Upon the new year of 2011 the IPAK Breakfast Seminar featuring special speakers took place at JW Marriott Hotel on March 9. The meeting started early in the morning with many members filling the hall showing once more the reputation of Vice-President of KT Suk Ho-ick.
Vice-President Suk gave a lecture on "Korea's current status and mega trends of IT". Being the first person to introduce the word "IT" he started the lecture with IT being the growth engine and main contributor to overcoming the economic crisis in Korea.
Korea is known as one of the world leaders in IT. Former U.S Vice-President Al Gore once praised Korea's high level of IT by saying, "There are two presents that Korea has given to mankind. One is the printing technique, and the other is digital." Eric Schmidt said that Korea will lead the way in Internet for ten years. Then how is Korea able to be the IT powerhouse that it is today
According to Mr. Suk, Korea was able to succeed because of the national open trait of Koreans. Unlike the agriculture revolution and industrial revolution in which Korea had many disadvantages, information revolution which was about the opening the door to information and knowledge was to Korea like a fish in water.
During Roh Moo-Hyun's time as president, Korea became the most famous country in IT, all coming to the current administration with the goal to fuse information and technology. During this time Korea was able to stay strong in IT by setting specific goals and having a clear vision.
The second reason for Korea's IT success was the government's lead in IT policy, corporations concentrating resources according to government policies, high zeal for education, and the ability to accept and acquire new technologies and equipment. But most of all, the key in turning the nation into a IT powerhouse was due to the fast development of high-speed Internet technology which was spread quickly through the big cities with the apartment based infrastructure.
According to Mr. Suk, the present age which requires creativity and a fertile mind is the best time for Korea's national trait. He also said that the 21 century is going towards a smart age where value, innovation, and design is important and the three keywords for IT mega trends were Ubiquitous, Convergence, and Smart.
When viewing IT as a network, he explained that communication has evolved from human to human, to object to object. The other industries can no longer run away from fusing with IT. Politics, economics, culture, and society including everyday life will fuse with IT. And IT will be used vigorously in various forms such as smartphones, smart TV, smart grids, and smart-working,
For a long time, Korea was known for its IT hardware, but this is not because its software is weak, it had just not been "Smartified" enough.
Mr. Suk says that if Korea does not break free from its previous ways, it will not be able to survive, so it must now develop smart-working.
Why Smart-Working
Why smart-working According to a study in England, smart-working increases work efficiency up to 30 percent and employee satisfaction up to 50 percent, and also reducing absenteeism rate to 20 percent. It also reduced work costs by 500 million pounds by room efficiency.
For Korea to achieve smart-working, it first needs organize a system of process. Starting with a project based system, and an analysis of occupational groups/duties, and a goal oriented business management, along with a reorganization of ICT infrastructure. Korea must systemize a 21 century network and adopt security systems and establish a green data centre. But most importantly, there must be a culture that accepts all this.
It is a time for innovative development. The reason there as so many social problems is that there was innovation.
One of the biggest social problems is the low birth problem. With the life expectancy rising and lower birth rates, Korea's future is very unpredictable. This means that women would not be able to work due to housework and childcare burdens. To resolve this problem, there must be innovation. KT has increased its maternity leave to two years. This is up to the employee's decision, and in order to make up for the decline of job performance, they are providing an OJT online program. This is one of the right ways of change and cases to reach smart-work.
Mr. Suk said, "Many know that 'Olleh' is Hello backwards. KT is a group that is always trying a different way of thinking when managing, is always trying to impress its clients. 'Ol leh' is also the Chinese character meaning that the future will come, resulting in futuristic management. This is not also limited to KT; we must all have innovative minds and "Try to think differently, the future, communication, and customer satisfaction."
He finished by saying, "One who innovates everyday and changes every day will be able to survive." Even the dominant original dynasty of China had disappeared within 100 years; we can see that sustainable innovation is a must. As the average lives of the Fortune's 500 last 40 years, innovation will be the only means of survival.
