Sogang University's Platform State Institute, which studies a new model of national governance to respond to the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), the climate crisis, and deepening inequality, officially launched on the 10th. The inaugural director is Kim Yong-jin, a professor in Sogang University's Department of Business Administration.
The Platform State Institute analyzes shifts in the relationships among the state, markets, and citizens, and explores institutional and policy alternatives to address compound crises. It focuses on studying not only the scale of state intervention but also the structures and rules by which the state operates.
The institute plans to carry out pilot projects across nine areas: industrial innovation and financial accessibility, care, research and development, environment and climate, housing, education, employment, and land, transport, and logistics. It will expand cooperation with central and local governments on legislation and pilot programs, and will gradually pursue industry-academia consortia and startup incubation.
The Platform State Institute and the Good Country Research Institute, a nonprofit corporation, held a seminar at 3 p.m. on the 10th at the Franciscan Education Center in Jeong-dong, Seoul, to mark the publication of "Platform State Theory" and the institute's opening.
On the day, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung and Raghav Rao, a distinguished professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, delivered congratulatory remarks via video. Yoo Jong-il, an emeritus professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Yoo Byung-joon, a professor at Seoul National University, and former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun also took part.
Director Kim Yong-jin said, "It is time to discuss not just the scale of state intervention but how the state should operate in terms of structures and rules," adding, "We will seek policy alternatives for changes in the relationships among the state, markets, and citizens and for new modes of national governance."