The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) of the Republic of Korea signed the Digital 7 (D7) Charter and shared thoughts on setting up digital rights promote AI-based government innovation with six other digital leading countries* at the Digital 7 Ministerial Summit.

* D7 countries: South Korea, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Estonia, Israel, Canada, Uruguay

The D7 Ministerial Summit took place on February 21-22 in Wellington, New Zealand. In addition to the ministerial summit, other sessions including CIO meeting, country updates on e-Government, expert discussion on the future of AI were held to share digital government policies.

<Overview of Digital-7>
▶ Digital 7 (D7): an intergovernmental, ministerial network on digital government founded in 2014, under the leadership of Korea and the UK
▶ Goal: To lead the global digital government by enhancing e-Government and public services through analysis on digital-driven government reform policies and peer-learning on digital government
▶ History
- Dec. 2014: Founded as Digital-5 (Korea, the UK, New Zealand, Estonia, Israel)
- Feb. 2018: Expanded to Digital-7 (joining of Canada and Uruguay)
▶ Past Host Countries: The UK (2014) / Estonia (2015) / Korea (2016)

At the D7 Ministerial Summit, Canada which sets open government as a top priority and Uruguay which has taken the head in Latin America’s e-Government joined as new members to the group, enhancing the presence of D7 in the field of digital government.

Moreover, the delegates from Portugal and Mexico attended the meeting as observers and expressed their interest in joining the D7.

At the bilateral meeting with the UK, the delegation discusses ways to foster mutual cooperation, especially through personnel exchange with the UK Government Digital Service, which is in charge of user-oriented e-Government services.
New Zealand showed great interest in Korea’s digital-based public participatory policies including Gwanghwamoon 1st Street and public trust in e-Government services.

Vice Minister Shim Bo-kyun of the Interior and Safety commented that “The D7 Ministerial Summit served as an opportunity to further reinforce cooperation among digital leading countries to achieve digital government innovation by setting digital rights and harnessing AI technologies.” “By building smart e-Government, we will let our citizens enjoy high-quality public services,” he added.

The next D7 meeting will be held in Israel in 2019.