Questions/Answers

1. Enhancing the convenience of the public The primary objective of this project is to enable the public to save time and transaction costs. Since citizen applicants can simply fill out an application form to have necessary documents issued instead of visiting government offices , the process of licensing or loan application has become streamlined. When citizens applied for a loan before the launch of the Administrative Information Sharing service, they had to prepare five different documents on average which took them approximately five days; however, today loan applications are processed instantaneously at the service counter of financial institutions. Similarly, it took as many as 10 days to get necessary documents ready for licensing in the past, but now licensing applications are immediately processed at the service counter, thereby enhancing the convenience of the public. The quantitative outcome was calculated based on the transportation expenses and time spent to visit government offices, the public’s average wage and the number of applications processed per year, and in 2017 alone the social cost of 317.3 billion won was saved. 2. Improving the effectiveness of public service Since public servants in charge of civil affairs administration are enabled to access necessary information to deliver public service, it has become a new norm to reduce the submission of paper format documents; as a result, the public no longer needs to frequently visit government offices, thereby reducing social opportunity costs and carbon emission. The Administrative Information Sharing system has dramatically enhanced the quality of public service, and it has built a strong foundation for service integration amongst the nation’s legacy systems through creating a bulk administrative information distribution hub to increase the level of user satisfaction and provide value-added and safe service. The information distribution process amongst the administrative, public, financial and private organizations has been greatly improved due to the development of the pan-government administrative information sharing system.

1. Redesigning the certification issuance and submission process to enhance the convenience of citizen applicants The purpose of administrative information sharing is to eliminate any inconveniences for the public, thereby enhancing the quality of public service. When citizens submitted licensing and loan applications in the past, they were obligated to submit an excessive number of proof documents issued by organizations other than the application recipient; therefore, the applicants had to visit relevant government organizations multiple times to process a single application. Against this backdrop, administrative information sharing is crucial in reducing the number of such visits and enhancing the convenience of citizen applicants. Also, the government-owned administrative data bases were linked, and the administrative information of administrative, public and financial organizations was made available for common use through the Public Information Sharing Center (PISC), thereby eliminating the need for physical documents. 2. Redesigning the internal work process Administrative information sharing innovates the work process. When administrative, public and financial organizations would have to look up or refer to the information from various organizations to process requests made by citizen applicants in the past, they had to request relevant organizations for help via sending an official letter of cooperation or asked the applicant to submit relevant certificates. The work process based on cooperation amongst diverse ministries and the public- and private sector has become seamless due to the development of the administrative information sharing system adopted throughout the government organizations. Also, now that public servants no longer need to spend time issuing paper format certificates, they can focus on providing high quality public service in the field instead. 3. Effective usage of the nation’s information resource as overlapped investment is prevented An effective pan-government administrative information sharing system can be operated with the PISC at the core. Each organization had its own information system with individualized connections, but such information systems could only be utilized in restricted scopes for limited purposes. However, once the pan-government administrative information sharing system is built with the PISC at the center, waste and inefficiency caused by multiple ministries managing and operating the same information can be eliminated. In addition, valuable information of each ministry such as policy information could be shared, and primary administrative information including the information on resident registration, land and construction could be used to carry out policies.

1. Enhancing the convenience of public administration service The administrative information sharing system has facilitated citizen applicants to reduce the number of documents they need to submit and visits they make to relevant government organizations, thereby streamlining public service. For example, administrative information sharing has eliminated inefficiencies in the process of passport and licensing applications. Also, value-added services including the integrated service to help citizens claim their refund were introduced, thereby enhancing the level of satisfaction and convenience for the public. The e-Civil Document Management System, set up in 2010, plays a pivotal role in enhancing public service through facilitating common use of e-civil documents that need to be submitted and looked up according to the advancement plan of online application handling, thereby dramatically improving the quality of public service. The administrative information sharing system has transformed the provision of public service from indirectly providing convenience and increasing the level of user satisfaction for the public through offering required services to directly enhancing the convenience for not only the public but also public servants based on the information sharing system.

1. Enhancing the convenience for citizen applicants and the effectiveness of work process In the past, citizen applicants had to visit multiple government organizations to get relevant documents to submit, but now such information is easily accessed and confirmed through the administrative information sharing system. Today, citizens are asked to simply bring their proof of identification to process their applications. 2. Engaging relevant organizations to participate in the administrative information sharing system through helping them understand the system and creating a consensus The Administrative Information Sharing Working Group dispatched representatives of entities owning and using information to be engaged in the process of creating and operating the administrative information sharing system, thereby resolving conflicts amongst organizations, and the dispatched workers were encouraged to engage their coworkers in the process of analyzing problems, designing and developing the system so that their opinions could be taken into consideration. Council meetings and workshops with relevant organizations were held more than once a year, and optimized solutions were created to address systematic and technical issues. Also, the public was educated on the changes made to the administrative system. 3. Strategies to engage relevant organizations in creating an information sharing culture The administrative information sharing system required the approval process of organizations owning relevant information; therefore, it was necessary to have all relevant parties fully on board. Against this backdrop, workshops involving information-owning entities were frequently held to promote the advantages of the new system including enhancement of the effectiveness of work and the quality of public service. For those that are strongly against adopting the system, representatives of the organizations were invited to be directly involved in the project, thereby helping them better understand the necessity of this project. At the same time, complaints and requests made by information-using entities were clearly identified and promptly addressed; as a result, the primary objectives of the project were successfully achieved. 4. Preemptively building an institutional foothold and the information security system A legal basis for administrative information sharing was embedded in the Electronic Government Act, and guidelines for administrative information sharing were enacted in December 2008. Also, the PISC was officially launched in May 2010 to provide systematic and effective e-Government service and build an institutional basis for such service. “The Management Regulation of Administrative Organization Information System Access Right”, designed to strengthen the process of identity confirmation and information access to protect personal information, was enacted as a Prime Minister’s Directive and enforced in 2008. The regulation was adopted to prevent administrative organizations from access the system without permission to misuse or abuse the private information and the leakage of important information. 5. Incremental execution primarily targeting core information while minimizing risks At the initial stage, selected administrative organizations were demanded to share information specifically targeting the resident registration (abstract) due to the high frequency of its usage by the public. Since 2005 when the development process of the system kicked off, 10 to 20 types of information have become subject to common use every year, and as of 2018, there are 160 types of information commonly used by administrative organizations. In addition, 41 financial organizations in the private sector are now allowed to use the information sharing system to access the nation’s administrative information. In doing so, potential default risks were mitigated phase-by-phase, and preemptive measures were taken accordingly.

The Korean government designated four agenda: Workplace Innovation, Public Service Innovation, Information Resource Management Innovation and Legal System Modification in 2003 and created an e-Government roadmap including 31 primary tasks. One of the tasks was designed to expand administrative information sharing; this task was selected because the administrative data bases were not properly integrated and connected with one another though they are the basis of the public service innovation and the government’s workplace innovation. The aim of the task was to strengthen the e-Government infrastructure and service through the innovation of information sharing amongst administrative and public organizations. For the past decades, Korean citizens have become accustomed to visit multiple government organizations to prepare up to 10 different types of documents to file applications or to engage in individual transactions, and public servants in charge of such tasks have become used to handling submitted documents and process the applications. This is a unique pattern exhibited in the context of the Korean culture that heavily focuses on certification instead of credibility which is highly important in Europe and the United States. Korea’s public service had achieved many enhancements through diverse informatization projects; yet, the quality of service was rather low as the government merely digitized the information in storage and issued documents the public wanted via the Internet. Also, the majority of the documents citizen applicants had to submit were electronically managed; however, staff at the service counter had no way of confirming such information, and the applicants were institutionally obligated to submit relevant documents. The administrative information sharing system was created to address these issues and comprehensively manage the integrated system to sufficiently provide necessary information as requested by organizations.

Since the administrative information sharing system prevents organizations from requesting document submission or issuing relevant documents and facilitates public servants in charge of civil affairs administration to process applications online, the processing time has reduced, and the work flow has fundamentally changed, thereby reducing administrative costs and enhancing administrative efficiency. In the process of providing public service, the number of documents citizen applicants are obligated to submit has been reduced dramatically; as a result, the number of trips applicants need to make to relevant government organizations has been minimized, and public service is promptly provided. Inefficiency in relation to passport and licensing issuance has been eliminated, and value-added services including helping citizens claim their refunds have directly benefited citizens.

1. Reducing the number of documents and conducting paperless administrative activities The biggest advantage that information sharing brings is that when a citizen files an application, the system fundamentally prevents relevant documents from being issued. The information distribution service (the former intermediary service) in comparison to the information inquiry service (the former browser service) delivers a massive amount of information via electronic media year-round, so it significantly cuts the usage of paper documents. The elimination of physical documents ultimately benefited public servants and citizen applicants as it enhanced both of their convenience and satisfaction. 2. Improving the administrative process procedure to be more prompt and efficient Now that the information is electronically shared, various documents created in the process of doing administrative tasks do not need to be stored or managed. Each administrative organization can simply look up and confirm relevant information it needs, and storage units used to keep paper documents can now be freed up for alternative purposes. 3. Enhancing the nation’s administrative competitiveness through information sharing infrastructure The public service is promptly provided, and the administrative organization’s responsiveness has become optimized through sharing information, thereby eliminating redundancy in internal processes and inefficiency in requesting for, issuing and storing paper documents. The administrative information sharing system, the first pan-government system for cooperation and information sharing, allows multiple ministries to process complex tasks and respond to diverse requests. The system could potentially play a pivotal role in providing administrative public service that is compatible with the public needs in a way that the public is involved in the entire process.

(Organization) In order to facilitate the smooth operation of the project, we have been running the Public Information Sharing Division affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. (Financial) In order to facilitate the smooth operation of the project, We spend $78 million from 2005 to 2017.

The administrative information sharing project began its journey in August 2003; the development plan was followed by the foundation building process, and now the administrative information sharing system catered to the demand of users has been created. Over the past few years, the system has continuously evolved according to requests made by relevant parties and environmental changes. The system has developed from a provider-centric service to a user-centric service, and the next-generation ICT including mobile and web 2.0 has been taken into consideration to turn the system into a mid- to long-term service. Also, privacy protection has been strengthened to prevent information leakage and misuse and abuse of such information to maintain the stability of various services. The system created throughout the process of changes will include the public and private sector, allow them to share information of both realms, continuously grow and become sustainable.

Yes

We conduct an annual evaluation on user satisfaction targeting organizations and individuals using the administrative information sharing system based on user satisfaction indicators.

The indicator used for the 2019 user satisfaction evaluation is “User Satisfaction‘’, and the evaluation criteria are ”User Convenience“, ”Customer Responsiveness“, ”Content Quality“ and ”Security“. The evaluation is done through surveying stakeholders, and the outcome is quantitatively evaluated.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, based on the evaluation outcome of the designated indicator, is coming up with a plan to vitalize the standard analysis model for next year and follow-up measures, and ultimately it will create an internal and external evaluation system to internally evaluate the project in phases.

1. Receiving the government’s full support as the system is a policy agenda In 1987, the government began its effort in putting the nation’s information in the data base including the information on citizens, real estate and automobiles with executing the administrative computer network project. During the latter half of 1990s, the informatization promotion basic plan and the administration informatization promotion execution plan were created, thereby creating the concept of e-Government. As we entered the 21st century, an e-Government roadmap was created, and the expansion of administrative information sharing was designated as a primary policy agenda. 2. Launching of the Administrative Information Sharing Working Group the principal agent of information sharing In July, 2005, the development of the administrative information sharing system was selected as a primary government policy, and the Administrative Information Sharing Promotion Committee and the Administrative Information Sharing Working Group were created accordingly during the policy agenda meeting led by the president. The Administrative Information Sharing Promotion Committee is consisted of the prime minister, a committee, and an advisory board to create and execute policies and enhance relevant laws and regulations. The Administrative Information Sharing Working Group is made up of three divisions: planning, system evaluation and building a sharing system. The working group focused on proposing new systems and execute them as well as evaluating the state of usage. 3. The sharing system was completed thanks to the cooperation amongst information-using and information-owning entities and the PISC The Administrative Information Sharing Working Group dispatched representatives of entities owning and using information in creating and operating the administrative information sharing system, thereby resolving conflicts amongst organizations, and the dispatched workers were encouraged to engage their coworkers in the process of analyzing problems, designing and developing the system so that their opinions could be taken into consideration. Council meetings and workshops with relevant organizations were held more than once a year, and optimized solutions were created to address systematic and technical issues. Also, the public was educated on the changes made to the administrative system.

1. The collaborative system going beyond collectivism of ministries The administrative information sharing system was initiated during the policy agenda meeting led by the president in July 2005. With the significance of the system in mind, the progress report has been continuously reviewed and made to the president. At the initial stage, ministries were reluctant to share information as they saw their information as a tool to maintain their organization and power. They were later convinced through test applications and cooperative meetings which demonstrated mutual benefits of sharing information, and as the ministries came on board, they witnessed firsthand the benefits of the system through learning and experience. 2. Cognitive and cultural acceptance of public servants in charge of civil affairs administration The public servants in charge of civil affairs administration were strongly against the adoption of the system as they initially thought their workload would increase, and the control over the security of administrative information would weaken as it is distributed externally. However, they were informed that their workload would actually decrease thanks to information sharing, and the security system would become stronger and more efficient. Also, public hearings, working-level consultative meetings, education programs and promotional activities have been carried out every year to raise the level of awareness. We learned that the most important factor in leading this project to a success was not advanced technologies but the determination of stakeholders. 3. Strong legal and regulatory measures to vitalize the service Since government organizations conduct their activities according to legal procedures, the Electronic Government Act was continuously revised to cater to civil affairs and administrative tasks to create a legal basis to execute administrative information sharing. Also, opinions of those in the field were monitored and collected so that changing working environment could be taken into consideration as the process is enhanced, thereby creating synergistic effects.