Seoul Pushing to Beef Up Cloud Computing Sector

(image: Korea Bizwire)

SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s ICT ministry said Tuesday it seeks to nurture the local cloud computing industry, a new revenue source for the local tech firms.

Under the vision, the size of the South Korean market for cloud computing will grow four-fold to 2 trillion won(US$1.78 billion) by 2018 from the 0.5 trillion won posted in 2014, the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning said.

“Although we are around five years behind other developed countries like the United States or Britain in the segment, we will be the first country to implement cloud-computing related rules,” ICT Minister Choi Yang-hee said.’

Cloud computing allows users to share conventional computer resources, including software, information and online connections, through remote servers that save data. 

The ministry said the plan also comes in line with what it calls “Government 3.0″ policies, which aim to open information to the public and adopt the latest technologies to provide customized welfare services.

Over the 2016-2018 period, the government wants to save 370 billion won in the public sector through the adoption of cloud computing.

The plan includes having 40 percent of the public organizations use cloud computing services.

Other projects include utilizing cloud computing technology in various industrial areas from agriculture to shipbuilding.

(Yonhap)