CARICOM SPECIAL TRAINING

ON E-GOVERNMENT
September 22nd, 2016 October 8th, 2016,
Seongnam and Gwacheon, South Korea

Information Technology Services Division,

Ministry of Economic Planning, Sustainable Development, Industry,
Information and Labour
1

Executive Summary
I traveled to the Republic of Korea for the 'CARICOM Special Training on e-Government', which
was scheduled from September 22nd to October 8th, 2016. The training programme was
sponsored by KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) through their Official
Development Assistance (ODA) Policy and the Capacity Improvement and Advancement for
Tomorrow (CIAT) Fellowship Program which aims exclusively at Human Resource Training. The
training was facilitated by the National Human Resource Development Institute (NHI) which
employed various professors and senior public officials to deliver lectures, as well as arranged
site visits to various e-Government agencies.
The training programme focused on the best practices of Korean e-Government. There were
stories of Korean history and culture to give a backdrop of the growth of the Korean economy.
Thereafter the lectures comprised of e-Governance Strategies, Model Cases of e-Government
Services, Government 3.0, Korean Government Infrastructure, Public Reform and Change
Management, and Public Service Ethics.
We visited agencies such as the National Computing and Information Service (NCIS) which
houses the Government Integrated Data Center, and the Seocho District Office which
demonstrated a One-Stop Registration/Information Service for the public called OK Civil Service.
We were also exposed to Korean food and culture as we traveled to the central and southern
parts of South Korea to visit one of the government districts there and see other achievements.
The training programme was aimed towards policy makers and senior officials, but the turnout
proved to be more diversified with persons ranging from junior staff and mid-level managers to
Directors and Reform Personnel. The participants included myself as well as representatives from
the CARICOM Secretariat and 7 other countries, namely Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica and Guyana.

Observations
Korea is very advanced in terms of e-Government, e-Governance, and the implementation
of technologies in these aspects.
An ICT solution by itself cannot improve management and service performance, but
procedures must be planned and re-engineered if necessary.
Focus on interoperability, transparency, anti-corruption, availability/accessibility of services
and individual accountability has driven high standards of productivity.
Legislation is very important in ensuring that standards are kept and e-Governance
procedures are followed.
Public Services are very customer/client-oriented.
There are Public Relations/Marketing sections in most government agencies.
There is a high emphasis not only on academic education, but on professional training and
continuing learning.
Research and Design has become a major part of development, as the Korean Government
sees the importance of detailed and relevant planning.
The investment of the Korean government into the private sector (SMEs as well as industry
giants) has led to growth on a global scale (e.g. Samsung and LG).

Recommendations for improving e-Government and e-Governance

1. Introduce Business Process Re-engineering to ensure efficient operation of the department
internally, as well as intra-governmentally, and more productive project management.
2. Plan for the Government Intranet Portal to consolidate all available online government
services in one place: Government email (which also has a meeting scheduling section), eArchiving, existing government-centric applications*, and the ongoing EDRMS project as well as
other potential services.
*this may only be possible through software upgrades, secure channels, as well as consensus
between stakeholders for interoperability and sharing of data.
3. Install a library/archive corner in ITSD for review of past documentation, and to keep
reference books that will be useful for staff.
4. Employ a dedicated legal/research consultant for guidance in drafting bespoke ICT, egovernment, and e-Governance policies and legislation in the future.
5. Do not just invite public to comment on legislation, but create an environment where they will
be willing to contribute, and can be educated where they have questions.
6. Create a dedicated Website for department

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1
Journey, Meals, & Accommodation ...................................................................................... 1
Host Institutions .......................................................................................................................... 1
Goals of Training Programme ................................................................................................. 2
Scope of Training Programme and Participants .................................................................. 2
Experience .................................................................................................................................... 3
Training Schedule...................................................................................................................... 3
Lecture Portfolio ........................................................................................................................ 5
Site Visits...................................................................................................................................... 5
Lessons Learnt ............................................................................................................................... 6
Detailed Report ......................................................................................................................... 6
Observations ............................................................................................................................ 12
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 13
Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 13
List of e-Government Services .................................................................................................. 14
On-Nara Business Process System .............................................................................................. 14

dBrain ........................................................................................................................................ 14
KONEPS ..................................................................................................................................... 14
e-People ................................................................................................................................... 14
HomeTax .................................................................................................................................. 15
Minwon24 ................................................................................................................................. 15
Intelligent Transport System ................................................................................................... 15
Government Integrated Data Center ................................................................................. 15

Introduction
This is a report on my participation in CARICOM Special Training on e-Government, one of
KOICAs fellowship programmes which was established under the 2016 Technical Cooperation
Programme of the Government of the Republic of Korea. The programme was scheduled to run
from Thursday September 22nd, 2016 to Saturday October 8th, 2016.

Journey, Meals and Accommodation

I began my journey on the 20th of September and returned to St. Vincent on the 9th of October.
Accommodation and meals in Korea, and transportation to and from Korea was arranged by
KOICA. We were first housed at the KOICA International Cooperation Center, which is a
dormitory located on the KOICA campus in Seongnam, but later moved to the Courtyard
Marriot Pangyo (5 minutes away) as there were too many participants for other concurrent
programmes. We were based at Pangyo for the most of the programme. Meals were provided
at all times, with the exception of on arrival and one meal each on two days where we had a
free schedule (3 meals total). Each participant was given a subsistence allowance at
Orientation which was held on the 23rd September to cover sundry expenses.

Host Institutions
KOICA
KOICA (Korean International Cooperation Agency) is an agency in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs which was established under the KOICA Act in 1991 to establish KOICA with the task of
implementing Koreas grant aid programs and promoting international cooperation. According
to the Act, KOICAs grant aid programs include the following: (a) invitation of trainees; (b)
dispatch of experts and volunteers; (c) research for development studies; (d) emergency and
distress relief activities; and (e) provision of commodities, capital, and facilities. The KOICA
Fellowship Program CIAT (Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow) is part of
Koreas Official Development Assistance (ODA) Policy which focues on capacity development
of participants. Koreas ODA consists of three types of aid: 1) bilateral grants, 2) bilateral loans,
and 3) multilateral assistance. In terms of ODA implementation, KOICA is responsible for Koreas
bilateral grant aid and technical cooperation programs. KOICAs bilateral grant aid makes up
around 40% of the total budget of Koreas bilateral ODA. Contact Person: Ms. Hoomi Lee
NHI
National Human Resources Development Institute formerly known as Central Officials
Training Institute (COTI) was established in 1949 for the training of public officials. NHI is an
agency under the Ministry of Personnel Management. They now offer training programmes to
foreign government officials as of 1984. The aim of these programmes is to provide forums
through which participants can exchange ideas and opinions and share experiences on matters
of national development. Lectures were held at the NHI Facility in Gwacheon. Contact Person:
Mr. Hyeong Jung

Goals of Training Programme

The goals of the CARICOM Special Training on e-Government were:

To build capacity on the establishment of egovernment policies of CARICOM member

states
To improve governance effectiveness and productivity in CARICOM member states through
government reforms by establishing and implementing e-government
To improve skills and abilities in making and implementing e-Government services tailored for
CARICOM countries.
To learn more about new trends of e-Government services and guidelines for developing
successful e-Government.
To strengthen the national competitiveness of CARICOM member states at the global level
through government reforms
To enhance future cooperation between Korea and CARICOM member states

Scope of Training Programme and Participants

The training programme was geared towards Senior Government officials with experience
working in the field of e-Government and ICT. However the range of participation was as follows:
Country
Antigua and
Barbuda

Name
Charissa Ann Simon

Organisation
Ministry on Information,
Broadcasting
Telecommunications and
Information Technology

Position
Web Developer/
Project Manager , Web
Development

Bahamas

Carol Roach

Deputy Director

Barbados

Quincy Yarde

Belize

Michael Singh

Dominica
CARICOM/Guyana

Kemuel Lodrick
Christopher Lawrence

Department of
Information Technology,
Ministry of Finance
Data Processing
Department
Office of the Prime
Minister
ICT Department
CARICOM Secretariat

Guyana

Nkasi Ann Nedd

E-Government Agency

Guyana

Shaka Dow

E-Government Agency

Jamaica

Herman Athias

St. Vincent and the

Grenadines

Jozeene Bailey

e-Government Jamaica
Ltd.
Information Technology
Services Division

Senior Systems Analyst

Advisor-Planning &
Monitoring
Database Developer
Webmaster ,
Integrated Information
Systems
Manager, Data
Development &
Integration, Enterprise
Solutions Division
Chief Technical Officer,
Infrastructure Division
Chief Executive Officer,
ICT
Administrative Cadet

Experience
Training Schedule
Date

Programme Description

Sept. 22 (Thu.)

Arrival

Sept. 23 (Fri.)

KOICA Orientation

Sept. 24 (Sat.)

Seoul City Tour

Sept. 25 (Sun.)

No Official Schedule

Sept. 26
(Mon.)

Opening Ceremony / NHI Orientation / Lecture

09:00~09:20
09:40~10:00
10:00~10:50
11:00~12:00
12:00~13:30
13:30~17:30

Sept. 27 (Tue.)

Lecture
09:00~12:00
12:00~13:30
13:30~16:30

Sept. 28
(Wed.)

Seocho-gu Office
Lunch
Education on Public Service Values

Lecture
09:00~12:00
12:00~13:30
13:30~16:30

Oct. 1 (Sat.)

Ministry of Interior
Korea Public Finance Information Service
Lunch
Seoul Emergency Operations Center

Study Visit / Lecture

09:30~11:00
11:30~13:00
14:00~18:00

Sept. 30 (Fri.)

e- Government in South Korea

Lunch
Good Governance in Korea government

Study Visit
09:30~10:30
10:30~12:00
12:00~13:30
13:30~16:00

Sept. 29 (Thu.)

NHI Orientation I
Opening Ceremony
NHI Orientation
NHI Campus Tour
Lunch
[Workshop] Country Report presentation

Government Reform and Change Management

Lunch
From e- Government to e- Governance

No Official Schedule

Oct. 2 (Sun.)

Study Visit
08:00~12:00
12:00~13:00
13:00~14:00
14:00~15:00
15:00~16:30
16:30~17:00

Oct. 3 (Mon.)

Study Visit
08:30~09:00
09:00~11:30
12:00~13:00
13:30~15:00

Oct. 4 (Tue.)

Presentation Action Plan

Lunch
INVIL Village

Evaluation / Closing Ceremony

09:00~10:00
10:00~10:30
10:50~11:40
11:40~14:00
14:00~16:30

Oct. 8 (Sat.)

Move
Information Network Village
National HRD Institute
Lunch
Korean Information Society Development Institute (KISDI)
Move

Action Plan
09:00~13:00
13:00~14:00
13:00~16:00

Oct. 7 (Fri.)

Move
National Computing and Information Service (NCIS)
Smart Work Center
Lunch
Korean Intellectual Property Office
Public Procurement Service

Study Visit
08:30~09:30
09:30~11:00
11:30~12:00
12:00~13:30
14:00~16:00
16:00~17:00

Oct. 6 (Thu.)

Check out and move

Sunchenman Bay (Eco park)
Lunch
Nakan Folk Village

Study Visit
08:30~09:30
09:30~10:40
10:50~12:00
12:00~13:30
13:30~14:50
15:00~16:00

Oct. 5 (Wed.)

Check out and Move

Lunch
Dasan Education Hall & Training Center
Bus ride to Bosung
Bosung Green Tea Farm
Check in

Wrap-up / Evaluation
Meeting with the Director of Global Education and Cooperation Division
Closing Ceremony (Host by President of NHI)
Farewell Luncheon
Bus Ride to KOICA and Program Evaluation Session of KOICA

Departure

Lecture Portfolio
Session 1:

e- Government in South Korea

(Choi, Hong Suk, Professor of Public Administration, Korea University)

Session 2:

Good Governance in Korea

(Eun, Jae Ho, Senior Researcher Korea Institute for Public Administration)
Session 3:

Education on Public Service Values

(Lee, Nae Hee, Visiting Professor of NHI, National HRD Institute)

Session 4:

Government Reform and Change Management

(Park, Jin, Professor of Public Policy and Management, Korea Development Institute)
Session 5:

From e- Government to e- Governance

(Myung, Seung Hwan, Professor of Public Administration, Inha University)

Facilitator of Country Report and Action Plan Presentations:
(Moon, Myung Jae, Professor of Public Administration, Yonsei University)

Site Visits
- E-Government Agencies

Ministry of Interior
Korea Public Finance Information Service
Seoul Emergency Operations Center
Seocho-gu Office
Gangnam Recycling Resource Center
National Computing and Information
Service (NCIS)
Smart Work Center
Korean Intellectual Property Office
Public Procurement Service
National HRD Institute (Jincheon)
Korean Information Society Development
Institute (KISDI)
Information Network Village (INVIL) Icheon

- Cultural Experience Seoul City Tour (included

Gyeongbukgong Palace, National Palace
Museum, National Contemporary History
Museum, Jeongdong Theatre)
Dasan Education Hall & Training Center
Bosung Green Tea Farm
Sunchenman Bay (Eco Park)
Nakan Folk Village

Lessons Learnt
Detailed Report of Training Schedule
Monday, Sept. 26th
On the first day of training, the bus came to pick us up at the hotel in the morning and we were
taken to the NHI Institute in Gwacheon. There, we were greeted by our Programme Officer Mr.
Haeyoung Jung and an intern in his office, Mr. Taehyung Kim. We were given pre-assigned seats
and introduced to the Programme Director, Ms. Eun. Mr. Jung then explained to us the
proceedings of the day and gave a background and history of the NHI.
The Opening Ceremony began not too long after. We were joined by the Director of Global
Education and Cooperation Division, as well as Ambassador Lee who was on exchange from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Personnel Management, and the President of the
NHI, Dr. Oak Dong-suk. The ambassador gave a speech, as well as the President. The
participants then introduced themselves one by one. After this, we were taken on a tour around
the NHI Institute campus which was a vast area including playing field, gardens, ponds, walking
and resting areas, dormitories, lecture halls, and a cafeteria. We returned to the lecture hall,
where we were given more information about the activities that we would be taking part in, and
what was expected from us throughout the programme. We were afterwards escorted to the
cafeteria for lunch with the President.
In the afternoon we met Dr. Jae, a knowledgeable and sprightly professor who moderated our
Country Report presentations. Before we began, he gave a short lecture on the importance of
e-Governance and the benefits it had brought to the Government of the Republic of Korea
namely transparency and accountability. As we listened to the Country Reports of each other,
we realized that many of us had similar problems: lack of proper allocation of funds/lack of
funding, improper change management procedures, misplacement of roles, lack of support
from other government departments, lack of supporting infrastructure, misplaced focus on
technology rather than procedure, and many others. Dr. Jae gave us some feedback on our
issues, but we were not able to delve into much discussion after all the presentations.
Tuesday Sept. 27th
We had 2 lectures scheduled for Tuesday at NHI Gwacheon. In the morning, Dr. Choi talked on
the topic 'e-Government in South Korea'. We began with a video clip on Best Practice in eGovernment in Korea. This video talked about some of the top examples of services that made
up e-Government. There are currently 19,246 ICT services provided by the Korean Government
which have increased work efficiency. Bringing services online aims to improve transparency
and communication, and enhance efficiency and information resources for citizens. The model
cases* that were mentioned included: on-Nara BPS, d-Brain, GIDC(Government Integrated Data
Centre), HomeTax, KONEPS, e-People, Minwon24 and Intelligent Transport System. After the
video, Dr. Choi talked about 'Korea's 5 Basic Information Infrastructure' : Finance, Police,
Education, Public Administration, and Research. He spoke about the various indices by which
the UN measured various aspects of e-Governance such as e-Participation Index, and outlined
some of the guidelines by which they are measured. He stated that one of the reasons why eGovernment was spearheaded was to reduce corruption within the government. Dr. Choi also
spoke about the organisational history of e-Government administration whereby the Ministry of IT
was disintegrated into 3 separate bodies responsible for Information Industry, Internet, and
Information Content.

After lunch, Dr. Eun lectured on 'Good Governance in Korea Government'. He argued that
National Development can only be achieved by improving National Capacity; improving
National Capacity can be achieved only if there are appropriate roles of public administration
in place; it is necessary to build up governance strategies; and in order to do so, institutional
culture and political feasibility must be considered. He talked about the national capacity of
Korea, demography, economic growth, globalisation and educational competitiveness. He also
defined Governance, and outlined the characteristics of good governance (according to
UNESAP): Accounable, Transparent, Responsive, Equitable and Inclusive, Anti-corruption,
Effective and Efficient, Follows the Rule of Law, Participatory, Consensus-oriented.
*see List of e-Government Applications and Services for more information
Wednesday Sept. 28
We traveled to the capital city of Seoul to visit the Ministry of Interior. One of the responsibilities of
MOI is for the administration of e-Government. Here we were met with one of our first instances
of government security, as we were made to walk through metal detectors and wear visitor
badges. The Director of Innovation in the MOI gave a lecture on 'Government 3.0'. He talked
about the characteristics of the 3 so-called 'versions' of Government (government-driven, public
centric, and public driven); and gave the vision for Government 3.0 in Korea (Disclosure, Sharing,
Communication, Collaboration). He also gave several examples of best practices for eGovernance including: the Road Maintenance System, where taxi drivers (who all have GPS
trackers and are registered) can press a button on their dashboard to report road damage; and
the Government Video-Conferencing software which allows more persons (including junior staff,
to improve disclosure and collaboration) to be involved in discussions, as multiple persons can
be seen on screen.
The next lecture that followed was about the Korea Public Finance Information Service, also
known as d-Brain. There was a need for 243 local governments (each with their own systems) to
standardize their fiscal systems, and integrate statistical data. All financial assets are accounted
for on dBrain. Local governments are now able to access their budget with ease and get things
done faster. dBrain now manages approximately KRW 936 trillion in total assets, and KRW 219
trillion in expenditure. By implementing this new fiscal system, they changed their bookkeeping
system to an accrual basis double entry focusing on project programs when budgeting, instead
of cash basis single entry which focused on single articles. With all this information in one place,
the Korean government is able to monitor spending and performance of a project in real-time
and make decisions before it would be too late.
After lunch we went to the Seoul Emergency Operations Center (119) in one district. It also
happened to be the oldest and largest such Operations Center in Korea. After we entered the
front office, we then descended as the entire Operations Center was situated underground. The
Operations Center was responsible for receiving calls on all kinds of emergencies, forwarding the
call to the relevant expert within the center, and resolving the issue. They dealt with Fire,
Medical, IT emergencies. Each department was staffed with experts in each field (for example:
doctors and firefighters) who had at least 8 years experience.
Thursday Sept. 29
At the Seocho-gu Office, we learned about 2 different services. Firstly, we learnt about and
observed the Seocho-gu Operations center which is a monitoring center for CCTVs within the
district. Although the center is manned by actual persons as well as a police officer, there is
software on all monitoring stations that can recognize certain details if programmed to do so,
7

and alert the user that this certain criteria has been met on the screen. Secondly, we were
shown the OK Civil Service which was a family relationship registration service (birth, marriage,
etc). The service had two faces: the human side where persons could come in and talk to
representatives, and the digital side in the form of kiosks that were found not only in the Seochogu Office, but also in numerous public departments (such as police stations and hospitals). The
service was not only available for residents of the district, but also persons who came from
another area well. The kiosks were able to print persons certificates by making use of persons IDs
and their fingerprint (fingerprint information is collected when you register for a national ID).
There is an incentive to use the kiosks whereby it costs less than going to a human
representative.
Though not planned, and not so much related to e-Government, but educational nonetheless,
we were then taken to the Gangnam Recycling Resource Center. This is a solid waste disposal
and recycling center. Here we were shown how Korean people were instructed to separate
their waste inside of their homes; how the garbage trucks were operated; how the incinerator
was monitored; how the garbage was treated before incineration; and how toxic materials are
treated. As a token, each participant received a bag made from recycled plastic bags.
After we had lunch in the city, we headed to NHI for our third lecture Education on Public
Service Values delivered by Dr. Lee. Dr. Lee talked about the Public Service Values, corruption
in government, the reasons for corruption, and the steps Korea had taken to reduce corruption.
According to him, the Public Service Values are: patriotism, sense of duty, historical awareness,
democracy, diversity, accountability, transparency, fairness, integrity, public interest, morality;
and the duty of the state and the public official is to protect and realize these essential values.
Good governance needs the ability to organize and operate policy and institution, which is
critical for development. Dr. Lee defined corruption as undermining of the public interest.
Reasons why persons allow themselves to get involved in corruption include: personal greed,
rationalization of altruism, and moral self-contentment. In Korea there are incentives given to
whistle blowers who report corruption, whereby this person is given 20% (up to a certain limit) of
the money that was fraudulently obtained, or the value thereof.
Friday Sept. 30
Dr. Park delivered the lecture on 'Government Reform and Change Management'. He talked
about institutional culture change and noted that it is usually the middle-level personnel who are
most resistant to change. He stated that different governments had different objectives behind
reform, but that they normally come down to 3: lower cost, better performance, and better
procedure. Tools of Reform include: Strategic Analysis, Competition, Empowerment in hand with
Accountability, Evaluation in hand with Compensation, and Culture Change. Possible areas of
reform include: Reform Strategies, Personnel Management, Performance Management,
Organizational Management, Human Resource Development and Fiscal Reform. Dr. Park was
also sure to advertise the KDI School which is a university which focuses on Masters (400
available) and Phd (10) level degrees that focus on Strategy and Policy Planning within
government. The university grants free tuition scholarships to students who work in the
government of countries who have a low GDP.
The afternoon lecture: 'From e- Government to e- Governance' was delivered by Dr Myung. He
defined Governance as cooperative management amongst government, private sector, and
citizens. He pointed out that e-Government was for the enabling of the government body, as
well as the efficiency of the citizen. He explained that the e-government framework consisted of
8

: Information Infrastructure, Human Resources, Leadership & Vision, a Legal System, and a
Revolutionary Public Administration System. Dr. Myung gave much focus to the fact that eGovernance must be citizen-centered and therefore customised. He noted that this can be
improved by opening data which would lead to digital collaboration, and even job creation for
entrepreneurs. One concept that he brought up was the Visible Hand Economy whereby you
design the environment for persons to change their behaviour and attitude instead of just
expecting them to do it because they are told. I also learnt about the 5 Vs of Big Data: Volume,
Velocity, Variety, Veracity and Value.

Sunday Oct. 2
On Sunday we made a four and a half-hour long trip to the south east end of Korea to an area
called Suncheon, known for its seafood. So of course, we had a lunch which consisted of various
seafood dishes. Suncheon is an area that is also known historically for being the place of exile of
many political victims. One such person was Dasan, who was a famed scholar and inventor,
who was exiled to the area and used the opportunity to teach many of the poor children of the
area. There is now an Education Hall named after him. We visited the Dasan Education Hall &
Training Center to learn more about Dasan and more about the history and culture of Korea.
We ended the day with a visit to the famous Boseong Green Tea Farm, the premier producer of
green tea on mainland Korea. I think that it was a lesson in tourism as well as innovation,
because I was amazed by the numerous varieties of green tea products (tea leaves, cookies,
noodles, ice cream etc.) that could be found, as well as the fact that there were at least 3
different vendors selling these products or souvenirs.
Monday Oct. 3
Due to its geographic location, the eastern shoreline of Korea is the recipient of material from
Chinas Yangtze River. This allows for the formation of a large area of swampland. Sunchenman
Bay Eco Park takes advantage of this in an aim to conserve the natural habitat for many
indigenous and migratory creatures. We spent the morning here exploring the swampland,
which was possible because of the installation of 2 wooden deck paths throughout one
section of the swamp. We also hiked 12km to the top of observatory which overlooked much of
the Bay and the Eco Park.
After more seafood, we went to the Nakan Folk Village, a preserved live traditional village. This
is a village that remains much like it would have been centuries ago. Of course many villagers
have modern amenities such as heating, wifi, and vehicles, but their houses have been
preserved, and many persons (especially older persons) have been employed to demonstrate
traditional practices to tourists. We saw persons shining brass, washing and making food, and we
participated in a tea reception with ladies who prepared tea traditionally in their garments. We
learnt that the preservation initiative could not have been possible if not for the support of a
former president who felt that Korea was losing its history and culture in all the development.
Tuesday Oct. 4
After two days in the South, we travelled to Daejon in Central Korea. Our first visit was to the
National Computing and Information Service (NCIS) facility which houses one of the Data
Centers which acts as part of the Government Integrated Data Center (GIDC). Here, we
experienced another level of security as we had to handover our passports to the first booth in
order to receive RFID visitor badges and we were not allowed to carry our phones. We then had
9

to pass through a second gate, as our bus was not allowed inside, using these visitor badges.
When we entered the building we had to pass our bags through metal scanners and pass
through sentry gates using our RFID badges. When we took the elevator to go upstairs an
employee had to scan their card to open the elevator, and also for it to close.
There are currently two data centers in Korea, both acting as hot site backups for the other, so
that both centers have the same information at all times. There is currently another one being
built that will act as a cold site backup. The aim of the GIDC is to reduce redundancy of
software and hardware resources in order to reduce government costs, as well as to centralize
data to increase accessibility and interoperability of data. The GIDC is the back bone of many
one-stop services that are available to citizens whereby citizens dont have to go from one
department to another for their papers just to get a simple procedure done. Instead they go to
one department, and that department is able to access all the data they need to provide that
service to the citizen. The GIDC makes use of supporting proprietary software and infrastructure,
which was developed in-house, to ensure proper monitoring, security and very high availability
of data services.
Our next visit was to a Smart Work Center. A Smart Work Center is a work space that provides
computers, phones, meeting space and a lounge area to government employees that have
long commutes to their regular place of work. The Korean Government does not currently allow
workers to telecommute, although they have an online Work Management System called onNara. As an alternative, civil servants can choose to report to work some days out of the week at
any one of the implemented Smart Work Centers which provides all they need, to do the work
that they would normally do, as long as they have approval from their supervisor.
Our third visit (within the same complex) was to the Korean Intellectual Property Office which
administrates the KIPOnet service, an online Intellectual Property Automation System. We were
given an overview of the services provided by the Office such as facilitating creative economy,
providing training for Intellectual Property experts and resolving patent disputes. KIPOnet
reduces the time taken and the documents needed for a creator to apply for a patent or
trademark. Filing is done online, and the status of the application throughout the procedure is
available to the creator for viewing. KIPOnet reduces the amount of paper used, as well as
reduces time for examination of the application. That which used to take 37 months before, now
take 11 months.
Also within the Daejon Complex was the Public Procurement Service which uses KONEPS (Korea
National Electronic Procurement System). The mission of the Public Procurement Office is: To
achieve government budget savings and contribute to the national economy through
professional and value-creating public procurement functions. The services they provide
include Contracting Service, Stockpiling, Management of Goods and Properties, and Operation
of KONEPS. The entire process of Bidding, Tender Notice etc. can be done and viewed online. All
bidders, as well as the public can view who a contract was tendered to, and how much it cost.
Each government agency employs a procurement officer. If an agency decides that they need
fixed-priced items such as desks, computers or paper, they can go to KONEPS Shopping Mall
which is very much like Amazon, and order straightaway (it is connected to the Fiscal
Management System dBrain). There is also a Call Center which serves KONEPS, boasting a
maximum 1-minute call- waiting period.

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Wednesday Oct. 5
On Wednesday, we visited the newly built NHI Campus at Jincheon. Here we had Dr. Sang-Baek
Kang from the Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute talk to us. This
department focuses on the development, innovation and reform of e-Government in Korea. He
focused on the INVIL (Information Network Village) Project. INVIL is an initiative by the Korean
Government to help small businesses, particularly in rural areas to get their products or services
sold on the Internet. The featured business offer either wholesale organic foods, or unique
experiences. First the Government established IT Infrastructure in each community by building
Information Centers and distributing free PCs to households. They then built human resource
capacity by offering training in IT at the Information Centers and employing Information
Managers for quality control and to help INVIL participants get their products online. They also
developed an e-commerce mechanism so that businesses can get paid when they sell they
products online There are currently 358 INVILs in operation.
At Korean Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) is where I really took note of how
much of a priority research is to the Korean Government. Here we were given a lecture on the
Digital Economy of Korea. Mr. Sangwon Ko talked about Korea's Economic Growth, digital
economy Concepts, Creative Economy, and ICBM (Internet of things; Cloud; Big Data; Next-gen
Mobile). He followed the history of Korea's Economy from an input driven to and innovation
driven economy. Through the pervasion of ICTs, performance and innovation increased, paving
the way for more creative industries and better jobs.
Thursday Oct. 6
In the morning Dr. Jae moderated our Action Plan Presentations which we had prepared in
groups. We then discussed our expectations moving forward such as more collaboration
between Member States and implementing a CARICOM Cloud Service. Dr. Jae then gave us a
short lecture on being successful in e-Government. Guidelines from the OECD list Vision &
Political Will; Common Framework; Customer Focus; and Responsibility as pertinent Factors in
being successful. Dr. Jae also talked about being detail-oriented and service oriented, as well as
having the ability to evaluate, monitor and assess your own work. He also highlighted the
importance of inter-department and citizen Policy Participation, as well as clearcut guidelines
and penalties in Service Level Agreements with stakeholders, especially ISPs. He also told us to
look out for 2 risks in e-Government Management: Type I (False Positive) error, where we can
overcompensate and end up with wasted resources and under-utilized systems; and Type II
(False negative) error, where, being overly concerned and too passive, not enough gets done.
In the afternoon we took a trip to Icheon, a village which is just starting an INVIL initiative. We
were able to take part in Rice bread making experience which was a lot of fun. They provided
the rice flour dough already made in different flavours, and we had to knead and fill the dough
with red-bean paste. We then put the molded dough in a giant steamer, and waited for it to
steam. While waiting we learnt about other products that were going to be sold on the INVIL
website such as sticky rice, dried mushrooms, and sweet potatoes.
Friday Oct. 7
Friday was a day of evaluations and discussions. In the morning, we completed extensive
surveys/feedback forms for the training programme. After which, we participated in the Closing
Ceremony where we received certificates of participation and a gift. We then had a meeting
with the Director of Global Education and Cooperation Division, in which we discussed the

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strengths and shortcomings, and made suggestions for future CARICOM e-Government training
programmes.
There was a farewell Luncheon at an Italian restaurant which was hosted by the President of the
NHI. We then said our goodbyes and headed back to KOICA ICC where we had a Programme
Evaluation Session. We passed in our surveys that we had done of the lectures (different from
NHI's) and discussed our flight individual itineraries for the next day. We talked more about other
matters such as scholarships and we received tokens from the head of the Programme at
KOICA, Mr Keunhee Lee. We were then free to prepare for departure.

Observations
Korea is very advanced in terms of e-Government, e-Governance, and the implementation of
technologies in these aspects, however, they realize that an ICT solution by itself cannot improve
management and service performance, but business procedures must be planned and reengineered if necessary and policies put in place to ensure that standards are in place. This is
why Research and Design has become a major part of development, as the Korean
Government sees the importance of detailed and relevant planning. Koreans also see legislation
as very important in ensuring that standards are kept and e-Governance procedures are
followed, and most e-Government services are supported by legislation. In fact many
academics are employed and involved in policy development in e-Governance.
There is a high focus on interoperability, transparency, anti-corruption, availability/accessibility of
services and individual accountability which has driven high standards of productivity. Many
persons are very passionate and hard-working, thus producing high standards of work. There is a
high emphasis not only on academic education, but on professional training and continuing
learning. There are nine salary grades in the government, and persons can only enter the
government service by doing an examination. In fact, for certain grades, promotion can only be
done through an examination. It is interesting though, that even for high-level positions, these
exams are open for the public regardless of education. When you pass exams, then you must
attend training. Even the President and Ministers must attend training. This system increases
competitiveness and probably is another factor in the high standards that are set.
Public Services are very customer/client-oriented. I noted particularly that even for government
services that are not public-facing, there is always a concern of what can be done for the
citizen. The end goal of all e-government is increasing efficiency for the citizen. There are Public
Relations sections in most government agencies. Each agency that we visited had a slideshow
presented in English, even if the presenter did not speak English, and they also had an English
version of their website that seems to be more for information. Some of these agencies even had
dedicated multimedia rooms where they showcased other visitors to the agency, and more
information whether electronically or in brochures.
The investment of the Korean government into the private sector (SMEs as well as industry giants)
has led to growth on a global scale (e.g. Samsung and LG). From the very beginning Korea has
seen it fit to push money and resources into their private sector. As a result they were able to
have local suppliers who competed against each other, raising standards of productivity, and in
the end Korea was able to increase their export market. Even now they still focus on small
businesses and push creative economy.

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Conclusion
There was much to be learnt from my experience in the Republic of Korea, not only from lectures
and site visits, but from the attitudes of those facilitating the programmes and even the people
on the street. It was eye-opening in every aspect. I now have new appreciation for policy
planning, business process planning, accountability, and the championing of e-Government
and our agency. I will put what I have learnt into practice, including widening the scope of my
projects and considering stakeholders to encourage interoperability, and doing more research
while planning.

Recommendations for improving e-Government and e-Governance

1. Introduce Business Process Re-engineering to ensure efficient operation of the department
internally, as well as intra-governmentally, and more productive project management. We need
to remember it is not the technology that makes the service, but also the procedures, and the
people behind it. Proper design of workflow and business processes, as well as change
management where necessary, is vital for efficient service.
2. Plan for the Government Intranet Portal to consolidate all available online government
services in one place: Government email (which also has a meeting scheduling section), eArchiving, existing government-centric applications*, and the ongoing EDRMS project as well as
other potential services.
*this may only be possible through software upgrades, secure channels, as well as consensus
between stakeholders for interoperability and sharing of data.
3. Install a library/archive corner in ITSD for review of past documentation, and to keep
reference books that will be useful for staff. This can help in better preparation and planning in
projects as well as preventing redundancies and headaches
4. Employ a dedicated legal/research consultant for guidance in drafting bespoke ICT, egovernment, and e-Governance policies and legislation in the future. As we move forward, we
realize that laws and policies are necessary to govern the use and applications of technology.
We need to be more proactive in the design of these laws and policies.
5. Do not just invite stakeholders to comment on legislation and policy, but create an
environment where they will be willing to contribute, and can be educated where they have
questions.
6. Create a dedicated Website for department. This will aim provide information for our
government clients, as well as the public to create awareness of our presence and our services.

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List of e-Government Applications and Services

On-Nara Business Process System
On-nara (literally meaning online nation) BPS is an online work management system for
government employees. All government employees all over the country must use this system. It
aims to standardize and integrate business procedures; and manage administrative procedures
online. Features include document management, document preparation, document
exchange, Memo reporting (avoids lengthy approval process), meeting management,
task/schedule management, project management, and archiving. The system interfaces with
the Information Disclosure System, Record Management System, Digital Budget and Accounting
System, and other intra-governmental applications to reduce redundancy and to improve
interoperability and transparency.
d-Brain
dBrain is the Korean Government's Financial Information Management System. It integrates and
manages the entire range of government fiscal activities, from tax revenues management to
budget formulation and execution, settlement and performance management, all on a realtime basis. dBrain is interconnected with 63 other systems from 46 institutions, such as the Public
Procurement Service, the National Tax Service and the Bank of Korea for procurement, tax
collection, and funds transfer. dBrain also allows instant sharing of information on public finances
like revenues, expenditures, national assets and public debts. It can be used to determine
whether national funds are appropriately used and to track budget spending. dBrain helps to
understand public financial activities more accurately and achieve efficient budget
management through readily available data on budget formulation, project progress,
background and past progress. With real-time updates all users can track project information at
a glance. This makes it possible to suspend ineffective projects and commence new projects
systematically and thus maximize the nations fiscal assets.
KONEPS
KONEPS is a one-stop e-procurement system which processes entire procurement procedures
online from bidding to contracting, ordering and payment. It manages product or service
purchases, construction project contracting, raw material stockpiling and government
commodity and asset management seamlessly online. Businesses can easily join bidding by
submitting a one-time registration of their licenses and qualifications in KONEPS. They can also
check all bidding information of public organizations through KONEPS. By digitizing the public
bidding process, more players have more opportunities to participate. This feature especially
helps SMEs as their increased participation in public procurement has significantly enhanced
their competitiveness.
e-People
e-People is the major online communication window between the government and citizens.
Citizens can simply file all government-related petitions, suggestions, reports and policy-related
discussions and check their progress online, anytime and anywhere. A petition is delivered to the
best suited organization for one-stop processing. User suggestions are integrated into policymaking and even offered awards for the best suggestions. Because the government can
monitor what citizens are saying with filings through e-People, it can find out which complaints
are most common, analyze the complaints and transfer them to the organizations that can best
handle the issues. In this way, the government is now able to respond to citizens in a
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comprehensive and holistic manner, rather than just solve lower impact, isolated problems.
HomeTax
The online HomeTax Service (HTS) is a critical part of Korea's National Tax Service's e-tax
administration, utilizing advanced information technologies in providing first-rate tax services.
Any taxpayer or tax practitioner who is registered can access the HTS (www.hometax.go.kr).
They can then obtain various e-tax services, such as electronic issuance of tax-related
certificates; electronic filing of tax returns; electronic billing of tax payable; and electronic
payment of tax.
Minwon24
This application integrates a wide range of civil services through an online portal and provide a
single access point to all levels of government. Minwon 24 now offers citizens the possibility to
access 51% of public services online. The goal of the application was to enhance public trust,
transparency, effectiveness, service quality, user satisfaction, and improve access and citizen
engagement while reducing government costs through digitisation. Remote assistance is offered
for citizens who are not used to the internet, as well as special support services for the disabled
and the provision of services in multiple languages.
Intelligent Transport System (ITS)
ITS is a transport information system that applies information, communication and control
technologies to transportation vehicles like cars, trains, ships and airplanes and to transport
facilities like roads, railways, seaports and airports. It also optimizes and automates traffic
management and even provides mobility information that is customized to each traveler.
Automatic change of traffic lights based on the amount of traffic at intersections is one of the
major tasks of ITS.
ITS collects real-time operational information of public transportation for traffic operation and
management and provides the information to citizens for more convenient use of public
transportation. One of the best examples is the bus arrival information system, which can be
easily viewed at bus stops.
Government Integrated Data Center (GIDC)
The Government Integrated Data Center (GIDC) was implemented as a comprehensive solution
to problems caused by redundant investment in computing resources, lack of expertise, poor
computing environment and security vulnerabilities. It integrates, operates and manages over
1400 e-government systems which had previously been operated individually by 44 central
government organizations, providing decentralized services through the use of centralised data.
There are now two data centers with a third on its way.
Such a large-scale system is managed on a real-time basis using 'n-TOPS', which is an integration
and operation system developed in Korea. By using e-ANSI Sung, an integrated security system
developed internally, GIDC is able to block hacking attempts, viruses, DDos attacks and other
forms of cyber threats from accessing e-government systems.
GIDC developed a resource pool (n-SIMS) through integrated purchases of all IT resources that
each government organization needs. Simultaneously, it developed a cloud-computing
environment (g-Cloud), where government organizations can borrow hardware or software
through the Internet.

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