The Republic of Korea takes center stage among leading digital governments

- MOIS to host the 2022 Digital Nations Ministerial Summit -

Korea will hold a ministerial summit that will further solidify its status as one of the top leaders in the digital government area by presenting the future of digital innovation in the public sector in collaboration with leading countries.

The Ministry of the Interior and Security (MOIS, Minister Lee Sang-min) is set to host the 2022 Digital Nations Ministerial Summit from November 1 to 3.

 o The Digital Nations (DN) is an international collaborative forum of leading digital governments. Founded in 2014 by the initiative of Korea, the United Kingdom (UK), Estonia, and other countries, the DN currently consists of the digital government ministries of ten member states.*

    * Republic of Korea, UK, Estonia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico, Israel, Uruguay, Denmark

 o The DN was established to share advanced digital government policies and to jointly explore the future direction. It is attracting widespread attention from the international community, with many advanced countries expressing their intention to join the group.

Korea will be hosting the ministerial summit as the group’s chair, a mantle that the country took up for the second time since 2016. Korea and the UK are the only countries that have served as a chair more than once.

 o Korea is the only country that has ranked within the top 3 in the United Nations (UN) E-Government Survey for twelve consecutive years since 2010. Among Digital Nations members, Korea is renowned for having one of the most advanced digital governments; in 2020, it ranked 1st on the OECD Digital Government Index. 

The first face-to-face ministerial summit in three years since the COVID-19 outbreak, the 9th summit will be held under the theme, "Agile and Active Digital Governance." The participants will discuss what systems and culture governments should create in order to preemptively identify changes in the social environment and quickly accommodate the needs of the people in the process of implementing digital governments.

 o In a bid to advance discussions on the theme of this ministerial summit and produce tangible results, Korea has proposed the establishment of a working group on digital governance. After acquiring official approval at the summit, the working group is set to begin operation in 2023 including the publication of an annual report. 

On the sidelines of the ministerial summit, Korea will host a special session with Korea’s digital experts in the private sector and the Digital Nations Global Forum.

 o At the special session on November 1, private experts are invited to share Korea's best practices with DN members on the topic of improving the convenience of digital government services and digital inclusion.

 o At the Digital Nations Global Forum on November 2, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank will join the discussion to examine the global trends of digital government and explore how the DN can contribute to the development of the international community. 

Minister Lee Sang-min said, “The theme of this Digital Nations, ‘Agile and Active Digital Governance,' represents the underlying philosophy of Digital Platform Government. In-depth discussions with leading digital governments at the Summit will help develop digital government in the international community as well as the Digital Platform Government.