SEOUL, KOREA - The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) has been strongly pushing the software grand challenge policy under the assumption that software will lead the nation's economy in the future, a senior official of the ministry said.
In an interview with Korea IT Times, Park Il-joon, director general of the MSIP software policy bureau, said, "In the past, infrastructure like steel was very important. Now, however, software is replacing it. The era of software has already come and we should develop the software industry on a gradual basis to upgrade the nation's automobile, shipbuilding and electronics industries."
Noting that Korea achieved high economic growths in the past thanks to the development of its steel, automobile, and shipbuilding industries, he said, "To allow the nation enter into ranks of advanced countries, however, we should develop software as a tool for the realization of the creative economy propelled by the Park Geun-hye government."
The government mapped out its software innovation strategy early this year based on the draft suggested by a group of 172 experts from the industrial, academic,and R&D sectors.
Shortage of manpower in the software industry
"College graduates are facing serious difficulties in landing a job these days. Ironically, however, domestic software companies are suffering from shortage of manpower," Park said.
"For instance, by 2017 the manpower demand in the package, system integration(SI), embedded software, and convergence for fields such as automobiles and shipbuilding is expected to reach 220,000, but the software-related manpower available is likely to be 140,000, resulting in the shortage of some 80,000," he said.
"In case of Samsung Electronics, it has employed a large number of software experts from India, but it is still suffering from a manpower shortage. Such a case is similar to those in Hyundai Motors as well as shipbuilding and communication companies. Accordingly, both the government and the private sector should join force to solve such problems," said Park.
In a related development, the government has decided to offer incentives to college students selecting software as their major or minor, while strengthening the IT Research Center (ITRC) system. ITRC system refers to a college information communication research program, which enables students in a doctoral or master's course to accumulate practical experience.
"At the same time, the government has decided to introduce the state-supported software education voucher system for software developers who work at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for a long period," he said.
Stressing the importance of early education on software, Park said, "In fact, four years of studying software after entering a college is insufficient to become a software expert. From next year, all students interested in software will be able to watch software education programs through the EBS TV. To produce Korean talents like Steve Jobs who can change the frames of the domestic semiconductor, automobile,and shipbuilding industries, beginning software education after entering a college is too late."
Noting that MSIP and the Ministry of Education are seeking ways to foster software-related professional manpower at an early stage through online, camps during vacation and after-school learning programs, he said, "The core of the software innovation manpower strategy is to increase software manpower in of both quantity and quality."
Global creative software project
Park said, "Collaboration with other ministries is necessary to expand a software convergence market, especially in such main manufacturing sectors as automobiles, shipbuilding,and textiles which actively use software. In these fields, we will push for market creation-type large R&D projects and collaborations between demand and supply enterprises, along with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy."
Pointing out that the national defense field is second in its usage of software, he said, "We will expand the introduction of home-made software to the national defense sector by considering the possibility of domestically-produced software applications from the development planning stage.”
"In the space field, we plan to raise the software localization ratio from the current 30 percent to 90 percent by 2017, while developing this sector into a software convergence field. Along with this, the government plans to expand its R&D investment in the software field on a gradual basis," he said.
In line with this, the government has mapped out the software grand challenge project, which calls for a 100 billion won investment by 2017 in the core five sectors in the hopes of leading the global market after 10 years.
"We will also strongly push for the global creative software (GCS) project, which is aimed at actively fostering global software-specialized companies such as medical video treatment software and security software firms, which will rank among the top three in the world, by investing 400 billion won by 2017," he said.
In addition, the government is actively supporting the establishment of the software convergence cluster strategies led by provincial governments to reflect regional characteristics.
It moves to help strengthen provincial governments' regional innovation ability through software by implementing a support project specialized in meeting the regional demands for R&D, manpower fostering,and marketing.
"For instance, Daegu was designated as the location for the software convergence cluster support project for 2013. The government is also propelling various projects, including smart farm, IT equipment at museum, an exhibition automatic guide system,and a harmful substance reaction system, to enhance industrial vitality and promote people's convenience by grafting IT onto software," he said.
Creation of corporate ecosystem
Stressing that we cannot ignore the entertainment management agencies that helped make Psy a world-famous singer, Park said, "We will select and support software specialized start-up promotion, which will find out and develop SMEs with excellent software into global companies. They will help software start-ups grow up to be global companies by extending various assistance in the legal consultation, mentoring,and marketing fields."
The government is also planning to create a software specialized fund, which will make intensive investment in software companies at an initial stage of up to three years after establishment.
"We are preparing a variety of support measures for software exports and start-ups to help domestic software developers participate in the global software community, gather necessary information,and advance into foreign markets easily," said Park.
Asked about what is the most important among these policies, he said, "The most urgent matter is to improve the public’s recognition of software. People should know software's importance and purchase software at proper price.”
"To this end, the MSIP software policy bureau is producing a software documentary with EBS and building a communication channel, called ‘Software Concert’, to talk with college students on the importance and vision of software. Through these projects, we hope the general public will improve their recognition of the software industry and help spread the use of original software," he said.
Saying that about 20 government agencies need software to carry out policies, Park said, "We plan to adjust software policies and projects among government agencies through the 'Information Communication Strategy Committee" and the 'Software Experts' Committee.'"
Last year, Korea's software exports came to $2.2 billion, about two times the $900 million five years ago. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion this year.
"I hope the software industry will play a pivotal role in national economic growth by strengthening its global competitiveness," he added.
