Basic Report

It is forecasted that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will induce enormous changes in the overall social structures, including economy, society and the topography for job opportunities due to the advancement of intelligent information technologies such as AI, Big Data and IoT, etc. The government is searching for means of inducing not only such changes that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will generate but also innovations in its administrative services. This is because of the forecast that the advancement of intelligent information technologies such as AI, Big Data and IoT, etc. will induce significant changes in decision-making processes, format of delivery of administrative services, format of operating organizations, bureaucratic organizational structure and format of public works, etc. of the government (Moon, et al., 2019).
   There are currently extensive discussions on the improvement of administrative services using the intelligent information technologies at the domain of the local autonomous governments. With the metropolitan city governments and several local autonomous governments playing key roles, efforts are being made to provide more effective administrative services by applying technologies such as AI, Big Data and IoT, etc. to various domains, including processing of civil petitions, transportation and parking, and culture and tourism, etc.
   This study is aimed at examining the administrative services of local autonomous governments that the intelligent information technologies will bring about by focusing on the relationship between the Fourth Industrial Revolution and administrative services of the local autonomous governments that has drawn attention until now and to summarize the means of improvement in order for the local autonomous governments to innovate administrative services through the use of intelligent information technologies. For this purpose, implications will be presented by summarizing the current status of the intelligent information technologies that the local autonomous government are applying to their civil petition and welfare services. Moreover, the internal and external context of the technological environment, innovation of civil petition, social welfare and medical health services, and innovation of local autonomous governments were presented as the analytic framework by summarizing theoretical discussions on the innovation of administrative services through the utilization of intelligent information technologies.
   Examination of the current status of the application of the 4 major intelligent information technologies, namely, AI, Big Data, IoT and blockchain to local autonomous governments reveals the most prominent characteristic that there is marked gap in the level and application of the technologies among the local autonomous governments. It can be seen that Big Data among these 4 technologies is the most frequently applied and utilized. As a result of expert research and questionnaire surveys, leadership of the head of the local autonomous government, competencies of the public servants in charge and organizational support and culture play key roles in the innovation of administrative services from the perspective of internal context. However, there are issues that need to be dealt with, including deviation in the capabilities of the public servants in charge in the utilization of technologies, lower incentives in applying technologies in comparison to the private sector, inadequate data integration and establishment of platform, lack of relevant specialized manpower (computing personnel) and regular training and education, and inadequate level of accommodation for failures and conflicts, as well as decision-making authorities of street-level bureaucrats, etc. In addition, from the perspective of the external context, it was possible to confirm deviations in accordance with the gender, age and academic background of the general public towards alleviation of various regulations, prevention of disclosure of personal information in advance and accommodation of intelligent information technologies.
   In order for the local autonomous governments to innovate their administrative services by utilizing intelligent information technologies, it is necessary to establish a mid to long-term road map for local autonomous government and educational programs, introduction of incentives for continued employment of the public servants in charge, provision of technological support and re-education programs, establishment and support for data platforms at the central level, accommodation of failure and conflicts, and establishment of procedures and systems for TF teams and collaboration, etc. from the perspective of internal context. From the perspective of external context, it is necessary to provide a system that enables cooperation and sharing among the institutions holding data, resolution for the restrictive requirements such as the three Korean data-related laws and mobility regulations, etc., technological and personnel support at the central level, platform, means of re-education and re-positioning of the occupations with the possibility of loss of job opportunities, education, learning and support programs that can resolve the digital illiteracy.