Korea still the world's most advanced internet and telecommunications economy

The ITU has released its annual study on Measuring the Information Society, and South Korea remains the number one country in the world, as measured by its ICT Development Index.  As shown in the accompanying excerpt from Table 2.2 of the ITU report (click on the graphic to see a larger version), Korea was followed in the 2010 rankings by four Scandinavian countries and Hong Kong.  The Director of the ITU's telecommunications development bureau, in the foreword to this new study, makes the following observation.

"The ICT for development debate is witnessing an obvious shift:  the focus is no longer on the mobile-cellular miracle, but on the need for high speed broadband Internet access.  The report shows that wireless broadband Internet access is the strongest growth sector, with prepaid mobile broadband mushrooming in many developing countries and internet users shifting from fixed to wireless connections and devices.  The emergence of new mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, is accelerating this process, but they are still too expensive in developing countries and there is a need to develop more affordable models and products.  Furthermore, the availability of bandwidth and capacity will increasingly determine the use and beneficial impacts of ICTs."   The Director goes on to note that the policy focus is most often on enhancing ICT infrastructure and access, yet the full impact of ICT in development will only be felt once people are using technologies effectively.

The broad global trends he refers to are illustrated in the second accompanying graphic (again, click to see a full-size version).  Although the rapid adoption of mobile broadband is only an incipient trend as shown in the line graph on the left of the graphic, its growth rate, shown by the bar graph on the right supports the notion that the world is on the verge of an explosive growth in mobile broadband over the next several years, with implications for developed and developing countries alike.

There is much, much more to read in this report, for those of you who follow the topic of ICT in development.

Korea Ranks Second in the World on the ITU's New ICT Development Index

The International Telecommunications Union has just issued a new report entitled Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index.  Earlier indexes constructed by the ITU included the digital access index, and the digital opportunity index (DOI)  In recent years, South Korea had ranked number one in the world on the DOI.  Essentially the new ICT Development Index (IDI) is a response to calls for a single index that will allow nations of the world to assess their progress toward building the information society and eliminating the digital divide.  As shown in the accompanying graphic, all of the top ten countries on the IDI are from Northern Europe, with the exception of South Korea.  The complete report can be downloaded in a PDF version from the ITU's website, using this link.

ITU Telecommunication Channel Available on YouTube

One important aspect of the telecommunications revolution that took place in South Korea during the 1980s was that it led directly into a more active international role for the country.  The highly successful 1988 Seoul Olympics gave a big boost to the country's so-called "Northern Policy" of opening up relations with China, the former Soviet Union and socialist bloc countries in Eastern Europe. (see my book with Heung Soo Park, Global Television and the Politics of the Seoul Olympics). At the same time, South Korea's economic growth put in in a position to more actively participate in ITU (International Telecommunications Union) projects, as well as those of the OECD, which it joined in 1996.  It became an active participant in the World Summit on the Information Society and in global efforts to help eliminate the digital divide.

In the above context, I was pleased to find that there is an ITU Telecommunication Channel on YouTube. You may enjoy, as I did, getting to know this channel by viewing the following video.



I can see from a number of Korean-language annotated entries that people here have taken an interest in this channel.  Through this blog and related sites, I hope to organize links to the major YouTube channels relating to telecommunications, and in particular the Korean experience. A word of warning. Don't expect a tremendous amount of quality and substance in these telecoms-related videos. That is one reason I want to review them, to sift the wheat from the chaff as it were.