Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
'Gov't should foster female digital experts'
gettyimagesbank
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
The government should cultivate female digital experts as a means to tackle the shortage in the sector, a state-run agency proposed in a recent report.
The suggestion comes as the government readies to push forward with its Digital New Deal project, to boost Korea's competitiveness as a digital-based economy by expanding infrastructure such as 5G networks and incorporating new technologies including artificial intelligence.
Korea, however, lacks experts in the field, data shows. According to the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), Korea's has the lowest quantitative and qualitative competitiveness in AI experts among the three Northeast Asian countries of Korea, China and Japan.
According to KERI, measuring the U.S. competitiveness in AI experts as 10, Korea's figure stood at 5.2, Japan's 6, and China's 8.1. The institute's figures were based on a survey of AI experts in local academia and industry.
KERI also stated Korea has only been able to secure four out of the 10 experts needed in the sector. Respondents of the survey stated that there was a quantitative lack of technically skilled personnel as well as a lack of professional educational institutes and faculty in the sector.
Meanwhile, data from the National Information Society Agency (NIA) shows women only account for 16 percent in the local tech industry.
The agency referred to the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) program initiated by the Australian Academy of Science in partnership with the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, to improve the gender balance in the sciences.
Supported by the Australian government, the program approaches the issue not only from a gender perspective but also as a substantial means to train personnel for scientific innovation.
SAGE recognizes achievements in the advancement of gender equality, diversity and inclusion and raises awareness of these values.
“(Korea) can secure digital experts by tapping into the potential of female talent,” NIA's research team said. “By expanding diversity by increasing the talent pool of women, entities in the private sector will also be able to achieve innovation.”
The global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said Korea's GDP could rise by 13 percent if female participation in the workforce reaches 65.3 percent, which is the figure of Sweden, with the highest rate globally.