OECD: "AI Competency Is Key in the AI Era"... Korea-Led Policy Report Published for the First Time

Core Competencies Highlighted: Basic Literacy, Creativity, and Critical Thinking

Ministry of Science and ICT and NIA Lead Global Discussion on AI Talent Development Policy

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has officially published its first policy report emphasizing the importance of not only fostering AI professionals, but also enhancing the AI competency of the entire population in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). This report, led and coordinated by Korea under the 'Korea-OECD Digital Society Initiative (DSI),' is considered a key initial achievement and is expected to serve as a catalyst for sharing Korea’s experiences in AI and digital policy with the international community.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, the National Information Society Agency (NIA), and the OECD announced on July 8 (local time) that they jointly hosted the launch event for the 'Digital Transformation and Society' report during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva, Switzerland.

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The newly released report, 'Rethinking Skills in the AI Age,' analyzes how AI is being used to transform work processes and productivity, rather than simply replacing jobs. Accordingly, it identifies basic literacy and numeracy, AI and digital literacy, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills as core competencies in the AI era. The report emphasizes that, alongside nurturing AI specialists, policies are needed to enhance the AI competency of the entire population.

Korea’s Leadership in AI Policy Discussion Revealed for the First Time

The Korea-OECD Digital Society Initiative is an international cooperation platform launched under Korea’s leadership in 2024. It is a flagship collaborative project of the OECD Digital Policy Committee, analyzing the social impacts of AI and digital technologies, and sharing policy cases from member countries, focusing on inclusion, safety, and trust.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, NIA, and the OECD plan to continue publishing follow-up studies starting with this report. They also intend to pursue new policy research and report production in the field of AI as their next project. Through these efforts, they aim to share outstanding AI policy cases among OECD member states and continuously expand discussions on inclusive and trustworthy AI utilization policies.

Yeonkyu Kim, Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "It is more important than ever to implement talent development and competency-building policies so that all citizens can benefit from the advancement of AI technologies. Korea will continue to lead international AI policy discussions and share its exemplary policy cases through the Korea-OECD Digital Society Initiative."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.