2011 IT 21 Global Conference, the most influential IT conference in Korea, began on June 9 at the International Convention Center of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies. Under the theme of 'Smart Technologies for Borderless Life in Future', the conference is held for two days to shed new light on IT and related technologies in Korea.
While the conference drew many visitors with more diverse and useful programs than ever before, Vice president of Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT), Hwang Joong-hyun opened the event by delivering a keynote speech, which was about the past of the ICT in Korea and the future smart society. "Korea is known as an IT powerhouse in the world. There are some key factors for that. Strong leadership and technocrat is one of them and establishing professional organizations such as ETRI and KISDI is another." He continued, "Unlike other countries, Korea has been processing the dual R&D systems, which has led Korea to where it is today."
He also talked about smart society. "The world is entering into a smart society. Also, cloud computing is another hot key word to mention, when you talk about smart society and this future service technology will bring us to a smart society even faster." He emphasized that Korea needs to set up a healthy ecosystem in order to play the lead role in a smart society.
At this 16th event, notable personnel also attended to celebrate the event's opening. "Today is the age of digital convergence. Based on the latest convergence technology, Korea is stepping forward to a smart society. Therefore this conference which shares the technologies trends is more meaningful," Suh Jong-ryeol, CEO of KIPS said at the opening address.
The congratulatory address was delivered by the Vice Minister of Knowledge Economy, Yoon Sang-Jick, "Thanks to innovative IT technologies, our life has been upgraded in many ways. Communication between people becomes easier, flexibility of society is accelerating, and new business appears. In this smart society, security and convergence are the important factors," he said.
Byun Jae-il, Chairman of the Korean Education and Scientific Technology Committee of the National Assembly gave an encouraging speech by saying, "In this fast-paced world, the technologies keep advancing and those technologies will be able to make Korea and the world better. I hope this conference comes up with many ideas to make Korea shine and to lead Korea into a smart society."
Panel discussion: Shared Growth for Software and SoC
IT specialists from academia and the industry exchanged in-depth views on Shared Growth for Software and SoC (System on Chip). Jang Man-ho, CEO of Inno Pia Tech led the panel discussion by saying, "As chip companies produce platform-based SoC these days, software companies and chip companies should work closer together in order to create innovative products."
"Trends in software as a service platform," said Hwang Do-yeon, CEO of Obigo Korea by explaining the example of facebook. He also said, "Every company tries to build a platform to reinforce their competitiveness. Chip companies are also taking web platforms in order to provide differentiated services."
Lee Young-sang, President of Korea Software Enterprise Association (KOSEA) commented, "Software is the knowledge industry. Globally, the software market is 20 to 30 percent bigger than the hardware market. And not only the size of software market is getting bigger, but also the potential of growth is getting brighter." He also said, "In order for Korea to foster competitiveness in the world, we need to develop the knowledge industry which is software in other words."
Lee Byeong-seon, the director of ETRI went on by saying, "Technically, software is the backbone for all industries and we need to figure out how to weave software and other industries seamlessly together. When we research and develop software, we need to picture big as having a long term vision in order to create a total solution. Undoubtedly, governmental support is needed for this."
Lastly, Ryu Kyung-dong, a journalist for etnews said, "For shared growth on SoC and software, small and medium business should play the most active part. To do that, it is important to support the small and medium businesses in Korea." He suggested by saying, "M&A should proceed under fair conditions. Not like purchasing small companies with giveaway price."
Moreover, global experts such as Dr. Mikko Sallinen, the vice president of VTT from Finland and Joel Cherkis, CTO, Public Sector of Microsoft Co. from the USA were invited to deliver speeches as well. Dr. Mikko Sallinen talked about the methods for power management, designing an energy aware system. He said, "Power management is becoming one of the most important topics to solve."
The conference went on for two days having six tracks and 24 sessions, introducing the latest technologies and trends - namely, Apps on the Web, Smart Software, Social Service, Security & Safety, Cloud & Green 2.0, and ICT Convergence.
