IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

“I have had a vision to create a global ICT cluster in Incheon for the long term,” said Sung-kap Cho, the president of Incheon IT Promotion Agency (IITPA). Cho viewed Incheon as an attractive city from the start. He said that the city has three ports – airport, sea port, and cyber port, and around 6 million people reside within three hours of Incheon. The IITPA, jointly financed by the Ministry of Information and Communication and Incheon city, was set up in 2001 in a bid to boost the ICT industry and to lay a foundation for the growth of relevant industries in Incheon city. Since then, the organization has been actively supporting a variety of ICT sectors including software, information technology, digital content, and robot technology. Since Cho took office last year, he has been working hard to strengthen the global competitiveness of Incheon’s ICT industry. His essential management philosophy was based on “challenge” and “the frontier spirit”. During his one-year term, he attracted 15 new projects worth USD15 million in 2011, and 14 projects worth USD7.7 million in the first half of 2012.

Incheon Cloud Center

“Cloud Computing is becoming a big trend in the ICT industry today. So, we are planning to provide this service to IT companies, SMEs and public organizations in Incheon city.” This November, the IITPA newly opened the Incheon Cloud Center (ICC), which was formerly the Internet Data Center (IDC), within the IIPTA building. ICC, the first cloud data center to be run by a public organization in Incheon city, will provide basic hosting services and cloud hosting services for SMEs to strengthen their IT capacity and business competitiveness. This facility is to provide a free collocation service for 20 selected companies and free server hosting services for 30 selected companies.

The cloud hosting service to be provided by ICC is the service most suitable for the media content-based industry. The service provides a Hybrid CDN service that transfers mass media files at high speed, a high performance cache server that is able to take in massive traffic, and a logical cloud storage service created through storage virtualization. Through this service, service users will be able to transfer HD Internet broadcasts, online games, and massive content. Due to open in 2013, the Incheon Cloud Center is expected to serve as a gateway for media content in Korea.

Jemulpo Smart Town (JST)

Cho had a vision of creating the top training center for startups in Incheon city, which provides systematic education for aspiring entrepreneurs and people having difficulty finding a job. Cho said that, “The unemployment rate in Incheon city has been quite high. Thus, lowering the unemployment rate by supporting startups and creating more jobs is necessary for the future of the city.” With an investment of around USD 2 million by Incheon city, Jemulpo Smart Town (JST) kicked off last year to provide diverse support for startups including training, space, and business funds. This project has contributed to tackling unemployment issues and creating jobs by supporting people who hope to start up IT companies with innovative ideas. To date, 160 venture companies have been started, 300 people have been hired, and a total of around USD 6 million in sales was achieved. Besides, through its training center, 258 people received startup education. Next year, Cho plans to diversify backing plans including support for the production of prototypes and pioneering the market to encourage more ICT companies to establish businesses in the city. On top of this, he plans to grow in sophistication through financial and marketing support in connection with angel investors and institutional investors.

Robot Land

Intelligent Robot Lab of the IITPA has been pursuing Robot Land project, a theme park where people can discover the latest trends in robotics and experience them firsthand. Scheduled to open in 2016, Robot Land will be comprised of diverse pavilions including exhibitions, a robot hands-on division as well as rides. “Robot Land is aiming to stimulate the development of intelligent robots and to lead the initial market. Through this project, we are expecting to see the advancement of the robotics industry by setting up graduate schools of robotics, to open Master and PhD courses, and establishing R&D centers as well as robotics company clusters. On top of this, new creation demand through the exhibition and promotion will promote the commercialization of new technologies,” he said.

Incheon SNS Network

The IITPA has set up the Incheon SNS Network to provide public information more efficiently and foster more participation from citizens. This SNS Network, the first attempt among local governments, enables information delivery through various devices, through which citizens can also create content and upload it in real time. Through this service, educational content from the public sector and promotional content from SMEs can be delivered to PCs, smart TVs, smart phones, and outdoor tele-screens through wired and wireless networks. It is expected that this service will increase sales though marketing services and lay a foundation for broadcasting and communication in connection with diverse global events and organizations including the Asian Games and GCF.

---

Autor(en)/Author(s): Shin Ji-hye

Quelle/Source: Korea IT Times, 24.12.2012

Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit: