Future Ministry launches new "Creative Economy Town" website

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has just launched a new "Creative Economy Town" website, as reported by The Korea Herald and other media.  The site, at www.creativekorea.or.kr is aimed at helping people with advice and information on how to flesh out their ideas and technologies into a business.  To date, the site is only available in the Korean language, but it looks interesting.  It definitely appears to be a step, here in Korea, toward open innovation through sharing in the Korean language.  Ultimately, how it relates to similar efforts in English and other languages will be interesting.

Korean Webtoon market to triple by 2015

A very interesting article appeared in The Korea Times, indicating the tremendous growth of Korea's domestic webtoons market, following the introduction of smartphones in 2009. The article stated that "Korea’s webtoon market will nearly triple to 295 billion won ($272 million) in 2015 with the wider use of smartphones and other mobile gadgets, compared to 100 billion won in 2012, said a report released by the KT Economic Research Institute." “One out of three Koreans connect to a website showing online cartoons almost on a daily basis, and an increasing number of moviegoers buy tickets for webtoon-based movies,” Kim Jae-pil said in the KT report. The KT Korean language report is accessible at www.digieco.co.kr if you register for membership. It contained the accompanying graphic (click to see a full size version) for which I translated the title and some labels.

Globalizing the Kaesong Industrial Complex: Telecommunications at center of discussions

News that North and South Korea have agreed to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex is making the rounds in mainstream media around the world, and the latest reports have made it apparent that agreement about the use of modern digital communications and the internet are at the center of discussions about stabilizing and globalizing the complex.  This is not at all surprising.   When originally established, the Kaesong Industrial Zone was located just across the DMZ north of Seoul, and close to the new Incheon International Airport and the nearby "ubiquitous networked city" of Songdo.  The Zone is shaded in pink on the accompanying map (source: Wikipedia, click on the map to see a full size version)  This choice of location was deliberate as the Incheon area was planned for development as a large seaport, airport and teleport complex.
In addition to the main issue of guaranteeing the safety of South Korean workers who enter and sojourn in the Kaesong complex, North and South Korean representatives are reportedly discussing internet access, mobile communication and the introduction of an RFID (radio frequency identity tags) entrance system for the complex.  According to The Hankyoreh,"In terms of mobile communication such as cell phones, one remaining technical problem is how to bridge the gap between the Orascom mobile communication method used in North Korea and the mobile communication method used by South Korean companies such as KT Telecom and SK Telecom."
Finally, it is striking that the Kaesong Industrial Region anchors North Korea's side of the DMZ in the West, while the Diamond Mountain resort complexes, also operated by Hyundai Asan, are just north of the DMZ on Korea's east coast.  It is more than mere coincidence that, in the current North-South negotiations, success with the Kaesong complex has been linked to discussions about reopening tours to Daimond Mountain.  Even without any agreement on co-hosting certain events in the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, Diamond Mountain tours and skiing at the new Masik ski resort in North Korea could be expected to thrive in conjunction with the Olympics.

"Building America's Information Superhighways: a brief review of US broadband policy"--September 6 presentation at APrIGF conference

Here is a link to my presentation, starting with the introduction by Professor Rhee.  I'll also share this via Twitter and Facebook.

Building America's information superhighways:  a brief review of US broadband policy

Presentation at the "Broader world of network:  giga internet" session of the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum, SUNY Korea Songdo, September 6, 2013 by James F. Larson, Visiting Professor, KAIST Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy.

The emerging world of giga-internet: the APrIGF conference in Songdo yesterday

Yesterday I spent the morning through mid-afternoon with participants in a giga-internet session at the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) in Songdo.  The presentation was organized by the National Information Society Agency under the auspices of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.   It involved presentations about progress in giga-internet infrastructure and policy in the United States(my presentation), Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.
The entire APrIGF conference was streamed live over the internet from the gleaming new campus of SUNY Korea (한국뉴욕주립대학교). This was my first visit to the international campus section of the Songdo development, and I couldn't help but notice Yonsei University's large building complex right across the street from the SUNY Korea campus.  It is no easy thing building a new city from scratch, the "greenfield" as opposed to "brownfield" approach to creating a smart city, but clearly Songdo is on its way.
This morning, over coffee, I had a chance to view my own presentation, which is available at this hyperlink courtesy of Ustream TV.  My presentation, entitled "Building America's Information Superhighways:  A Brief Review of U.S. Broadband Policy," starting with the moderator's introduction, runs from about 8:43 to 31.22 on the online recording.  If you happen to view this presentation, comments are welcome.
For those of you with an in-depth interest in different national approaches to infrastructure, use and policies for ultra-fast, giga-internet, I recommend viewing the entire session.  It provides a rich, current glimpse into how leading Asian countries are approaching the challenge.