Digital Innovation
The Future of Digital Policy and Local Autonomy
On October 5th, 2022, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Korea Office (FNF Korea) and Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute (KLID) co-organized its 1st Global Forum for Local and Digital Innovation and Governance in Seoul. The forum was also livestreamed via Youtube to allow online participation.
The event, also accompanying the 25th anniversary of KLID, was opened by Jae-young Lee of the KLID and Frederic Spohr, the Acting Head of FNF Korea. Both emphasised the importance of the work of the KLID and FNF Korea to promote local autonomy, citizen participation and digital advancement. As one of the highlights of the forum, Sang-min Lee, the Minister of Ministry of the Interior and Safety attended the forum, who highly appreciated the works of both organizations in his congratulatory speech. Another high-ranking participant was Jean Koh, Chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Digital Government Platform, who underlined the role of Digital Governance in his keynote speech.
Sang-min Lee, Minister of Ministry of the Interior and Safety of Korea is giving congratulatory speech.
Frederic Spohr, Acting Head of FNF Korea is giving opening remarks.
Jean Koh, Chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Digital Government Platform is giving keynote speech.
Prof. Min-jung Oh from Hongik University moderated the forum.
The first session focused on “The Future of Digital Innovation in Local Government”, which was chaired by Professor Dongwook Kim from Seoul National University. Fernando Vilariño, Associate Director at the Computer Vision Centre at UAB opened the session with his presentation ‘The DT4 Regions Project: An EU Parliament preparatory action building up a Mutual Learning Community for European Public Servants around A.I.’ The session’s topic was further explored by Tae-young Lee, Director of the Digital Policy Planning Department at the KLID, who gave detailed insights in the prospective direction of KLID.
Professor Dr. Wilfried Bernhardt, former state secretary and lawyer at Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye lawyers
Following the coffee break, session 2 “How to Analyze and Use Data for Local Governments” started. Two presentations were given in this session, respectively on ‘Data Protection Within the Framework of E-Government’ by Professor Dr. Wilfried Bernhardt, former state secretary and lawyer at Büsing, Müffelmann & Theye lawyers and ‘Digital Transformation of Local Government: Data-driven 'Platform Government'’ presented by Wook-jung Seong, Professor at the Seoul National University of Science and Technology. The lively panel discussion brought up a lot of interesting points, especially comparing the differences between Germany and South Korea when it comes to data protection.