Identifying Stakeholder Perspectives on Data Industry Regulation in South Korea

Abstract

Data innovation is at the core of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. While the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the societal shift toward a data-driven society, the direction of overall data regulation remains unclear and data policy experts have yet to reach a consensus. This study identifies and examines the ideal regulator models of data-policy experts and suggests an appropriate method for developing policy in the data economy. To identify different typologies of data regulation, this study used Q methodology with 42 data policy experts, including public officers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and professors, and additional focus group interviews (FGIs) with six data policy experts. Using a Q survey, this study discerns four types of data policy regulators: proactive activists, neutral conservatives, pro-protection idealists, and pro-protection pragmatists. Based on the results of the analysis and FGIs, this study suggests three practical policy implications for framing a nation’s data policy. It also discusses possibilities for exploring diverse methods of data industry regulation, underscoring the value of identifying regulatory issues in the data industry from a social science perspective.