More on Microsoft Monoculture and the Mobile Revolution in Korea

An article in The Korea Times yesterday highlights an important aspect of the mobile broadband revolution occurring in South Korea, namely the problems caused by the so-called "Microsoft Monoculture" that has grown up here.  Readers of this blog will know from earlier posts that I've been an observer of the heavy reliance on Microsoft and its implications for Korea.
The article notes the great popularity of both the Apple iPad, running on the Apple OS, and the new Samsung Galaxy Tab, which runs on the Android operating system.   Unfortunately, despite all of their other attractive features, the fact that these devices do not work with the older Microsoft software that has been adopted for online banking and many e-government services in Korea somewhat limits their utility.   The article correctly notes how the nearly exclusive adoption of Microsoft's Active X and public key certificates is at the heart of this problem.   Ironically, Micorosft itself has been moving away from Active X for a long time now due to security problems.   Another factor diminishing the appeal of the iPad is that it will not display many "Flash-happy" Korean websites.
The article might have gone on to note that the mobile broadband revolution involves not only Korea, but is global in scope.  Most likely, the introduction of the iPad and the Galaxy Tab signal an increasingly urgent need for South Korea to jettison its reliance on Microsoft and move more aggressively into the mobile and ubiquitous network environment of the future!

Will Physical Books be Gone in Five Years?

CNN is carrying an article today based on an interview with Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab, who predicts that physical books will be largely gone in five years.  I encourage you to watch the interview on CNN's video as well as reading the article.
A basic part of Negroponte's argument is that old-fashioned printed books cannot be produced in sufficient quantity to reach the populations of developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  However, he also notes that, for him at least, the iPad experience of reading a newspaper is superior to reading the paper version.  As an author, I've made all of my books and monographs available free of charge via Google Books, and I actually prefer to read them electronically, mainly because of  (1) the ability to search the entire content of the book, (2) the hyperlinked table of contents, and (3) the hyperlinked index.  Actually, I rarely use the index anymore, given the search capability.  However, as one of those individuals not gifted with a photographic memory, I frequently find myself wondering exactly what I wrote or how I structured an argument in a book written decades ago.  Today, I can pick up my iPhone, launch Google and quickly search the full text of, for example, Television's Window on the World (my first book, based on my doctoral dissertation.)  Moreover, any of you who wonder what the world of television news was like back in the 1970s, before CNN and long before the Internet and Google News existed, can do the same thing!
I will chime in and basically agree with Negroponte's prediction, although I think he's using a bit of hyperbole to make the point.   I expect that some people will continue to print their own books or use "print on demand" services to get a paper copy.  However, most of us will prefer the power and convenience of light weight, high quality color readers with full internet connectivity.  The players in Korea's display industry should anticipate and lead this global trend.

Korea is a Leader in e-government

The latest global e-government survey by the United Nations shows that Korea ranks number one in the world.  As reported in the Joongang Daily today, this results in a wide range of conveniences for Korean citizens.  Other countries are taking an active interest in Korea's e-government systems. (click on graphic at left to see a larger version) Even Japan, it is reported, wants to learn from the Korean experience and introduce similar measures at home.  There is little question that Korea's efforts toward e-government have provided for greater transparency in many transactions and more efficient service to citizens across a range of services.  However, this leadership could be enhanced if the country could break out of its Microsoft monoculture (see my earlier posts) and allow secure banking and financial transactions.

Korean Government to Set Up App Store

Why am I not surprised to read in The Korea Times that the Korean government is planning to set up an online app store?  One reason is an incident I vividly remember that occurred sometime last year.  My wife and I were waiting at a bus stop to catch the airport bus on one of our trips to the United States.  Right in front of us, a policeman stopped a black sedan that had made an illegal U-turn a few hundred yards up the street.  However, instead of pulling out a pad of paper to issue a ticket, the policeman punched some numbers into his mobile phone and showed it to the driver.  Within a few minutes the whole process of issuing a traffic ticket was finished, with absolutely no uncertainty about the identity of the driver and other relevant details.
In certain respects, South Korea is leading the world in e-government.  The Korea Times article reports that the government is now looking to set up a government "app store" to improve the distribution of public information such as weather forecasts, traffic updates and job openings.  An official from the Ministry of Public Administration said that the plan is to launch the app store as an internet site and then expand it to mobile platforms.  By allowing the public access to and use of public information the private sector will be given the means to create more value-added services.
It will be most interesting to see how the government's plans work out.

Korea Ranks High in New United Nations E-Government Survey

Korea ranks high on most measures reported in the "United Nations e-Government Survey 2008:  From e-Government to Connected Governance."  This is the latest in a series of United Nations studies that in some ways are more comprehensive than the Brookings Institution study mentioned in my earlier post.  For example, South Korea ranks sixth in the world on the important overall measure of e-government readiness, as shown by the accompanying graphic. (click on the graphic to see a full size version)  Within the Asian region, Korea was the leader on most of the measures reported by this study.   Worldwide, on the measure of e-participation, it ranked number two, behind the United States.  The e-participation index aims to capture the dimensions of government to citizen interaction and inclusion, by assessing the extent to which governments proactively solicit citizen input.

Brookings Institution Report Ranks Korea's e-Government Number One

Another in a series of reports on e-government by the Brookings Institution has ranked South Korea number one.  The report notes that "unlike traditional bricks and mortar agencies, digital delivery systems are non-hierarchical, non-linear, interactive and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The non-hierarchical character of Internet delivery permits people to look for information at their own convenience. The interactive aspects of e-government allow both citizens and bureaucrats to send as well as receive information."  To evaluate the state of digital government, the study examined 18 different features. Four
points were awarded to each website for the presence of the following features: publications, databases, audio clips, video clips, foreign language access, not having ads, not having premium fees, not having user fees, disability access, having privacy policies, security policies, allowing digital signatures on transactions, an option to pay via credit cards, email contact information, areas to post comments, option for email updates, option for website personalization and PDA accessibility. These features provide a maximum of 72 points for particular websites. Each site then qualifies for up to 28 points based on the number of online services executable on that site (one point for one service, two points for two services, three points for three services and on up to 28 points for 28 or more services). The overall e-government index runs along a scale from zero (having none of these features and no online services) to 100 (having all features plus at least 28 online services). Totals for each website within a country were averaged across all of that nation's websites to produce a zero to 100 overall rating for that nation.