy demand. Commencing with the keynote presentation, “A Roadmap for a Digitally Prosperous Society”, the conference featured the outcomes of, and discussions on, the research that these organizations have conducted this year in different fields, including economy, technology, labor, and public administration.

In Session 1, Moon A-ram, a researcher at the Digital Society Strategy Research Office of KISDI, delivered a keynote presentation on the four megatrends of digital transformation, namely, the “shift to platforms,” “automation,” “hyper personalization” and “virtual convergence.” Moon explained that digital transformation is a huge wave that will continue into the future, serving as the infrastructure for innovation in the two global challenges of the “shrinking society” and “green transformation” while acting as a tool for realizing specific goals and as a medium for resolving tension and conflicts.

The results of academic research, including analyses of the socio-economic ripple effects of digital transformation, were also presented at the conference. Research shows that approximately 42.3% of all jobs are becoming exposed to AI at a fast rate, based on the assumed AI substitutability now and in five years’ time, and that 22.6% of the organizations surveyed will be able to grasp new opportunities for a new takeoff, although they are still bound to undergo rapid changes, with some 19.7% of them hovering on the borderline of substitutability. When an experimental economic approach was used to measure the social welfare of free digital services, the consumer surplus accruing from digital services used by Korean teenagers was estimated to be anywhere from KRW 666.29 to 800 trillion, which is equivalent to 27.7% to 32.2% of Korea’s annual GDP in 2023.

The speaker presented a “Roadmap of Future Strategies for a Digitally Co-prosperous Society” based on the creation of infrastructure for digital innovation and growth, a key future strategy for a digitally co-prosperous society, as well as on a contemplation of human nature, the scalability and connectivity of policies required to cope with the floods of information and the post-truth society, and the pluralism of tools. The roadmap was produced by combining the research findings of 9 academic societies, 108 policy agenda items, and 415 policy tasks identified in surveys conducted by 37 experts. Based on a network analysis, the roadmap categorized policy areas into connectors, mediators, approachers, and facilitators, each of which plays a core role in cooperation, coordination, and communication for future strategy agenda. As such, this research has helped to create a framework in which specific ways of cooperative implementation among policy areas can be discussed.

Session 2, which covered “Strategies for Creating a Digital Society of Innovation and Inclusion,” included presentations and discussions on such themes as “A Study on Strategies for Using Super-Giant AI to Boost National Competitiveness”, “A Study on Ways to Strengthen the Social Safety Network for Inclusive Growth during the Digital Transformation”, “Support for Education to Cultivate Digital Citizenship”, and “Challenges and Tasks for AI-led Digital Transformation in the Public Sector: with a Focus on AI Preparedness”.

In the session’s first presentation, Huh Jun, a professor of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Korea University, looked into the innovative impact of super-giant AI technology on industry across the board, and discussed policy directions for next-generation ICT aimed at boosting national competitiveness, national defense applications, and the integration of AI with emerging quantum ICT technology.

Hwang Yong-seok, a professor of the Department of Media Communications at Konkuk University, emphasized the dangers of new forms of digital inequality caused by the spread of AI and the advent of a digital platform economy, and the importance of formulating digitally inclusive policies to ensure accessibility and social integration. He also reviewed the need for a stronger social safety network to advance digital technology, the introduction of a comprehensive education system, the establishment of laws on AI and fair data access, and the pursuit of inclusive growth.

The third speaker, Lee Hyang-soo, a professor of the Public Human Resources Department of Konkuk University, argued that digital citizenship should be developed as an essential quality for Korea’s citizens in line with their status as members of “a digitally co-prosperous society”, with a focus on ethics, a sense of responsibility, and the competences required in the Digital Age. To that end, Lee proposed various policy approaches, emphasized the need for life cycle-based essential education, and suggested ways of protecting digital rights, ensuring access and security, and reducing the digital gap.

Next, Moon Jung-wook, Head of the Digital Society Strategy Research Team at KISDI, explored the rapidly growing impact of AI-based digital innovation in the public sector, addressed major challenges, and made policy recommendations. Notably, Moon analyzed the correlation between key components of the public sector in an effort to walk the audience through effective digital innovation efforts, stressed the importance of the government’s AI readiness against the global benchmark, and offered policy recommendations.

In the following wrap-up discussion led by Jung Gwang-ho, the next chairperson of the Korean Association for Public Administration and a professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration, a number of speakers including Jung Seong-ho, a professor at the Department of Information Communications Engineering of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies ; Lee Gyeong-won, a chairperson of the Korea Association for Telecommunications Policies and a professor of economics at Dongkuk University ; and Kim Seo-yong, chairperson of the Special Committee on Science & Technology of the Korean Association for Public Administration and a professor of public administration at Ajou University engaged in discussions with the researchers who led the research projects on behalf of their academic society.

In Session 3, which was under the theme of “Challenges and Solutions to the Bottleneck during the Digital Transformation”, various speakers shared their research findings in such areas as “National Strategies for Global Digital Norm Governance in the Techno-Geopolitical Era”, “Advances in AI and the Changing Definition of Future Jobs”, “A Diagnosis of the AI Digital Industrial Ecosystem and Policy Measures for Sophistication of the Ecosystem” and “A Study on AI Digital Transformation and the Bottleneck Phenomenon”.

The first speaker, Jang Woo-young, a professor of political science and diplomacy at the Daegu Catholic University, emphasized the fact that global leadership is being restructured amid intensifying technology competition between the U.S. and China and growing standardization by supranational regimes to cope with the threat to democracy posed by disruptive AI-based contents. Jang also raised the need for Korea to establish itself as a key agent in creating supranational democratic solidarity and to take the global initiative in building a digital alliance with emerging and developing countries.

Kim Ra-nu, a professor of the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences at KAIST, discussed the impact of AI on knowledge-based labor, with a focus on high value-added occupations whose roles and definitions are susceptible to the impact of AI, including programmers, healthcare professionals, and lawyers. In other words, Kim has examined whether AI-led changes in occupations have already caused a fundamental change in the nature of human labor in a qualitative and quantitative analysis

Choi Jung-il, a professor of business administration at Soongsil University, reviewed Korea’s AI and digital technology environment, and recommended efficient governance, strategic investment and the adoption of effective technology as a means of creating a sustainable industrial ecosystem and enhancing Korea’s global competitiveness amid the rapidly accelerating digital transformation.

Next, Jang Jae-young, an associate researcher at KISDI, focused on the industrial imbalance and the bottleneck phenomenon that limits Korea’s productivity despite the advances made in ICT and AI in his analysis of the slow-growing Korean economy, and suggested strategies for spreading AI-based innovation across all industries by using networks of individual industries and sharing insights on total factor productivity.

In the wrap-up discussion led by Im Un-taek, the next chairperson of the Korean Sociological Association and a professor of sociology at Keimyung University, various speakers including Cho Hwa-soon, chairperson of the Korean Political Science Association and a professor of political science and diplomacy at Yonsei University; Jang Deuk-jin, chairperson of the Korean Sociological Association and a professor of sociology at Seoul National University; and Kim Yeong-sung, chairperson of the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration and a professor of business administration at Inha University discussed the challenges posed by the digital transformation and solutions to the bottleneck.

Held under the theme of “A Digital Order that Designs Safety and Trust”, the last session consisted of presentations and discussions on “Cyber Threats and Cyber Security in the Era of Daily AI Uses”, “Technical and Policy Responses to Manage AI Risks”, “Ways to Enhance Transparency and Accountability in AI-based Decision-Making Processes in the Public Sector”, and “A Study on Laws and Regulations in Response to Controversies in the Accelerating Digital Era”.

Cho Sung-jae, a professor of software at Dankook University, looked into cyber-security issues arising from AI-based digital transformation, and presented technical and policy recommendations aimed at maximizing the benefits of AI, easing the risks associated with abuse and trustworthiness, and promoting safe AI applications with the use of advanced cyber-security strategies and an AI-integrated risk management framework.

Nam Woo-jung, a professor of computer science at Kyungpook National University, analyzed the risks of AI development, and offered a series of technical and policy measures aimed at increasing transparency, accountability, and fairness, resolving data prejudice, boosting social trust, ensuring the safe use of AI by enhancing AI acceptability, and fostering innovation across the board.

Song Wook-jun, a professor of the Graduate School of Public Policy and Information Technology at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, emphasized that the government’s ability to manage changes, structural and personnel reforms, the introduction of reliable AI technology, the establishment of a legal framework, and the adoption of a performance evaluation system are all necessary in order to achieve administrative innovation through AI, and that it is necessary to guarantee transparency and accountability and to reduce the digital gap to create a successful intelligent government.

Next, Moon Gwang-jin, an associate researcher at KISDI, reviewed “2024 Digital Bill of Rights”, an initiative of the Korean government, with a focus on major digital issues including non-contact healthcare, the right not to be connected, and the right to be forgotten. Moon presented a comparative analysis of social discussions and legislations at home and abroad to resolve growing digital controversies, and suggested ways to improve legal and regulatory systems in synch with social acceptance.

The wrap-up discussion led by Lee Sang-hwan, vice-chairperson of the Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers and a professor of software convergence at Kukmin University, was joined by Choi Yoon-ho, a member of the Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers and a professor of computer science and engineering at Pusan National University ; Lee Chung-yong, chairperson of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers and a professor of electronical & electronic engineering at Yonsei University and Ahn Jun-mo, chair of the research committee of the Korean Association for Policy Studies and a professor of public administration at Korea University.
The conference presented a cooperative roadmap for establishing a digitally co-prosperous society, identified challenges and opportunities in the era of digital transformation in diverse fields - including technology, economy and industry, public administration, society and politics - and explored new policy directions and implementation strategies. Amid the digital transformation megatrend, multi-disciplinary analyses and the insights of academia and research on sustainable digital growth strategies, future employment and the response to changes in jobs, and the improvement of digital citizenship will lead to further research in 2025 and contribute to exploring new ways to establishing the “digitally co-prosperous society.”

The conference was held in a hybrid online-offline format and live-streamed on KISDI’s website (kisdi-megatrend.com).

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The 4th Conference on Digital Transformation Megatrends