South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT is building a cooperation framework with metropolitan-level local governments nationwide to expand digital-based regional services.

The ministry held a launch ceremony on Sept. 14 for the Smart Village City-Province Council with metropolitan governments nationwide.

Since 2019, the smart village project has used digital technology to improve residents' daily convenience and resolve local issues. Since it was transferred in 2023 to the special account for balanced regional development, local governments have operated it by identifying services that reflect local characteristics and residents' demand.

It supports applying digital technology such as AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) to local industries including agriculture and fisheries to raise productivity. It also supports improving residents' services such as safety in daily life, care and education. As the smart village project enters its eighth year, the ministry formed the city-province council to share best practices and experience by region and to spread verified services to other regions.

The council will discuss the smart village project's direction and institutional improvements, share best practices and implementation experience by region, identify standard services, and address difficulties in pushing ahead with projects. It will hold regular meetings every half year and, if needed, also run sector-specific councils and seek expert advice in parallel.

Hong Seong-wan (홍성완), director general for telecommunications policy at the ministry, said, "Through this city-province council, we will support sharing best practices and implementation experience and jointly discussing institutional improvements in the project 추진 process."