Professor Taejun Lee has served as a tenured Full Professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management since 2015, where he has been leading scholarship and policy engagement in digital transformation and public governance innovation. Prior to joining KDI, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Bradley University in the United States (2010–2012) and subsequently Assistant Professor in the School of Media and Advertising at Kookmin University (2012–2015), where he further developed his international research profile and policy-oriented academic expertise.

Professor Lee’s research examines how technological innovation and digital transformation reconfigure governance capacity at national and local levels, foster innovation ecosystems, and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In recent years, he has devoted particular attention to the construction of cultural and creative innovation ecosystems and the development of glocal (global–local) strategies for regional development. His work advances integrated models that connect cultural city policies, regional innovation platforms, data-driven cultural industry strategies, city branding, and cultural diplomacy. Moving beyond sectoral cultural policy, his research articulates structural transformation pathways through which regions leverage indigenous cultural assets and digital infrastructures to position themselves within global networks. In doing so, he conceptualizes regions not merely as administrative units, but as strategic nodes of innovation, diplomacy, and platform-based development within evolving state architectures.

He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in SSCI- and KCI-indexed journals, including leading international journals such as Government Information Quarterly, International Journal of Information Management, New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, and International Journal of Advertising. Through this extensive body of scholarship, he has continuously expanded both academic and policy impact in the fields of digital governance, innovation ecosystems, public policy, and cultural city development.

Professor Lee has participated in more than eighty government-commissioned policy projects as principal or co-investigator. He has served as a policy advisor to the Office of the President, the Prime Minister’s Office, and multiple ministries, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Communications Standards Commission. In recognition of his contributions to public sector innovation and policy development, he has been awarded Ministerial Commendations from both the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in SSCI- and KCI-indexed journals, including leading international outlets such as Government Information Quarterly, International Journal of Information Management, New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, and International Journal of Advertising. Through this sustained scholarly output, he has expanded both academic and policy impact in the fields of digital transformation, public governance innovation, and cultural and creative ecosystem strategy.