South Korea's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Committee on Tuesday held a seminar on "data valuation in the AI era" at Seoul Square.

Data is a key resource in the era of a major AI transformation, and companies are making data production and acquisition an essential task. A growing trend is to use data not as simple information but as a "digital asset" with economic value. A data valuation system is provided for under Article 14 of the Framework Act on the Promotion and Use of the Data Industry and other provisions. Its use in industrial settings remains low.

Park Hyun-woo (박현우), CEO of The LAB-i, who delivered a presentation, explained domestic and overseas valuation methods under the theme of "data valuation models and applications." Lee Dong-geun (이동근), a managing director at Samjong KPMG, introduced overseas cases under the theme of "data valuation cases and international trends and ways to use data assets." He cited the initial public offerings of Reddit and Tempus AI, TrueVeta's fundraising, Meta's acquisition of Scale AI, and 23andMe's bankruptcy sale.

Participants discussed ways to promote the use of data valuation models and directions for supporting data-holding companies. They specifically shared the need to link and expand the data valuation system into finance, provide policy support for evaluating data assets of small businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises and startups, and strengthen cooperation among related ministries.

The committee prepared the seminar under the leadership of its data subcommittee. Officials from related ministries, public institutions and AI companies attended. An online live broadcast was also held.

Baek Eun-ok (백은옥), a professor in the Department of Computer Software at Hanyang University and chair of the data subcommittee, said, "Data is the most essential element in AI technology, so the value of AI companies should also be able to be assessed based on data." She said, "A data valuation system will be a force that opens a path to funding for small AI and data companies that lack physical collateral."