The term e-government first appeared in the United States in 1993. Of course, before that, various terms were used to explain the continuous promotion of computerization and informatization in the public sector. This was a great success, combined with the establishment of a high-speed ICT infrastructure and government innovation of the US Clinton administration.
Since 2000, e-government has spread to many countries around the world. In this process, the e-government evaluation survey conducted by the United Nations played a large role. Based on this development, e-government has evolved into various forms in combination with the rapid development of ICT. Today, terms ranging from e-government to digital government, intelligent government, smart government, artificial intelligence government, and digital governance are used interchangeably. Especially in recent years, combined with digital transformation, e-government is rapidly changing to digital government.
It is the perspective of government innovation that is highlighted in this process. Digital government is not just about introducing ICT into the public sector, but it is also about a new form of government that uses intelligent information technology to achieve total government innovation. Digital governance is what is needed to successfully implement this new digital government.
South Korea has been the world's No. 1 ranked e-government in the United Nations' evaluation in 2010, 2012, and 2014(United Nations, 2010; 2012; 2014). South Korea was the first country in 2001 to enact the e-government law. In addition, based on the law, e-government day has been enacted and national commemoration ceremonies have been held since 2018. Based on these developments, South Korea is currently regarded as a leading country in the field of digital government. South Korea ranked first among 33 countries in the Digital Government Index[1] 2019 evaluation released by the OECD in October 2020 (OECD, 2020).
This topic is aimed at readers including scholars and government officials from around the world who are interested in learning about Korea’s digital government experiences. Therefore, in terms of content, the author tried to balance theory and reality of the current state of digital government in Korea.
[1] The OECD Secretariat surveyed 37 member countries and judged the evaluation items in all six areas: ① Digital by design, ② Government as a platform, ③ Data-driven public Sector, ④ Open by default, ⑤ User-Driven, and ⑥ Proactiveness. 97 questionnaires were answered and evaluated.
