Korea's e-government system is reputed to be a representative model for all similar products, and government officials from overseas are visiting Korea to check its progress every year, SK C&C CEO Kim Shin-bae said in an interview with the Korea IT Times.
IT service is the most promising business in the knowledge-based society and has made itself a cornerstone for a nation's industrial competitiveness, according to Kim.
Based upon its superior e-government system and IT infrastructure, Korea is devoting its energies to make inroads into the Central Asian region. SK C&C is also making such efforts, Kim said. The company's main business areas with the region are postal service modernization and Intelligent Transportation Service (ITS).
In general, Central Asia is sparsely populated in a comparatively large land area. So, it lacks an adequate postal service system, and in small cities people have to go visit the nearest post office to get their mail. Oftentimes, those parcels are lost, not to be recovered. Plus, transportation problems in the area get worse with the passage of time as people move to dwell in metropolitan regions. Korea has a well-developed mail delivery system as well as real-time parcel tracking system. SK C&C figured that it could help solve mounting problems in Central Asia.
The government has greatly supported SK C&C's advancement into Central Asia. The proposed modernization of Kazakhstan's postal service was the first-ever IT service project in Central Asia. It was not easy for SK C&C to persuade the Kazakh government into the business agreement because the local government did not fully trust SK's technological expertise in e-government service.
To win the local government's confidence, SK C&C presented the future image of modernized postal service and conducted feasibility studies on the Kazakh government's postal service innovation. Also, supported by the Korea Post's earnest assistance, SK C&C invited Kazakhstanian postal service directors and staff to Korea to show the country's advanced postal management system.
In order to activate IT service exports, governmental support is essential, Kim said. The government's assistance is all the more important in the incipient stage. For example, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security is hosting an IT fair in Morocco which is expected to lay the groundwork for Korea's IT advancement into Africa. The Ministry also agreed with Kuwait recently to organize a collaboration committee for informatization.
Kim said exporting IT services to other countries has great implications in that the country's software will be exported along with the service.
When Korea's e-government system is exported, the country's DMB, IPTV, Internet portal and mobile technologies will also reach out to global IT markets, Kim explained.
For example, SK C&C could export its Internet portal and auxiliary mobile services after it had successfully completed postal service modernization in Kazakhstan.
Export of e-government is also great for energy resource diplomacy which the incumbent administration is seeking, according to Kim. Great IT infrastructure has high chances to be traded for Central Asian nation's abundant natural resources.
The following is the Korea IT Times' interview with Kim:
Q: Why do you think Korean IT companies should penetrate into the overseas market
A: About 30 IT companies of Korea have acquired CMMI certificates while upgrading their IT service quality and pursuing operation excellency. Korea's big 3 IT enterprises, including SK C&C, have also been listed in the world' top 100 IT corporations. However, even Korea's big 3 companies have so far focused on domestic market. The world's IT service market is as large as 800 trillion won, but Korean companies' market share is only 2 percent or 18 trillion won. So, with superb technologies in the field, Korea should standardize its IT business conforming to the global level and reach out to the international market.
Q: How advanced is Korea's e-government system
A: At any time in any place, Korean people share all kinds of information through a variety of channels, such as personal computers, IPTVs and cell phones and enjoy public information service which is distributed by e-government system. This is something unimaginable in other countries.
Through the well-developed e-government system, Korean people not only participate in government administration but also make new values with circulating information. E-government index of Korea stands at the world's sixth, being up to its reputation as Asian IT powerhouse.
Q: What made SK C&C interested in Central Asian countries
A: SK C&C started paying attention to Central Asian region around 2003. The region is less developed in IT service when compared to Europe, East Asia and the Americas, but went through a swift economic development lately. SK C&C decided to contribute to the region's industrial development and public service enhancement at the same time. The answer was postal service modernization in the region.
Q: How did the government assist SK C&C's advancement into central Asia
A: The government has helped a lot when SK C&C firstly conducted feasibility studies on postal service modernization of Kazakhstan. It also landed hands for SK C&C and Azerbaijan government to agree to build ITS system in Azerbaijan. Before the agreement was reached, Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs helped SK to promote its achievement in constructing state-of-the-art transportation system in Seoul and Jeju. In April this year, the transportation ministries of the two countries concluded an MOU on ITS construction.
