The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs (MOFA) sent a delegation headed by Vice Minister Shim Bo-kyun of the Interior and Safety to Greece and Romania, the members of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC), from September 27 to October 2.

The delegation on e-government is composed of MOIS, MOFA, National Tax Service (NTS), Public Procurement Service (PPS), Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), National Information Society Agency (NIA), Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute (KLID) and World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO).

Korea’s e-government has been under the global spotlight, ranking first in the E-Participation Index and third in the E-Government Development Index of the UN e-Government Survey in 2018. In response to the request for cooperation by Greece and Romania, the Korean government formed and sent the delegation specialized in e-government to the two countries.

Both Greece and Romania have considerable interest in e-government, but most of government work is still processed in paper. Although some electronic document systems were adopted in these countries, it is difficult to send and receive documents due to non-standardization among agencies. Thus, the two countries are making every effort to enhance the level of e-government.

Though Romania stood at mere 67th in the E-Government Development Index of the UN e-government Survey 2018, it has world’s fifth fastest broadband internet as of 2017 and the highest number of IT specialists per capita in Europe, which shows Romania’s great potential.

Under the ‘Romanian Digital Agenda 2020,’ the county plans to invest around EUR 250 million in e-government from 2014 to 2020.
The delegation met with Maria-Manuela Catrina, State Secretary at the Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Society and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation on e-government. And, the E-Government Cooperation Forum was held.

At the forum, the Korean delegates suggested ways to work together for the introduction of e-Document system and the establishment of the integrated, government-wide service portal. They also introduced Korea’s best e-government practices such as Smart Cities, national tax service (Hometax) and e-procurement system (KONEPS), and ways to foster collaboration on nurturing cyber security experts.

Greece, which announced the end of bailout programs in August, is doing its utmost to introduce e-government system for enhancing the efficiency and transparency of the public sector, as part of economic recovery and national competitiveness improvement plans.

In October 2017, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation on e-government was signed between Korea and Greece, with Prime Ministers of the two countries in attendance. And, the 1st Cooperation Committee meeting was held.

As a follow-up, the delegation held the 2nd e-Government Cooperation Committee Meeting during the visit to Greece, which was attended by the Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Government and the Minister of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media of Greece.

At the meeting, the participants shared and reviewed the overall status and future plan of Greece’s e-government. They also discussed follow-ups for substantial cooperation regarding digitalization of government documents, introduction of tailored public services such as Government 24, assessment on the level of e-Government and development of emerging technology-based service models.

Vice Minister Shim Bo-kyun commented that “Korea’s e-Government boasts high brand value in the world, and many countries are asking for technological cooperation on digital government with us.” “We will continue playing the role as one of the e-government leaders by sharing our knowledge and experience, which will help domestic companies to make inroads into the global market and promote Korea’s e-government system around the globe,” he added.