i3 - January/February 2020 - 80

Q How did Seoul achieve the rank of
the #1 smart city?
A There are three factors that constitute
a smart city: smart city infrastructure,
innovative companies with cutting-edge
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

technologies, and smart citizens. First, Seoul
has a cutting-edge smart city infrastructure.
Korea is the first country that commercialized 5G communications, and you can gain
free access to Wi-Fi even in moving buses
and subway trains. Seoul is taking a step
further to become a "free data city" by 2022,
where anyone can use public Wi-Fi free
of charge anywhere in the city. Public IoT
networks will be expanded, where one can
use services such as shared parking. Each
citizen will save communications expenses
and foreign tourists can also enjoy the
same benefit. Second, in Seoul, innovative
companies equipped with creative ideas
and cutting-edge technologies can participate in the policy-making process. The
private sector's big data is a great resource.
The public and private sectors can resolve
urban problems together. We are making a
new value chain in the process by creating
opportunities to further develop the already
verified technologies and making them
profit-making models.
Third, Seoul is actively operating the
"digital communication system" that connects the world class smart infrastructure
to smart citizens and expanding citizen's
engagement. Some of the examples are
"Democracy Seoul," a citizen participation
policy proposal platform; "M-Voting," a
mobile voting system; and "Seoul Online
Civil Complaints," an online/mobile window
to register and process civil complaints.

Q How does South Korea encourage
innovation?
As the Korean market is highly sensitive
to technological changes, it is said that the

Q What are you most excited to see at CES?
A It is the first time for me, as the Mayor of
Seoul and also in person, to participate in
CES. I already have great expectations. I
know CES is the most reliable testbed where
we can measure the success or failure of all
the outputs of innovations from around the
world, and also a "museum of innovations"
where we can witness the products that may
lead our future markets in advance.
I am looking forward to the innovations of
global companies and their creative passion
that I will see there. The innovation and creativity that I will experience at CES will serve
as a precious foundation and an insight for
me to make Seoul a greater city.

A

2020

CES 2020 Visit the Seoul booth in
Eureka Park to see a true smart city.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Joonyoung Kim/Getty Images

breakdown, economic polarization and
other social problems. As the Mayor of
Seoul, I took office with the aim of solving
these challenges.
Therefore, after the inauguration, my
priority was to recover the rights of people
which were pushed back and neglected
behind "development" and "growth," and to
redefine the owner of the city of Seoul as its
citizens. Also, various initiatives related to
welfare, economy, labor, energy and the like
have been implemented closely for the lives
of the citizens. Seoul is pushing forward with
"urban regeneration" instead of "demolishing" the city. During my tenure, I will significantly increase the amount of public housing
by more than 400,000 - 10% more than the
OECD average to secure the continuity and
sustainability of housing welfare. In terms of
energy policies, I will expand the production
of new and renewable energies such as solar
power, electric/hydrogen-powered vehicles
and encourage citizen participation to prepare against energy depletion.
We also are systemizing sustainable
development so that it can be applied to all
municipal policies. Seoul has established
the "Seoul-type Sustainable Development
Implementation System" and is running
the evaluation on sustainability across the
administration. As such, it is no exaggeration
to say that sustainability is the beginning and
also the end of all policies of Seoul.

products that succeed in Korea can succeed anywhere else in the world. As such,
global companies regard Korea as a testbed
where they can measure the success of their
products. For these reasons, they are putting
more effort into targeting the Korean market.
Besides, the well-acknowledged big
companies in Korea, startups armed with creative ideas and innovative technologies are
actively delving into the market to make the
city one of the "Top 5 Global Startup Cities."
In cooperation with the Korean central government, the Seoul Metropolitan Government
is taking a two-track strategy to alleviate
regulations that deter corporate activities,
while establishing a startup ecosystem where
innovative companies can enjoy the new
challenges without the fear of failure.
By 2022, we will raise an "Innovative
Future Growth Fund" worth 1.2 trillion won to
expand the startup investment market and
to provide a customized-service for startups
from the early-stage growth to the global
advancement. For companies at their early
stages undergoing difficulties in attracting
investment, Seoul makes bold investments
in them so that their potential ideas can be
realized into products within six months.
It provides support throughout the entire
process from business feasibility analysis,
product design and prototype production,
to matching manufacturers with them.
http://ces.tech/EurekaPark
i3 - January/February 2020

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