Differentiated policies needed to promote Korea's digital technology Ivisited the United Kingdom last September to participate as an invited speaker in the "i2010 Conference," a gathering of top government officials and business leaders from the EU countries to decide IT policy until 2010. While staying in London, I read with interest about the four kinds of flows suggested by Dr. Alvin Toffler as the keys to the future global economy at a forum in Korea. The four kinds of flows he suggested are a speed gap occurring in a speed era, a tailor-made production era, a surplus complexity era, and collapse of boundary. Now Korea is experiencing the collapse of boundary pointed out by Dr. Toffler, ahead of other countries. It would be rare to find a country like Korea where boundaries between various digital technologies and between industries are collapsing at such an alarming pace. Among the representative cases are SK Telecom's recent takeover of the managerial rights of a movie production company and a disc company. SK Telecom also began to launch the broadcasting business through its subsidiary TU Media. Meanwhile, KT recently revealed its plan to take over equities of a movie production company, SIDUS FNH. From the viewpoint of a state, such changes will create enormous opportunities The adoption of Korea's technology standards for WiBro (portable Internet) and DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting) as global standards will enhance the possibility of creating huge value-added, while helping the nation use it as a springboard for another takeoff toward becoming an advanced country. For all these reasons, the "i2010 Conference" has offered ITrelated ministers and top-level policymakers from the EU countries a chance to be informed and deeply impressed by Korea's advanced DMB technology. At the second Korea-Britain Mobile Communication Forum, Korea also demonstrated DMB for major communication and broadcasting companies in the EU, including British Telecom and BBC, and attracted their keen attention. In April this year when President Roh Moo-hyun visited Germany, the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Broadcasting Committee of the Bayern State of Germany for the adoption of Korea's DMB standards. The Bayern State is playing a leading role in the introduction of the IT industry and digital broadcasting to all European regions, including Germany. Under the MOU, the Broadcasting Committee of the Bayern State will push for the DMB test service in Munich during the World Cup period. In June next year when people from around the world watch the FIFA World Cup games, if the vivid scenes featuring World Cup stars are delivered to the TV receivers in people's hands in real time through Korea's DMB equipment and mobile phones, global citizens will be impressed by the nation's advanced DMB technology. As Dr. Toffler pointed out earlier, the speed gap in a speed era is very important. At a strategic meeting regarding the Chinese IT industry, I stressed that a speed strategy like a rabbit or a cheetah that avoid an elephant quickly, and a soft policy are necessary to effectively compete with the giant Chinese market. In an industrialized era, a bigger competitor defeats a smaller one. But, in an informatization era, a speedier one wins over a slower one. Accordingly, to win the competition with the sizefocused China, it is very important to spread advanced IT technology, which enables the establishment of a speed strategy and a soft policy, to all industries and nationwide. As part of its speed strategy and soft policy, the Ministry of Information and Communication has been holding events for DMB demonstration in many countries, including Europe and Central & South America. During his recent visit to Latin America, President Roh also placed first priority on IT diplomacy. We should herald the superiority of our technology to foreign countries before other countries do so. Sales promotion activities also should not be heavy, but soft and interesting. From this point of view, the conception of the "digital hallyu (Korean wave)," that spreads the superiority of Korea's digital technology, products and services to foreign countries is very important. To survive competition with China and Japan, we need differentiated policies and differentiated ideas. The IT 839 strategy, including DMB and WiBro now leading the global market, is the most differentiated speed strategy and soft policy with which we can attain both selection and concentration.