The Digital Platform Government Committee and the Ministry of Science and ICT will host the ‘2024 GovTech Innovation Festival’ on the 13th at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju.
The GovTech Innovation Festival is an event held on the first day of the ‘2024 Korea Government Expo.’ It aims to share the achievements of this year’s projects initiated by the Digital Platform Government Committee and the Ministry of Science and ICT to revitalize the GovTech industry ecosystem. The event will include the awards ceremony for the GovTech Startup Competition and presentations of exemplary cases from GovTech startup support projects.
The startup competition was organized to discover promising entrepreneurs with excellent ideas related to digital platform government and to promote tech startups in the GovTech field. It was open to all citizens and conducted in two areas: idea planning (open category) and product and service development (open and designated categories).
The competition received high interest with a competitiveness rate of approximately 18 to 1, as 284 creative and diverse entries were submitted.
Participants (teams) who achieve excellent results in the competition will be awarded a total of 16 prizes, including three Chairman’s Awards from the Digital Platform Government Committee, three Minister’s Awards from the Ministry of Science and ICT, and ten President’s Awards from the National IT Industry Promotion Agency. In addition, a total prize of 80 million won will be awarded.
Moreover, the grand prize winner in the product and service development category will have the opportunity to participate in the ‘K-Digital Grand Championship.’
The startup support project targets GovTech startup companies and assists with commercialization, marketing, and more. Exemplary cases from three of the 20 companies participating in this year’s project will be presented.
Lee Seung-hyun, Director of the Platform Data Innovation Bureau of the Digital Platform Government Committee, stated, “This event will be a meaningful first step in connecting innovative technology and creative ideas to innovations in public services.”
Kim Kyung-man, Director of AI-Based Policies at the Ministry of Science and ICT, mentioned, “The core players in GovTech are private startups with innovative ideas and specialized ICT technology,” and added, “We will strive to maximize the collaboration between domestic GovTech startups and the government.”