Over the next three years, 100 types of public data, including information on industrial accident cases and medical imaging data, will be released to the private sector. The aim is to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) services by opening to the private sector information that was previously disclosed only in a limited way.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said it held the second meeting of the sixth Public Data Strategy Committee with related ministries on the 6th at the international conference room of Government Complex Seoul and deliberated and approved an agenda titled "AI and high-value public data top 100."
The AI and high-value public data top 100 selects information for which there is strong demand for service development and from corporations, and that has significant social and economic ripple effects and high policy utility. Over the past year, the government selected 100 out of 3,280 candidate datasets identified through surveys of 800 private corporations and the general public, consultations with related agencies, and feedback from the Public Data Strategy Committee. The 100 datasets span 11 fields in total, including disaster and safety, and health care.
Representative datasets to be opened include "industrial accident case information and prevention measures data" and "medical imaging data." The government said it will use this to foster new industries such as legal tech and medical and bio, and that the advancement of AI technology will create new business opportunities.
At the meeting, the committee also deliberated and approved agendas including a management plan for AI-ready public data and the basic plan for the fifth promotion of provision and use of public data.
AI-ready public data refers to public data that has been refined and processed so AI can easily use it for learning, analysis, and inference. To improve AI technology, the data must have appropriate formats and quality so AI can search and use it easily. To that end, the government will prepare and distribute a guide containing public data standards and management plans and later revise the related guidelines. The standards will be applied first to standardized datasets or those with high AI utility, such as nationwide integrated data and national key data.
The basic plan for the fifth promotion of provision and use of public data (2026–2028) includes key tasks to open high-quality public data centered on AI, corporations, and public demand. To safely open data containing personal information, the Personal Information Protection Commission's specialized agencies and spaces/systems for pseudonymization will be linked to public data users, and data use will be supported. In addition, a "public data problem-solving support center" will be operated to address issues such as when a holding agency does not disclose public data requested by corporations. The government will also push to revise the Public Data Act to require disclosure of all public data lists except for non-disclosable information.
Public Data Strategy Committee civilian chair Moon Myeong-jae said, "Public data is a core foundation for the public and private sectors to drive AI innovation together," adding, "the committee will serve as a focal point that brings together public and private capabilities and support Korea's leap to become a top-three AI power by strengthening the foundation for using public data."
Yoon Ho-jung, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), said, "We expect that the top 100 public datasets released through this strategy committee will be actively used by the private sector and serve as new nourishment for the development of the AI industry."