Korea to Develop "Software Maestros"

In an effort to boost the nation’s lagging software industry, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy selected 100 young trainees to be part of its first “Software Maestro” nurturing program.The ministry’s move comes amid concerns that the country’s industrial focus has been on hardware industries such as semiconductors and liquid crystal displays at the expense of its software industry.

In 2009, Korea’s market share of the global software market was just 1.8 percent, or $17.8 billion, according to recent government figures.

The share of software exports was even lower, taking up only 0.8 percent of the total global pie.

Additional information on the new "World Best Software" Program are contained in an article in the Joongang Daily.

Korea's IT Service Industry Lags Behind World Leaders

Korea is becoming well known around the world for its IT manufacturing industry. However, as reported in the Chosun Ilbo today, its IT Service industry lags behind world leaders. A study of 37 major IT firms including Samsung SDS, LG CNS and SK C&C was released by the Federation of Korean Industries on Monday. It estimates the competitiveness of Korea's IT Service industry at 73.3% of that in nations that lead the industry.

Some of the reasons given in the report were a fixation with low prices, a focus on the domestic market, the lack of a high quality workforce and insufficient investment. Interestingly, lack of foreign language skills and poor working conditions were also cited.

The world IT service market was worth $754 billion in 2008, far more than the markets for semiconductors ($255 billion)and mobile phones ($122 billion). Korean companies account for only two percent of the IT service market.

Korea's IT Service Sector vs. IT Manufacturing

In recent decades, South Korea has become an IT Powerhouse, based largely on the impressive strides it has made in ICT-related manufacturing.   We all know the main products --semiconductors, mobile handsets, LCD flat panel displays and digital televisions, along with parts and components for many of these products as well as fiber optic and wireless digital networks.

A new report by the Hyundai Research Institute warns that the sluggish development of South Korea's IT Service industry could hurt the country's overall IT competitiveness since it widens the gap between the service and manufacturing sectors.  Korea's IT Service industry expanded by an annual average of 7.1% from 2001 through 2008, while its IT manufacturing industry grew 9.5 percent in the same period.

An article published by Yonhap News also notes that the the IT service industry encompasses consulting, systems integration and management, and IT education.