"Gyeonggi-do is developing into a global IT business hub," says Kim Moon-soo, Governor of Gyeonggi Province.
Gyeonggi Province has surpassed Seoul in becoming the top IT business hub in Korea, by carrying out strategic projects including U-Floriculture Environment Management System, industrial security zone, and the Gyeonggi G-free zone that encompasses culture, tourism, and agricultural industries.
U-Floriculture Environment Management System, set up by Gyeonggi Province in 2008, has been applied to six farms in the province, demonstrating remarkable improvements in both product quality and farmers' income. 'U-Floriculture Environment Management System' enables real-time monitoring of crops in greenhouses, with the help of Ubiquitous Sensor Network (USN), artificial light sources, and the web management portal system (which looks after the former), an increasing number of farms, in addition to the six previously mentioned, are adopting this system.
Gyeonggi Province's industrial security zone project aims to build an industrial security cluster by connecting Gyeonggi University's industrial security center (RIC of Ministry of Knowledge Economy) with Ajou University's advanced security center, Suwon University's u-City security management research center (Gyeonggi GRRC), and Sungkyunkwan University's internet security research center, while providing security solutions at an affordable cost to IT businesses in Gyeonggi-do.
Furthermore, the purpose of Gyeonggi G-free zone project is to set up a Wifi network throughout the province by 2014, so that people can connect to the wireless internet from anywhere such as bus terminals, parks, and shopping malls within Gyeong-gi do. The province is installing no less than 3,000 Wifi hot spots, providing wireless internet connection to even relatively less developed areas.
Governor Kim explains, "We always face budget-related issues when we try to carry out a project based on our policy. There are so many policies and services in our plan that will help to improve the life of our citizens, but sometimes there is nothing we can do because we are not given a large enough budget."
Unlike the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Gyeonggi Province still lacks adequate social infrastructure, which is why the provincial government spends most of its budget on improving it. For that reason, there is usually not enough money left for projects to build IT infrastructure, which is something that worries the governor. As part of his efforts to maximize benefits by utilizing an insufficient budget, Governor Kim is encouraging active participation in the central government's national policy projects. Also, by building international free business areas across Incheon and Gyeong-gi Province, he hopes to attract many foreign companies with his eyes set on potential growth.
"In order for Gyeonggi Province to turn into a business hub," Governor Kim says, "Information technology is vital to connect the citizens with corporations, and financial and public institutions as to improve the productivity of the province." He added, "We will continue to support various industries to create a synergy through information technology."
In addition, Gyeonggi-do has launched the 'e-Human Resource Development (HRD)' system, through which to provide job training for public servants via the internet and to enhance the efficiency and competency of government's services. The e-HRD system has proved very efficient as public servants can receive job training regardless of the time and place, enhancing the quality of human resources in the provincial government.
Dr. Yang Jae-soo, advisor to the governor of the province for information and communications explains, "If we were to make Gyeonggi Province IT a business hub, the people who work in Gyeonggi Province themselves should change their way of thinking. Instead of maintaining the old, inflexible attitude, resistant to change, we need to enhance our expertise with a more open and progressive mind. That is why we have special lectures every month to help people think outside the box, and also hire nongovernmental experts to participate in national policy projects."
"The employees that used to show little enthusiasm because of a hectic work schedule, have started to change their attitude as they take part in national policies. With continuing participation, confidence, and motivation, you can achieve a whole new level of development," he added.
Governor Kim believes that IT information is the biggest competitive edge of South Korea. He anticipates that U-Gyeonggi projects, which will advance Gyeonggi IT industry and link it to other higher value-added industries, will bring out the potential of the citizens, especially young people.
