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Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion

The Problem

Thank you for your great interest and encouragement on our institution’s initiatives. Information and Communication Technologies have rapidly developed to play a significant role and have now become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. As we live in an ICT-based society, where the facilitating the processing and exchange of information and communication directly leads to economic and social development, KADO has come to reckon that all social members should be equally encouraged to reach the benefits of ICTs worldwide, without a boundary of any sort. So far, the informatization in Korea has been focused on establishing the infrastructure for information and telecommunication and hardware industries. As a result, Korea is showing the highest penetration rate of the high-speed Internet connections and the best IT competitiveness in the world. In the future, we will have to put in more efforts to make policies to prevent the side effects of informatization such as misuse and abuse of the Internet and to help the people to put information to good use in a more productive way. As a priority we need to guarantee the right to equal access to information and expand the opportunities for accessing that information to make sure that those deprived in an industrialized society are not isolated further from the benefits of informatization. In addition, we should devote more efforts to reducing the international information gap. By transferring our experience and culture as a leading IT country to other countries we will actually be promoting informatization in our partner countries and we will be tapping into new foreign markets crucial to the development of our own IT industries. I would like to ask for ongoing open communication with both governmental and non-governmental sectors and KADO so that the agency can fulfill its mission as a leading organization in the digital welfare society, devoted to bridge the digital divide.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
KADO laid a foundation to designing programs for bridging the digital divide before, during, and after the Korean government’s 1st Plan for the Closing the Digital Divide (2001-2005) by establishing the high-speed Internet network and information access centers, and by distributing IT devices designed for the disabled.
KADO built 1,046 free information access centers from 2000 to 2005, distributed 110,290 used computers to the disabled and underserved population throughout the country from 2003 to October 2006, and provided 10,865 special devices and software for the disabled from 2003 to October 1006.
KADO also offered “Education for Informatization of 10 Million” from 2000 to June 2002, followed by the 2nd Informatization Education from July 2002 to December 2004, to informatize 25.6 million Koreans including 229,970 disabled, 306,848 senior citizens, 29,356 illiterate, 7,336 DPRK refugees. As a result, the Internet use ratio of the underserved population has multiplied by 2.5 from 11.5% in 2001 to 29.4% in December 2005.
KADO started Info-Ethics Program to respond to the adverse effects of the informatization since 2002. The Info-Ethics education was offered to 1,072,463 adolescents, parents, and teachers from 2002 to October 2006. Internet Addiction Counseling Center was also established in 2002, where 93,461 internet-addict groups and individuals were counseled both online and offline as of October 2006. Moreoever, in efforts to prevent cyber-crimes, KADO is running various programs at probation offices and extracurricular activities at schools.
Lastly, to bridge the international digital divide and foster global cooperation, KADO has trained 2,181 IT experts and policymakers in 97 developing countries through Korea IT Learning (KoIL) Program since 1998; dispatched 1,650 Korea Internet Volunteers since 2001; and established 10 International Information Access Centers since 2002.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
-Established as Information and Telecommunications Training Center (ITTC; 11/1984)
-Expanded into Information and Culture Center (ICC; 1/1988)
-(4/1988)
-Started IT Education for 10 Million (6/2000)
-Opened IT World Exhibition Center (10/2000)
-Started IT Education for 1 Million Wives (3/2000)
-First Group of Korea Internet Volunteers Sent Abroad (7/2001)
-Started an online education service, BaeumNara (9/2001)
-Opened Center for Internet Addiction Prevention and Counseling (4/2002)
-Started IT education service for the disabled, DoumNara (11/2002)
-Established the First Internet Access Center in Cambodia (11/2002)
-Re-established as Korea Agency for Digital Oppotuny and Promotion(KADO; 1/2003)
-Awarded "Global IT Excellence Award" in WITSA consortium (5/2004)
-Started Telecommunication Relay Service (11/2005)
-Printed "IT Ethics" Textbook for Middle School Students (1/2006)
-Opened the First Digital Opportunity Forum (8/2006)

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
- Korea became a strong IT country with the most sophisticated ICT infrastructure since the government set forth a series of nationwide informatization initiatives known as “Cyber Korea 21” in the 1990s. But along with the successful informatization came the adverse effects of the digital divide in economic, social and physical aspects.
- In order to solve the problem, Korean government responded with policies for bridging the digital divide by passing the Digital Gap Reduction Act in January 2001 and implementing the First Master Plan for Closing Digital Divide (2001-2005) since September 2001.
- In line with the Act in 2001, Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity & Promotion (KADO) was established in January 2003 under the Ministry of Information and Communication in order to actively and effectively promote bridging the digital divide. Today, KADO is continuing the efforts under the same mission as a part of the Second Master Plan for Closing Digital Divide (2006-2010).

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
KADO, as a leading agency for promoting welfares of the digital society prioritizes information accessibility, IT education, prevention of informatization adverse function, and international cooperation to meet the following purposes: (1) equal-accessibility environment where all people can enjoy the benefits of the ICTs; (2) increased opportunities for underserved to participate in the digital society; (3) productive and sound information use in the ubiquitous life; and (4) bridging international digital divide and promoting of global informatization.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
KADO pursues 3 strategies of IT Accessibility, IT Literacy, and IT Productivity to bridge the digital divide. The strategies are designed according to the quality and quantity of the digital divide phenomenon. The three may seem to be always imposed in order, but, in fact, at many times require simultaneous implementation depending on different social and economic situations. The strategies are described as the following.
IT Accessibility is attained by creating an environment in which universal information access becomes available through ICT infrastructures, free PCs and information access centers, IT devices specially designed for the disabled, and Telecommunication Relay Service (TRS).
In order to promote IT Literacy, KADO aims to educate 5 million underserved population to better use the information. KADO offers IT teachers specialized in customized education for the disabled, home study courses for the seriously disabled, senior citizen courses, and education for the employment of the underserved. The project is expected to increase the employment of the underserved population, and thus encourage their participation in the society.
IT Productivity, the last strategy, aims to transcend the simple use of information such as online search, and apply its use for the improvement of daily life. IT productivity is expected to widen promise of IT use and to strengthen the country’s competitiveness. Programs in line with this strategy include programs for reemployment and self-employment of the underserved, e-Business education for the disabled, creation of jobs in the ICT field, prevention of adverse effects, and promotion of sound digital culture.
KADO’s vision is to achieve an inclusive, warm-hearted digital society through these strategies. KADO is continuing its efforts to bridge the digital divide among different classes, regions, ages, and genders, hence leading the underserved to become a productive middle class with ICTs.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
As the completion of high-speed internet infrastructure and 72.8% of internet use indicate, Korea has the most sophisticated digital system that is the closest to ubiquitous environment, and is expected to achieve the wholly ubiquitous society faster than any other countries.
Korea has already popularized the DMB system, which enables a cellphone to display television programs, and the WiBro system, through which one may access the high-speed Internet while on the move. These result from the continuing efforts to bridge the digital divide; without such efforts, Korea would not have been able to lead the digital society as dynamically as it has.

O PC Use Penetration Level (%) Among Underserved Population:

2002 2005
General 78.5 78.9
Underserved 40.6 54.2

O Internet Service Penetration Level (%) Among Underserved Population:

2002 2005
General 59.4 72.8
Underserved 14.1 29.4

O Informatization Level of Underserved Compared to General Population:

2002 2005 Expected by 2010
General 100 100 100
Underserved 45.0 53.3 80

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Looking back at the Korea's remarkable progress in reducing the digital divide, the country need to emphasize the purpose of its efforts. Korea has entered yet another stage of considering the quality of information use for all citizens within the maturing information society.
In this context, KADO's information policy framework essentially seeks to realize the basic notion of an 'information society' through extending its scope towards enhancing IT Productivity. This implies that policy designs focus on improving the citizens’ capabilities and increasing opportunities to make use of the digital culture to solve the currently existing problems to ameliorate their quality of life.
Moreover, KADO aims to share the knowledge and the nation's successful experience in informatization with other developing countries. In other words, KADO focuses on human resource development, intending to assist and train IT experts and policymakers from developing countries. Therefore, through expanding its KoIL program to other nations, and promoting DOF whereby all KoIL participants will be networked through an alumni, KADO will proceed in contributing to reduce the global 'digital divide'.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The key goal of KADO has been to deliver the benefits of ICT to the marginalized group within the society and the world. In this term, KADO has implemented various projects including supporting computer access, Internet using facilities, and ICT learning programs. However, KADO has realized that simply providing physical access and training programs is deficient. Rather, the marginalized group’s willingness, knowledge, and social circumstances are crucial. Further, in order to deliver the know-how of ICT in a complete way, continuous support at many levels must be provided In this respect, KADO has not only carried out the services and programs but also have related to the marginalized people in the field, acknowledging the recipient’s feedbacks of their experiences, and encouraging the people’s participation through creating many channels of ICT use in society. For example, assisting the marginalized people’s job opportunities through attaining ICT access and skills. Further, KADO has built strong relationships with other welfare centers to understand the needs and the circumstances of the people.
One of the outstanding efforts of KADO has been the Korea Information Learning Program (KoIL), providing IT related training courses to various IT policymakers and experts in developing countries. This program aims to support human resource and a sustainable information environment of the recipient society. In this sense, the role and outcomes of the KoIL program towards the developing nations could not be easily assessed at a single period. Furthermore, when intending to contribute KoIL’s effort to each different nation, a more detailed context based approach was required. In order to overcome such long-term and contextual based characteristics, KADO has put emphasis on the “follow-up process”, aiming to develop strong relationship with each participant’s country by visiting various participants’ countries, assessing their application and experiences, and receiving feedbacks of the contextual applications. Also, in order to manage such process in a systematic way, KoIL has established an alumni data base initiated as the ‘Digital Opportunity Forun”. The Forum was first held this year 2006, where many KoIL alumni members from various countries participated to share their experiences and information. This will assure a continuous support towards the KoIL participants, and also enhanced information network linking many developing countries within the global context.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Yeongi Son
Title:   President  
Telephone/ Fax:   82-2-3660-2600
Institution's / Project's Website:   82-2-3660-2500
E-mail:   ygson@kado.or.kr  
Address:   Gangseo-gu Deungchon-1-dong, 645-11
Postal Code:   157-715
City:   Seoul
State/Province:  
Country:  

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