First thoughts that come to mind when thinking of Korea?

The miracle of the Han River, scarlet waves of

2002 Korea-Japan FIFA world cup, the K-pop wave that took the entire world international IT power
house.

But there’s one more thing to describe Korea, renowned the world’s best e-Government.

Despite difficult circumstances, Korea experienced remarkable economic growth and social
development over a short period of time. A major part of this post-war development can be attributed
to Korea’s e-Government.

Korea’s e-government has enhanced efficiency and transparency of public administration, allowed
citizens to enjoy convenient and high quality services and supported business competitiveness.

Korea hasn’t been the world leader in e-Government from the start. It has overcome various difficulties
over the last 30 years.

How did Korea eventually become a global e-Government leader? Let's take a look at the advancements
Korea made and the factors that played a role in its success.

1. Korea’s National Development and e-Government

It ranks 109th in geographic area and 27th in population count.

It is the Republic of Korea.

This small country is now leading the world’s e-Government system. The Korean people worked hard,
were dedicated and dilligent, and eventually achieved remarkable economic growth.

Korea’s GDP per capita in the 1970s was 254 dollars. Thirty years later its GDP per capita reached over
20,000 dollars and even surpassed 28,000 dollars in 2014. Korea’s total GDP in 2014 reached 1.4 trillion
dollars, which is the 11th highest in the world.

In 2009 Korea joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee and became its 24th member. It was
the first member however to change its position from that of an aid beneficiary to an aid donor.

Even with these advances, it has not been an easy road to success for Korea. The economic crisis in 1997
hit Korea hard. The ICT industry and e-Government played a huge role in overcoming these crises.

In 2013, Korea had the largest share of added-value in the ICT sector among OECD countries. In fact,
about 30% of Korea’s total exports can be attributed to the ICT industry. Under the motto ‘Latecomer to
Industrialization, but Frontrunner in informatizaition’; the Korean government focused national efforts
on informatization. It selected e-Government as one of the presidential agenda items and invested 1%
of the national budget in the cause.
Businesses in Korea also proved their world-class technical capability and became industry- wide leaders
in semi-conductors, broadband Internet, mobile phones and display technologies.

Also, a well-educated Korean people were early adopters of new technologies and services and actively
participate in the spread of the Internet and mobile-based activities and culture.

As a result of these collaborations, Korea is highly regarded in the UN's e-Government Development
Index and in the OECD's 2015 Government at a Glance.

2. Evaluation on Korea’s e-Government

The ranking process for the UN e-Government Development Index uses strict standards. Despite
competition between over 200 member countries, Korea still ranked first three times in a row. This
ranking makes it difficult to dispute that Korea is the country with the world’s best e-Government. Korea
receives particular praise for its excellent online service delivery. All administrative and public
institutions in Korea complete work without having to issue certificates or papers. Also by integrating
and connecting public services, Korea offers a non-stop service channel where citizens can make online
reports and complete registration for birth, death, employment or moving without having to visit the
public office in person.

Korea received the highest ranking from the OECD and is recognized as a world leader in open
government data. The Korean government supports businesses through startup competitions. They
provide these startups with PR and consulting, with the aim of facilitating the use of this area. The
government also connects venture capitalist firms with investors, provides opportunities for business
briefing sessions, and constantly supplies data through dispute mediation and real-time response in the
field. In this way, Korea’s government can offer a diverse set of customized services to businesses.

Another use of open data resulted in the development of a map-based navigation application called
'Kimgisa'. This application uses open data of the Korea Expressway Corporation to provide real-time
traffic information to drivers. The application aims to make driving more efficient, In fact, it receives
more than 100 million inquiries every month and has become the most used navigation application in
Korea.

Groups that would like to learn about Korea's e-Government and work with the Korean government on
exchanges and collaboration can request such help. Requests have been made not only by developing
countries, but also by major international organizations like the World Bank, the Asian Development
Bank and the Inte-Armerican Development Bank. Over 5000 foreign public officials from 129 countries
joined local or invitational training programs to study Korea's e-Government from 1998 to 2014.

The government, businesses and citizens collaborate continually and this keeps the Korean e-
Government working efficiently and effectively.

After 30 years of hard work and constant effort Korea has pioneered the way for more effective and
efficient government services and has truly become the world leader in e-Government.
3. Korea’s e-Government Development
Over the last 30 years Korea has made step-by-step progress for national informatization. Korea's e-
Government began in 1987 when Korea launched the 'National Basic Information System Project' This
facilitated digitization of administrative procedures in the public sector. By developing a robust database
of key administrative information, which contains real-estate, vehicle, resident registration and
employment information.

Korea was able to provide a wider variety of services throughout the country. These services included
things like integrated registration services for residents when moving and expanded passport issuance
services. Changes like these allowed Korean citizens to enjoy more convenient and efficient government
services.

In 1996, Korea established the Master Plan for National Informatization Promotion. This laid the
foundation for today's e-Government in Korea. During this time the network infrastructure was
upgraded to accommodate higher-speed communication and digitized administrative procedures.

Korea launched e-Government projects for G4C, an information sharing framework and building high-
speed communication network. As a result of these projects, Korea was able to open a nationwide
government website in 1998 that provided services for citizens via the Internet and digitize real estate
registers. By 1999, it had successfully finished digitizing family registers and the national statistics
information system was launched. And in 2001, e-Government in Korea began to expand. After the
economic crisis, Korea started connecting and integrating government services. It carried out 11
initiatives and 31 roadmap projects for e-Government. This included expanding information sharing and
building an integrated computing environment to actively introduce programs for government
innovation. Korea expanded e-Government services to almost all areas of society not only to enhance
the efficiency and transparency of public administration, but also to allow citizens and businesses to
easily access and use the information and services they wanted. With this expansion, Korea was able to
complete a foundation for e-Government and provide many service areas online.

Three innovative services were : the single window for services called Minwon24, the e-procurement
system called KONEPS and the Internet tax service called HomeTax.

In 2008, Korea's e-Government entered the stage of maturity. At this time various mobile devices had
become extremely popular. In response, the government developed plans to bring the PC-based e-
Government services to mobile platforms. This increased access to public data and expanded the ability
to provide customized services.

As a result, G4C services were improved, information resources and services were integrated, and
government transparency and efficiency were enhanced. Countries throughout the world recognized
Korea’s ability to adapt to a mobile-led society and Korea e-Government exports continued to increase.
4. Success Factors for Korea’s e-Government
Korea did not become the world leader in e-Government overnight. Rather, the success was built over
the course of three decades, and required multiple phases of e-Government development. What
specifically though contributed to the success?

-President’s strong leadership and strategic approach The President of Korea made special efforts to
make government innovation a stepping-stone for other areas of growth and development. The
President had a particular interest in e-Government projects and stayed abreast of changes and
progress. This encouraged other high-level public officials to be actively engaged in e-Government
projects. The President's commitment was a major driver in e-Government project implementation.
Subsequent presidents also showed their support and interest in government innovation and e-
Government project implementation. Another critical success factor was the development of mid and
long-term plans for national informatization. This included setting clear goals and taking actions based
on a clearly defined strategy.

-constant investment Korea also established a monetary fund for national informatization promotion
and invested in it continuously. Breaking away from the rigidity of the existing budget system, Korea
ensured flexibility of budget allocations for multi-year projects. This mitigated risk and responsibility
issues which may have arisen naturally in the course of implementing brand new technologies in the
public sector. Initially, informatization projects were likely to be rejected by government ministry or
department heads who had little knowledge of the benefits and value of e-Government. However,
during these early stages of e-Government development, efforts to increase national acceptance were
implemented using a unique system called 'settlement after investment'.

-well-organized implementation framework All government ministries and departments are involved
and share responsibilities for e-Government projects. Additionally, the Korean government organized an
e-Government committee with members from the public and private sectors. Under the direct
management of the President or the Prime Minister, this committee developed a framework for
systematic collaboration between government ministries.

-Technical support During each development stage the Korean e-Government has introduced and
utilized advanced IT. Many organizations have contributed expertise in policy-making and technical
areas.
These include: the National Information Society Agency, which specializes in providing technical support
for e-Government. Government affiliated agencies, like the Korea Information Society Development
Institute. Korea Internet and Security Agency and KT and other private companies.

-Dynamics and creativity of the Korean people The Korean people’s commitment to development,
creativity in innovation and dedicated patriotism were critical factors in the success of Korea’s national
informatization. The Korean people eagerly accept cutting-edge IT devices and equipment. They actively
use broadband Internet, online government service and online financial services. This all led to raised
awareness of e-Government initiatives and services and generated support for e-Government project
implementation.
[OUTRO]

Korea is working to become the world’s true e-Government leader. By sharing its development process
and experiences with other countries, by internally making improvements and by externally cooperating
with developing countries for their e-Government development.