The Personal Information Commission's public service for deleting child and youth personal data and the Deposit Insurance Corporation's public service for returning erroneous transfers have been recognized as world-first examples of government innovation.
On November 1, the Ministry of Interior and Safety announced that it held the '2026 Government Innovation First and Best Certification Ceremony' on October 30 at the SJ Kunsthalle in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul, awarding certificates to a total of 10 cases.
The First and Best Government Innovation initiative aims to identify and certify innovative cases that have improved citizens' lives and those that have achieved excellence in specific fields. Launched in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Public Administration in 2023, this year's theme was 'small but certain innovations' (small innovations that citizens definitely appreciate), selected through an online public vote.
This year's certified government innovation cases include two world-firsts, one domestic first, and seven domestic bests.
The world-first certified project is the 'Eraser' service (Protecting Our Personal Information), introduced by the Personal Information Commission in April 2023. The Eraser service supports the deletion and blocking of online posts containing personal information of children and adolescents, with a cumulative number of applications processed reaching 50,029 as of August this year.
The Deposit Insurance Corporation's erroneous transfer recovery support service also received world-first certification. Since July 2021, the corporation has been directly recovering and returning money mistakenly sent by remitters. This initiative is noted as the first case where the government has actively intervened to recover financial consumer losses. As of July this year, the cumulative number of returns stands at 18,216, amounting to approximately 22.6 billion won.
The domestic first case recognized is Seoul's 'Heated Seats at Bus Stops.' This service, which was piloted in October 2009 based on a private sector idea, has been praised as a practical innovation that alleviates the discomfort of citizens waiting for buses in cold weather.
The seven domestic best cases were selected through a competition in three areas: experiential youth welfare, prevention of no-shows and support for victims, and regeneration of idle spaces. The selected projects include: ▲ 'Sick Child Care Center' in Nowon-gu, Seoul ▲ 'Dream Art Troupe' by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ▲ 'Integrated and Proactive No-Show Fraud Prevention System' by the National Police Agency ▲ 'No-Show Damage Prevention Standards' by the Korea Consumer Agency ▲ 'Living House Project' in Gwangsan-gu, Jeonnam ▲ 'Osong Sunhamaru' in Chungbuk ▲ 'Community Coexistence Distributed Fuel Cell Project' by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.
Yoon Ho-jung, Minister of Interior and Safety, stated, "These first and best cases reflect the careful attention to citizens' small inconveniences and the valuable results of efforts to find better solutions and create change in the field. We will actively support the rapid spread and rooting of small but certain innovations across the country."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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