EWP President Kim Yong-jin, (Photos:EWP)

Korea East-West Power Co. (EWP) is devoting itself to be reborn as a reliable power company, beloved by people. The power company has become the first public entity to introduce a smart office, complying with the Government 3.0 Initiative. 

EWP, whose headquarters has moved to Ulsan, is aggressively striving to spread the spirits of the Government 3.0 Initiative transparent government; capable government; and government offering services. To this end, the power company has finalized six core tasks, including the exploration of services tailored to meet clients’ needs, sharing of resources, expanding of collaboration and the establishment of a system of sharing knowledge through cloud computing, and 16 detailed action tasks via a public contest held last December. 

EWP is trying to explore such services, impressing people as a pilot program to build an agricultural farm utilizing warm water that is emitted from the Dangjin Thermal Power Complex. Major clients of the program are agricultural organizations wanting to establish agricultural cooperatives or build and construct agricultural farms. Dangjin Well and Ever Green Farm have been chosen as final contenders of the project. EWP is going into high gear by securing financial resources for the implementation of the project, designed to help farmers save 1.4 billion won annually per 10 ha by busing the waste head from the power plant, compared to the using of kerosene as an energy source. 

The power company is providing information on biomass to would-be SMEs and corporate suppliers when it augments biomass fuel consumption to comply with the government’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS).

EWP has opened a biomass fuel contract community, allowing free access, which posts not only simple materials, but also information on government policies, domestic and foreign new and renewable technology trends and biomass biddings and others. The move will likely lead to the nurturing of related industries and create of jobs. 

In line with the launch of “an era of Ulsan,” EWP has become the first public entity to introduce the smart office to spur creativity, create a horizontal corporate environment and enhance communication and cooperation between EWP executives and staff. A smart office refers to the converging of advanced IT technologies and gadgets designed to dramatically improve work productivity by allowing employees to work at any place in an efficient fashion, departing from the conventional method of working in a fixed place.

In this regard, EWP operates flexible seating for team heads and team members in lieu of the existing cubicle style by tearing down partitions between departments and individuals.

To create its smart office, EWP has installed a virtual desktop infrastructure, fixed mobile convergence and cloud printing. The virtual desktop infrastructure is designed so the center can offer each user their own virtual desktop and data storage space, which are safe from outside hacking. It comes in handy for online and offline work. 

The fixed mobile convergence system substitutes each person’s cellular phone for the existing extension phone line to make it suitable for the flexible seating system. The cloud printing system offers a paperless office space by allowing the printing of documents without place limitations while maximizing office space and strengthening security. The power company has realized an “Open Company” by allowing neighborhood residents to gain free access to its amenities. EWP has won the Smart Work Top Prize from the Ministry of Interior last December.

EWP President Kim Yong-jin held town-hall meetings from March 4 to 5 with young EWP employees to discuss on how to cope with rapid changes in the power industry and explore future growth engines. Participants in the first day session had an in-depth discussion on securing such future growth engines as new and renewable energy sources and new energy businesses. They wrapped up their meeting by announcing four new management tenets innovation of mainstay businesses, future creation, respecting of humanity and social responsibility. 

EWP is also turning to reducing debts and enhancing productivity to comply with the government’s policy to normalize the operation of public entities. The power company plans to cut down on reducing debts by 540.3 billion won by readjusting businesses and retrenching this year. EWP aims to reduce debts by 2 trillion won with the goal of reducing its debt ratio to 132 percent by next year, the last year of the government policy. 

Korea East-West Power Co. is the first public entity to introduce a smart office system.