1. Research background and purpose 

The importance of official development assistance (ODA) through informatization, specifically in the area of IT and e-Government, is gaining attention as Korea has joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and its status has significantly improved within international organizations. Moreover, the fact that Korea was ranked at the top in the UN E-government Development Index assessment back in April 2001 and that its experience is being introduced as the best practice and benchmark implies that its IT technology and e-Government has reached the world-class level and Korea’s contribution in IT and e-Government ODA (e-Gov. ODA) to the international community needs to be increased to reflect its level of standing. 

 

Based on this context, following topics are analyzed in this research: 
1) IT environment of developing countries and development process as well as success factors of Korea’s e-Government, in order to examine conditions, prospects, and strategies for proliferation of Korean e-Government system to international community;
2) Current status and problems of Korea’s e-Gov. ODA;
3) Desirable approach and future direction to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of e-Gov. ODA. 

 

2. Research Findings 

1) Categorization of e-Gov. ODA target countries and seeking strategies by category
2) Current status and problems of e-Gov. ODA.
3) Improvement Plan of e-Gov. ODA. 
    a. Use of existing IT ODA and linking to e-Gov. ODA.
    b. Support for modularization of e-Government system. 
    c. Establishment of governance system for e-Gov. ODA. 

       ? Create departmental consultative group on e-Gov. ODA under Office of Prime Minister’s ODA general arbitration function. 
       ? Form specialized committee under the Office of Prime Minister’s National Information Strategy Committee. 

 

3. Utilizing Plan of Research Outcomes

First, by clearly organizing current status and contents of Korea’s e-Gov. ODA, it is expected that the findings of the research would play a role in providing guidelines for future planning and implementation of e-Gov. ODA. Also, it can suggest fundamental information and direction for the Korean government to restructure and carry out e-Gov. ODA policy. It can be used as a guideline when UN or UNPOG conducts e-government consultation projects for developing countries. Lastly, it can be used as a presentation and educational material for variety of events related to e-government.