"The completion of e-government infrastructure in Korea will be a benchmarking example for other advanced countries, which means Korea has become a true info-tech frontrunner," President Kim said.
The mood at the ceremony was festive, some participants said, as the projects were completed ahead of the original deadline set at year-end.
"National competitiveness will be boosted dramatically as e-government infrastructure saves social costs, enhances the transparent administrative process and improves government productivity," President Kim said.
Korea is one of the most-wired countries in the world, with more than 10 million subscribers hooked up to the high-speed Internet services based on ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line), cable networks and other broadband solutions.
The 11 e-government projects, initiated early last year, required a host of different government agencies to coordinate for streamlined Internet-based administrative procedures and document handling.
Under the so-called "G4C (government for citizen) system," people can apply for a total of 393 kinds of official documents on a portal site (www.egov.go.kr) and obtain them by mail or at nearby offices.
In addition, detailed information about some 4,000 documents handled by the government for licensing and other administrative services are now available on the Web.
The 290 billion-won e-government projects have introduced e-procurement, integrated social insurance, digital signatures and an e-seal system. Administrative documents include resident and census registration copies, tax payment certificates and business registration documents.
Those who apply for these dossiers through the Internet can pay service fees with credit cards or e-money, or by visiting banks or government offices. Business registration certificates and 159 of the other 393 documents require e-signatures authorized by state and commercial banks, security firms or post offices.
In addition, applicants can print out necessary documents at home. Printing services are available for land registry and tax payment documents, but these printouts will not have full legal authority, officials said.
The successful e-government infrastructure buildup comes at a time when a host of advanced countries are keen to take full advantage of the Internet in handling key administrative services and licensing.
Government officials said the country's rapid digitalization will help boost productivity and transparency at public agencies, though some paper-oriented departments are showing some reservations about the faster-than-expected implementation of the electronic document processes.
The e-government infrastructure is now expected to save about 1.8 trillion won per year in terms of the issuance of various government-related documents and certificates. E-procurement and integrated tax payment will save 3.2 trillion won and 140 billion won, respectively, officials said.
The information ministry said in a statement that the e-government projects apply e-commerce solutions to administrative services, reducing time-consuming red-tape processes and paper work. Therefore, possible cost reductions will be significant for both government agencies and ordinary citizens, the ministry said.
The government set up a special committee for e-government projects in May last year and poured in a total of 290.3 billion won, linking up different public databases and streamlining electronic administrative procedures.
But President Kim said yesterday that the completion of the 11 projects does not mean the ultimate goal has been achieved. "The projects are not finished yet, and we should think that the new e-government infrastructure opens up a new beginning," he said.
While the total e-government portal offers a wide array of services, other specialized sites are also designed to speed up the issuance of public documents and other administrative certificates. The related sites include taxation (www.hometax.go.kr), diplomas and transcripts of academic records (www.neis.go.kr), real estate transactions (registry.scourt.go.kr) and army-related information (www.mma.go.kr).
Notably, government agencies now share basic resident registration information and 19 other administrative certificates on the Web, trimming the paper work significantly for those who have to submit necessary documents to obtain licenses or secure official certificates.
Companies can check on bidding information for public projects valued at 70 trillion won per year at the e-procurement Web site (www.g2b.go.kr). Government officials stressed that the online procurement system will dispel lingering suspicion about the way major government offices handle large-scale biddings for public projects.
Theoretically, companies can join the bidding for public projects on the G2B Web site, submitting necessary documents, consulting with related officials and executing the payment.
G2B Web site, opened Sept. 23, posted 12,685 public project biddings and 1 million bidders joined the competition. Transactions amounted to some 1.85 trillion won, government officials said.
The total legal information system (www.moleg.go.kr) is also designed to offer a variety of legal data for general users. The country's official digital library (www.library.go.kr) pieces together six major offline libraries in Korea, allowing scholars and students to search various databases. Another major digital library (www.knowledge.go.kr) specializes in offering digitalized research papers in the fields of history, culture and science.
Lifestyle information is also available for those who seek national statistics information (www.nso.go.kr), traffic information (road.moct.go.kr) and patent (www.kipo.go.kr).
The Ministry of Information and Communication, meanwhile, said yesterday it will push forward with m-government, or mobile government, next year, The project, whose details are yet to be mapped out, will implement a set of initiatives allowing government officials and citizens to communicate via the mobile network for various administrative services.
In addition, the ministry said it will set aside 75 billion won for the existing e-government projects next year in a bid to make them more reliable and sophisticated.
Quelle: Asiamedia
