On 4^th and 5^th September 2023, the President of Statistics Poland, Mr. Dominik Rozkrut, will take part in the last meeting of the first Polish-Korean project financed through the Korean "Knowledge Sharing Program" (KSP) initiative.

On 4^th September, the meeting will be held in Cracow at the Cracow University of Technology and on 5^th September in Rzeszów at the Rzeszów University of Technology and the Podkarpackie Centre for Innovation. The official summary of the project will take place at the Castle Museum in Łańcut.

The KSP program is offered by the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance. Within its framework, various development assistance is made available.

The current undertaking is the result of an agreement on the implementation of the project entitled “The use of Big Data sources in monitoring changes in tourism”, which was signed on February 14^th, 2023 by the President of Statistics Poland, Dr. Dominik Rozkrut and the representative of the Korean project consortium Mr. Tae Yong Yoon, senior advisor to the Korean Import and Export Bank (KEXIM BANK).

On the Korean side, the project is implemented by KEXIM BANK and a selected team of consultants (Kyung Hee University Consortium) consisting of:

• Kyung Hee University,
• Ars Praxia Corporation,
• KT Corporation.

On the Polish side, the project is being implemented by:

• Statistical Office in Rzeszów (requesting unit),
• International Relations and Statistical Cooperation Department (coordination and organisational activities),
• Ministry of Sports and Tourism.

Due to the significance of the project and its long-term usefulness, not only for official statistics, the meetings will be attended, by the representatives of local authorities, universities, Narodowy Bank Polski, commercial companies such as e.g. VISA, and entities from partner regions in Slovakia, apart from the main entities involved in the project.

The successful completion of the KSP project opens up new horizons and opportunities for further modernisation and development of Polish official statistics.

It is worth noting that the project financed by South Korea is an important step towards developing a framework for accessing data held by commercial operators. The project made it possible for Statistics Poland to intensify its cooperation with big data providers, such as VISA and T-Mobile. The natural consequences of the cooperation established under the project will be further plans to develop dialogue in 2024 and shape the basis for strengthening cooperation with commercial entities who work in the field of big data. This may translate into prospects for sustainable, innovative development of official statistics.

Possibilities exist to continue the project in the next round of calls for proposals under the KSP. The possibility for future cooperation lies in further modernisation of official statistics, and maintaining access to high-class specialist knowledge of Korean experts has become one of the priorities of the development agenda of Statistics Poland.