Local Government / Incheon IT In terms of favorable IT industry environment as well as IT clustering, Korea's Incheon is poised to be reborn as a worldwide IT cluster in which digital research, production, and service is performed through the attraction of the R&D centers of eminent corporations at home and abroad. Incheon's outlook is expected to contribute greatly to local IT economic development alongside Incheon's phase boost. As a manufacturing-based city with priority given to 7 industry complexes such as Namdong Industry Complex, Incheon had actually played the vanguard role in our country's economic development in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 21st informatization age too, IT-associated component materials, semiconductors, and mobile telecommunication industries centering around Incheon industry complexes are assessed to make a great contribution toward local as well as national economic development, according to CEO Eugene Jun, Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency (www.iitpa.or.kr). Starting in Nov. 2004 with a basic IT hub construction plan, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) finalized the execution plan for Songdo u-IT cluster in Dec. 2005. The full-scale project began this year. To construct Songdo as a u-IT hub through this project is to intensively nurture RFID/USN-related industries whose growth outlook is big. This will become the base of another new growth engine industry by utilizing logistics-associated infrastructure and Incheon's cutting-edge domestic IT technology power, Jun explains. He further says that Incheon wants to regard this as a starting point of action to create a Northeast Asian IT hub as well as a U-Korea future. For this project a budget of 377.2 billion won (around $ 397.1 million), 300.3 billion won from MIC and 76.9 billion won from Incheon City, is slated to be invested from 2006 to 2010 on a site of 24,634 pyeong (81,434m2) within Songdo Knowledge Information Industry Complex. Jun adds that this project comes to play a role of USN Fab. It is a pilot product packaging/manufacturing facility, a synthetic experiment as well as an engineering support project. As its starting point, the Songdo u-IT cluster promotion center was established on Sept. this year. On June 16, 2006, the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communications Technology (APCICT) under the supervision of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) opened officially in Sondgo, Incheon. This is the first UN organization to come into operation in Korea. This Center comes to unfold diverse projects for informatization facilitation within the Asia Pacific region as well as information gap solutions. It especially comes to enforce IT education with policy planners who were selected from 62 ESCAP member countries. This is possible because national policies such as the wellprepared IT839 bill and the IT cluster plan are more encouraging to IT here than any other country. In addition excellent existing IT technology and Incheon's favorable environment were factors, according to Jun. Poised to be reborn as a worldwide IT cluster In this vein, the Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency which has been playing a leading role for the development of Incheon IT industry, held the Incheon Information Technology Communication (ITC) Incheon Information Industry Exhibition from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2. It was hosted by Incheon Metropolitan City and MIC. The 5th ITC2006 Exhibition is developing into a special local IT exhibition in terms of its scale and content, Jun said. It is held to facilitate communication between Incheon IT industries and other technology companies. Jun added that the largest IT exhibition in the Incheon area, ITC2006, is also held to boost Incheon's image by detailing Incheon's current position along the path to being reborn as the most cutting-edge informatization industry city. At this year's ITC 2006 Exhibition, not only promising IT companies in Incheon, but also over 50 overseas buyers and special IT institutions in Southeast Asia have unfolded a ground of international business and exports talks. The CEO introduces that many companies presented new technologies and products that one should keep track of in order to see the development of the state of the art next generation market in the business and telecommunication world. Among the rest, it was worth noticing that the ITC2006 Exhibition was forged as a learning experience for the younger generation which can make the Republic of Korea into an IT power, and at the same time as a venue for acquiring new knowledge that can help them imagine the future and dream of becoming a scientist. CEO Jun expected much interest and participation in this exhibition which will nurture cutting-edge industry, Ubiquitous Incheon construction, and local culture development. He hopes it will also become a festival in which citizens can participate and enjoy. The CEO furthermore expected that the ITC2006 Exhibition will consolidate its location as an international exhibition this year. He explained in more detail that ITC2006 has unfolded a series of international business and export business talks through the participation of over 50 overseas IT-related purchasing buyers and overseas IT institutions. Following the Exhibition's opening ceremony at 11am on Sept. 30, 2006, there was a ceremony of awarding the 2006 Incheon IT Technology Award. The Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency which carries out local differentiated research projects presented RFID aviation logistics as well as intelligence-model Robot field and actual-feeling model 3D core technology to the visitors by preparing pavilions about these three fields. Besides cutting-edge IT industry exhibitions that one can see with a glance, the inside and outside of the exhibition hall has prepared with IT-related experience grounds in large numbers so that the general citizens can watch more pleasantly. On the first and second days a two symposia were held for middle and high school students and their parents. The first was entitled Incheon Robot Industry's Vision and Development Strategy and the second was the U-Learning Conference. On Oct. 2, the third day, buyers from 50 companies who came from 11 countries and corporations operating businesses in Incheon had export business talks. In addition, all the time during three days various events allowed the visitors to experience diverse IT fields such as the Ground FX experience, the latest online game experience pavilion, a console game as well as arcade game experience pavilion, a home digital life experience pavilion, 3D vertical movie screening, the Taekwon V 30th Anniversary commemorating exhibition, and the newest digital convergence product's experience like PMP/DMB/navigation.

Criterion of the 2006 Incheon IT Technology Awards The Incheon IT Technology Award, under the supervision of Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency, is an institution which bestows a prize on 5 IT companies in the Incheon area whose products and technology power are excellent. The institution has given away a prize every year since 2003, and is hosted by the MIC, Incheon Metropolitan City, and the Electronic Times newspaper. Incheon IT Technology Award bestows a prize by dividing candidates into an IT section and a BI section. IT candidates receive an application without any corporate scale or business history classification. BI candidates are companies who are five years old or less and are selected through a fair screening by external experts after they have assessed a corporate product's technology power and commercialization outcome. An awards ceremony regarding the 2006 Incheon IT Technology Award was held at the opening of the ITC2006 Incheon Information Industry Exhibition. During this exhibition corresponding products were demonstrated to the public through the Incheon IT Technology Award prizewinning company's product as well as technology publicity pavilion. Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency plans to nurture these companies as IT enterprises that represent Incheon by supporting marketing activities at home and abroad alongside of the press publicity about prize-winning product as well as companies.

Large ripple effects to come from ICT2006 Regarding local economy's ripple effect outlook through this exhibition host, CEO Jun said: "Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency expects that this will serve as an opportunity to be able to nurture as IT enterprise that represents Incheon by encouraging IT enterprise's product development volition, boosting brand awareness degree by means of intensive external publicity about prize-winning product, and supporting marketing activity at home & abroad actively." It is reported that at the ITC 2005 exhibition held last year, a total of 46 companies including 7 large corporations, 27 IT enterprises operating business in Incheon, and 12 special overseas IT institutions took part. They had business talks worth $42 million as well as contracts worth $20 million at the 2005 Latin Week Export Business Talks. This year's ITC2006 Exhibition was significant in that it prepared a stepping-stone for Incheon's IT entrepreneurs to be able to grow even more by forging grounds for publicity and marketing, Jun said. In special measure, the CEO assessed: "This year's ITC2006 Exhibition has provided Incheon's IT entrepreneurs with substantial benefits of oversea market pioneering through oversea buyer and IT special institution's participation from abroad." Optimal logistics plus Seoul access With regard to Incheon's IT business circles as well as the present condition of new technology development, Jun elaborates on: "According to last year's survey material, IT companies operating their business in Incheon amount to roughly 1,352 companies, among which 74.7% accounts for IT equipment. As of 2003, Incheon IT industry's phase posts the third place with 5.3% in terms of company number, the fourth place with 4.1% in terms of employee number, and the fifth place with 3.5% in terms of turnover nationwide respectively." According to materials announced by Incheon Development Institute and STEPI (Science & Technology Policy Institute) in 2003, he said that Incheon area's technology innovation foundation shows Incheon's development possibility with the sixth or seventh position nationwide and with the second or third position among the Metropolitan cities. It is a matter of concern that companies which have equipped with their foundation in Incheon to some degree are moving to another area such as Seoul, but fortunately since Songdo international city designated as Free Economic Zone in 2003 makes progress well as planned, the CEO said that he expects Incheon IT industry will be able to spring greatly. In conjunction with Incheon IT industry's SWOT analysis, Jun first of all assesses that Incheon holds the optimal logistics foundation like airport & harbor, affluent manufacturing base like 7 industry complexes including Namdong and Juan industry complex, the nearest point of contact of economic exchange with China, and Seoul access easiness etc. On the contrarily, he second pointed out: "Incheon is insufficient in terms of superior manpower supply system with this area besides informatization infrastructure diversity shortage. Moreover, Incheon shows IT enterprise's immaturity plus manufacturing- centered local image and IT industry's marketability shortage." Nevertheless, third Incheon holds cutting-edges such as stateof- the-art informatization new city construction like Songdo knowledge information industry complex, venture start-up competitiveness' fast rise, and IT differentiation field's development possibility. In the light of its weak point, fourthly Incheon shows native venture startups moving phenomenon to Seoul, discrimination from the Metropolitan area, and policy support shortage from the central government-related ministries. Incheon's IT think tank According to the government's u-IT839 policy, Incheon's IT companies are applying spurs to associated new technology development and Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency also don't spare support the maximum including actual feelingmodel 3D core technology and R&D about RFID/USN technology. In relation to 3D core technology development, Jun explains: "Supported by MOCIE [the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy], it is a project which develops actual feeling-model 3D-related core technology with a budget of a total of 8.969 billion won [around $9.44 million] over five years from 2005 under the supervision of Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency." He said he expects this 3D core technology development will be able to contribute to the future strategic business in Incheon Metropolitan City and growth engine creation, adding that companies and institutions within Incheon have its development under way by dividing core technologies into 5 middle tasks. In regard to RFID/USN technology development, Jun introduces that it is a project which develops convergence technology about RFID/USN technology, the core technology on logistics industry field as Incheon's local innovation No.1 industry. Starting from this year, RFID/USN convergence platform development project in which a total of 3.51 billion won (around $3.69 million) will be invested over two years, is expected to beef up local technology innovation as well as R&D capability by constructing integrative technology collaboration system for the sake of RFID/USN cluster activation. In regard of Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency's role as Incheon IT think tank, the CEO underscores that the Agency plays a big role as an IT think tank that represents this area by sharing related knowledge and by supporting policy establishment, adding that IT industry is an industry to discharge the most important role so that Incheon may be reborn as a hub of Northeast Asia. Three items to differentiate Incheon's IT industry are RFID/USN which serves as a basis of U-City construction, game screening field among digital content industry whose value-added is high, and Imbedded SW, according to Jun. Besides, Incheon IT Industry Promotion Agency is preparing to attract culture industry cluster and is holding the largest scale's robot exhibition nationwide every year. Jun is committed himself to doing his best in carrying out the Agency's role to establish policy and support for the development of IT industry within Incheon alongside of national-policy project's promotion.

IT company part Grand Prix: Nexio Co., Ltd (www.inexio.co.kr: president Richard Kim) Nexio's Infrared Touch Screen, whose speed and resolution are high, is a product that improved stability and created a new age. President Richard Kim gave his impressions of this award: "When infrared touch screen's development is completed and was sold based on accumulated experience and technology while digging one well of touch screen, our pleasure was indescribable. We are committed to growing as an IT special company to contribute to Incheon area's economic development and IT technology's development too." IT company part Gold Prize: STB Co., Ltd. (www.stbchip.co.kr: CEO Lee Mayoung-Soo) Power bank 30000, which is developed to allow energy got from solar energy to be able to be stored efficiently in Li-ion electric cell, is expected to distinguish itself in next-generation electric cell field. CEO Lee said: "Our Company is a professional industry of smart battery concentrating on the development of application machines and Smart Battery Control IC after startup. As the first of the world, we started Smart Battery Control IC manufacturing for cell phone and are now broadening the part with for-notebook and formilitary." The company is committed to researching and developing Smart Battery Control IC as well as its application machinery & tools. IT company part Gold Prize: AWT Co., Ltd. (www.acewavetech.com: CEO Moon Wongyu) With PIMD measurement equipment, Acewavetech gained import substitute effect worth $400,000 in 2005 alone and its scale is forecast to be greatly on the rise every year. AWT's mission is to develop the most advanced Digitalized RF/Microwave Systems through the fast and high capacity processing digital technology and the wide band RF/Microwave technology, CEO Moon said. BI company part Grand Prix: Gaon Int Co., Ltd. (www.gaon-int.com: CEO Im Kwang-sung) FM Transmitter is a product which allows voice emitting from MP3 and navigation to be able to listen through auto's speaker. Gaon Int is exporting steadily over $200,000 per month to Europe's advanced countries such as Germany, Swiss, and Sweden right now. Among the offensive of the amount of materials from worldwide huge enterprises, CEO Im Kwang-sung stresses: "We recognize that the sole alternative for smaller venture start-up to be able to succeed is to pioneer niche-market and ceaseless R&D. Gaon Int wishes to present a guide post of an innovation-model venture start-up, heading for an innovative and creative item development." BI company part Gold Prize : Sejak Co., Ltd. (www.sejak.co.kr: CEO Suh Eun-mi) 3D vertical tueyes is garnering many expectations as a next-generation product which pioneered new market in on-line and at the same time, as a portal site which holds functions such as three-dimensional cubic screening and cubic photo reference etc. CEO Suh Eunmi introduced: "Sejak is a company which strives to lead next-generation mechanism in system construction", adding that as IT's staple issues change from system construction to its operation as well as enlargement, all systems came to regard its flexibility and compatibility as the best value."