The proportion of administrative and public institutions that manage public data excellently has surpassed 40% for the first time.
On the 4th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it reported the results of the “2024 Public Data Provision and Operation Status Evaluation,” conducted for a total of 679 institutions including central administrative agencies, local governments, and public institutions, to the Cabinet meeting.
The evaluation examined three areas (11 detailed indicators): openness and utilization, quality, and management system. Out of the 679 institutions, 278 (41%) received an “excellent” grade, 136 (20%) were rated “average,” and 265 (39%) were found to be “insufficient.” It is the first time since the initial evaluation in 2018 that the proportion of “excellent” institutions has reached 40%.
By institution type, central administrative agencies (86.8 points), public enterprises and quasi-governmental institutions (89 points), and provincial and municipal education offices (88.3 points) scored in the mid to high 80s on average. They were well-equipped with dedicated departments and personnel, and efforts to provide high-quality public data were deemed excellent.
Metropolitan local governments (76.3 points) and local public enterprises (66.2 points) were evaluated at an average level of 60 to 70 points, similar to the previous year. Basic municipalities (54.9 points) and other public institutions (53.3 points) averaged in the 50s, showing a general lack of enthusiasm for performance verification and participation in education, leading to low scores.
By evaluation area, the management system scored 75.1 points, quality 63.0 points, and openness and utilization 60.4 points, indicating a need for strengthening quality and openness/utilization to enhance the level of public data provision.
The “management system” level was relatively good, with most institutions securing dedicated organizations and personnel and participating in related education. Though the “quality” level is improving compared to the previous year, it requires significant expertise and effort, showing large disparity among institutions such as public enterprises and quasi-government institutions (94.2 points), central administrative agencies (92.4 points), other public institutions (53.7 points), and basic municipalities (51.3 points).
The “openness” level of public data, which reflects the degree to which open data supports the creation of quality services in the private sector, requires improvement in institutional utilization efforts. Based on this evaluation result, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to expand support through various methods, such as online and offline education, to enhance the capabilities of insufficient institutions and provide tailored consulting for vulnerable areas such as openness/utilization and quality.
Yong-seok Lee, Digital Government Innovation Officer, stated, “We plan to actively promote AI-friendly public data openness that citizens and companies need in the AI era,” and “We will spare no pan-governmental support so that key data in high-demand fields such as finance, disaster safety, and healthcare can be discovered and opened by each institution.”