South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) said on March 27 they will start a call for applications for pilot projects for a "Data Space".

A Data Space is a federated data-use system in which an operating entity and data providers and users participate. It aims for continuous data sharing and use in a safe, controlled way under a decentralised structure. The original data does not move, and only pre-processed data is used temporarily on a secure cloud.

The programme is split into a medical field and a general field. The medical field opens applications from March 27 and will provide 5.6 billion won for one project, with up to 16.8 billion won to be invested over three years. The general field is set to open applications in early April, providing 240 million won each for three planning projects, and adding 5.6 billion won each year for the next two years for one top project.

Kim Kyung-man (김경만), director general for AI Policy at the ministry, said, "We expect Data Space pilots to build a safe and sustainable ecosystem for data sharing and use, and to contribute to strengthening competitiveness in the AI and data industry."