Science Ministry Launches Nationwide Smart Village Expansion System with Provinces and Cities

The Ministry of Science and ICT (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon) held the inaugural ceremony of the ‘Smart Village Provincial-Metropolitan Council’ on September 14 together with metropolitan and provincial governments nationwide, and began full-scale cooperation to spread digital-based regional services across the country. The council aims to extend services proven in one region to others so that residents can experience the benefits in their daily lives.

[코리안투데이] Inaugural ceremony of the ‘Smart Village Provincial-Metropolitan Council’ © 장형임 기자

The Smart Village project has been pursued since 2019 to enhance the convenience of residents’ lives through digital technology and to resolve local issues. After being transferred to the Special Account for Balanced National Development in 2023, it has been operated in a manner that allows local governments to take the lead in identifying services that reflect each region’s characteristics and residents’ needs.

Since then, digital technologies such as AI and IoT have been applied to local sites, boosting the productivity of regional industries such as agriculture and fisheries, while also improving residents’ living services in areas including public safety, care, and education. A representative example is the ‘Smart Senior Center,’ which incorporates information and communications technology (ICT) into existing senior centers to provide interactive educational programs, and is regarded as an achievement of the Smart Village dissemination and expansion project.

Marking the eighth year of the project, the Ministry of Science and ICT formed the council in the belief that a systematic cooperative foundation is needed—one that does not stop at the success of individual regions but shares outstanding experiences and achievements with one another so that proven services can spread to other regions as well. This move responds to the persistent demand among local governments for a channel to gather opinions and share information.

Going forward, the council will hold regular meetings on a semiannual basis and, as needed, run field-specific councils and expert advisory sessions in parallel. Its main agenda items include ▲the direction of the Smart Village project and institutional improvements ▲sharing outstanding regional cases and experiences in establishment and operation ▲identifying standard services that can be expanded nationwide, and ▲listening to on-site difficulties arising during project implementation.

Such a cooperative structure is expected to broaden the scope and quality of services available to residents, in that it allows each local government to quickly adopt services whose effectiveness has already been confirmed, rather than repeating trial and error on its own.

Hong Seong-wan, Director-General of the Information and Communications Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stressed, ‘As local governments have pursued the Smart Village project, the need for a channel to gather opinions and share information among local governments has been continuously raised.’ He added, ‘For the Smart Village project to advance one step further, it is important to create a structure in which good services and experiences that residents need and can feel the benefits of continue to spread to other regions.’ He further stated, ‘In particular, through this provincial-metropolitan council, we will share outstanding cases and establishment experiences and jointly discuss on-site difficulties and institutional improvements arising during project implementation, and the Ministry of Science and ICT will continue to provide support for this.’

지역 홍보대사 신청 기자양성과정 신청 코리안투데이 지부장 신청 코리안투데이 인천강화