Gov't urged to stop wasting taxes on unnecessary apps

By Lee Min-hyung

The government must stop wasting taxpayers’ money on creating unnecessary applications to promote its policies, Rep. Lee Eun-kwon of the ruling Saenuri Party said Wednesday.

The first-term lawmaker said the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) and its affiliated state-run organizations have failed to properly manage their 63 apps, wasting some nine billion won ($8.21 million) without generating tangible outcomes.

He pointed out 41 out of the 63 apps have failed to draw public attention, having less than 5,000 downloads. What is more important is the government has so far failed to properly manage or update the unpopular apps, according to the lawmaker.

“This shows the MSIP has remained complacent over handling billions of won coming from taxpayers’ money,” the 58-year-old lawmaker said.

“This is because the government has rarely paid attention to the app’s usability, but focused solely on promoting its policies through them,” he said, citing data he got from the ministry. Most of the apps were used to provide unnecessary information and promote one-time events, he added.

On average, it costs 10 million won to create one app, he said. But the government spent enormous amounts of money on some of them. For example, the MSIP spent 150 million won to make the Zone for Equipment Utilization Service mobile app, which has had only some 1,200 downloads, according to the lawmaker.

He also said the National Science Museum wasted 200 million won to create an app, drawing only some 1,160 users so far.

The lawmaker stressed what’s worse is that the government pays little attention to updating the apps.

“According to MSIP data, only 21 apps have been updated this year, and some have not been updated since 2012,” he said, urging the government to come up with specific countermeasures to prevent state-run bodies from wasting taxes on unnecessary systems.