The government has announced a strategic plan to proliferate IT convergence to automobiles and four other key industries as well as food, education and three other service industries that will have a production induction effect of 46 trillion won and will create 230,000 jobs by 2017.

Kim Jae-hong, deputy minister for industry at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), said, “Convergence involves the creating of new values by combining technologies and values, not simply a functional combination.”

The plan, unveiled during the inter-ministry 5th Strategy Committee Meeting held at the Gwacheon Government Building on Sept. 7, is not only one of the top 10 policy agendas the government adopted this past April with the goal of making Korea a creative power by 2020, but it is also a core part of the master plan on industrial convergence established in August. 

The plan involves five key industries with great spillover effects °™ automobile, shipbuilding/maritime plant, textile, national defense/aviation, and energy °™ as well as the top five service industries that will emerge as future breadwinners °™ food, education, health care, disaster/safety, and transportation.

For example, the plan calls for the development of “smart”clothing using 3D technologies, which is expected to created a new fashion industry segment and enhance companies’  competitive edge through the IT sector’ s improving of energy efficiency. 

The government plans to explore IT convergence technologies and success models, which are essential for creating new markets. It is firing on all cylinders to revamp convergence R&D frameworks, spearhead standardization and cultivate creative and gifted manpower. 

It plans to implement policies to improve institutional overhaul to invigorate new markets and to form a pan-government IT convergence consultation committee to take stock of the progress of the implementation of relevant policies and inter-ministry collaboration. 

The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and MKE Assistant Minister Kim in which he spoke of the details of the plan, including the background of the so-called IT Convergence Proliferation Strategy for 2013 to 2017 and major related tasks. 

Question: Will you tell our readers about the background of the implementation of the IT convergence proliferation plan?

Answer: In the 21st century, the global economy is shifting to a new paradigm of creating new values through convergence beyond just the advancement of technologies. The IT sector serves as a catalyst to create new products and new markets. 

A combination of Korea’ s conventional mainstay industries such as automobile and shipbuilding and IT industries such as semiconductor and smartphones has synergetic effects.

The boundaries of the IT and non-IT sectors are blurring, so convergence and cross-disciplinary combination capability has become a driving force behind competitiveness. 

The IT sector is emerging as the major source of solutions to cope with social problems related to demographic structure and environmental changes in the future. The field is expected to play leading roles in boosting user-oriented services tailored to meet their demands.

Relevant ministries need to promote a pan-government collaboration to raise the efficiency of the whole of the national system by spreading the use of IT in everyday lives, creating new industries, communicating among people, and making IT the key infrastructure for national innovation.  

This past April 23, the government adopted the IT Convergence Proliferation Phase II as one of the major agendas it will implement with the goal of developing Korea into a creative power in an era of super connection by 2020. IT convergence is one of the core tasks contained in the master plan on industrial convergence established in August. In this regard, the government decided to carry out the pan-government IT convergence proliferation strategy plan for 2013 to 2017. 

Q: Will you touch on IT convergence outcomes of the past four years and their evaluation?

A: IT convergence has been seen spreading across every industry for the past four years with a rising number of IT convergence-related organizations being established in the private sector and IT convergence sales and R&D investments on the rise. In particular, even though it is the beginning stage of IT convergence, efforts to converge the IT sector with key industries have begun to pay off with a boost in exports. For example, Korea successfully exported 110 ships each carrying the SAN-Ship Area Network, an international standard for ship telecommunication.

But the reality is that there is insufficient connection between R&D application and commercialization and continuous expansion of infrastructure is necessary for building a network between client companies and IT firms. A consensus is mounting that related ministries and companies need to take the lead to achieve tangible outcomes of future IT convergence.

Q: Will you elaborate on the direction of the implementation of the IT Convergence Proliferation Strategy?

A: The government plans to secure new growth engines in the industries and dramatically improve the quality of public lives. To this end, the related ministries plan to take the lead in transforming 10 industrial sectors °™ five key industries and five service industries °™ into new markets. 

Q: Will you explain the major policy tasks?

A: First, the government plans to implement growth strategies tailored to suit each ministry’ s characteristics after targeting the five key industries that have a greater impact in spreading IT convergence under a scheme of choice and concentration.

Secondly, the IT Convergence Proliferation Strategy calls for focusing on five service areas °™  food, education, health care, disaster/safety, and transportation °™  in which IT convergence can enhance people’ s convenience and safety due to their affinity to public lives and because they have the potential to raise policy efficiency. 

Thirdly, the government plans to revamp the IT convergence R&D structure in a way that commercialization can be encouraged and to secure a global initiative by spearheading global technology standardization. It plans to pursue institutional overhaul to expedite the creation of new convergence service markets and set up a regime for receiving reports against restrictions and grievances and fixing them. The government plans to build an environment for IT convergence growth by cultivating creative and gifted manpower of IT convergence, offering tax incentives and financial support, and researching on the classifying of IT convergence industries. 

Q: What effects does the IT Converg-ence Proliferation Strategy bring?

A: The strategy is predicted to have a production induction effect of 46 trillion won and to create about 230,000 jobs by 2017 by upgrading the key industries through IT and expanding IT convergence services. The automobile, shipbuilding, and other conventional key industries will see their competiveness surge due to differentiation through IT convergence. It will dramatically enhance the quality of public lives by increasing public convenience such as the spreading of smart education and the provision of medical services tailored to meet individuals’  needs, the realizing of a safer society by making automobiles “smarter”and guaranteeing food safety.

To this end, a pan-government IT convergence policy consultation committee will be formed to explore ways of promoting inter-ministry collaboration, consult and examine such issues as additional inter-disciplinary convergence, institutional exploration and revamping. The related ministries will take the lead in carrying out detailed measures to spread IT convergence, with the MKE planning to provide support for the common technology and cooperative network development.