The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) stated on February 15 that it aims to provide assistance to local small and mid-sized IT manufacturers in the field of designing and developing technologies to help them solve problems related to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) that occur in the process of developing products. For this purpose, MIC plans to bolster technological assistance to this group of companies by actively utilizing a pool of professionals working at such institutions as the MIC Radio Research Laboratory, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), universities and companies related to this field. In addition, MIC plans to continuously develop and offer educational programs, including on-the-job training, that can be readily applied to the workforces of small and mid-size IT companies according to their needs. For this year, MIC plans to offer specialized educational programs to IT companies in non-metropolitan provincial areas. Last year, MIC provided assistance to over 50 companies to develop 'IT 839' products. That is, products related to the national IT839 strategy project designed to keep Korea ahead of the competition in IT. They included digital TVs, displays, home networks, telematics, Radio frequency identification technology (RFID) products, portable devices and intelligent robots, thereby assisting the 50 companies achieve 67 billion won in sales.