Wireless technologies to allow workers to stay at home

The popularity of smartphones and other mobile Internet devices, as well as the development of wireless Internet and cloud computing technologies, is set to change the way people work. / Korea Times

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff reporter

Korea is looking to exploit its advancement in digital equipment and wireless technology to create a networked work environment that allows people to conduct tasks from anywhere, anytime and through any device.

The “smart work” initiative, announced by the government Tuesday, aims to have around 30 percent of public employees work from home or nearby “smart-work” centers by 2015 with smartphones, laptops and other mobile Internet devices, which is hoped to boost productivity and minimize carbon emissions.

The country is on the cusp of a mobile Internet explosion, with smartphones such as the Apple iPhone going mass market and telecommunications operators competing to expand coverage for Wi-Fi and more advanced portable broadband technologies like WiBro, the local variant of mobile WiMAX.

The concept of “cloud computing,” which describes a new era of Internet usage in which information and software are delivered over the Web, rather than through desktop computers, is also catching on, and this has companies rethinking the modern office life defined by buzzing fluorescent lights and packed cubicles.

According to plans, jointly announced by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the Presidential Council on Information Society, government organizations will spearhead the efforts to plug the workplace into the Web.

The government will establish two prototype smart-work centers, equipped with advanced network and video conferencing capabilities, by the end of the year, and increase the number of remote workstations to 50 by 2015. Another 450 smart-work centers will be used by private companies by then, according to KCC’s blueprint, including those established in newly-built housing complexes.

The Public Administration and Security Ministry is looking to rewrite management standards for public employees, including work manuals and compensation, while the KCC will collaborate with telecommunications companies KT and SK Telecom to upgrade their existing wireless Internet and broadband networks.

Smartphones and Web-based television services, such as Internet protocol television (IPTV), will be an integral part of the upcoming mobile office, KCC officials said.

To back the transition, the government will support cloud computing services designed for small- and medium-sized companies, which need server-based solutions to improve cost effectiveness, but don’t have the resources to develop them in-house.

A wide range of security technologies will be tested to prevent the smart-work networks from becoming vulnerable to cyber attacks.

“The acceptance by small- and medium-sized companies will be crucial to the success of the ‘smart-work’ initiative. The plan is to have 30 percent of private sector employees work at home or in the remote workstations by 2015, which is the same percentage targeted in government employees,” said Heo Seong-wook, an official from KCC’s network planning division.

“Smart-work will also be crucial for telecommunications companies, who could get a boost from cloud computing as voice communication continues to deteriorate as a business model.”

'스마트 워크'로 집에서 근무

정부는 무선통신 기술을 통해 스마트폰, 컴퓨터 등으로 장소에 구애받지 않고 일하는 '스마트 워크'를 활성화 시키겠다고 20일 발표했다.

정부는 올해 말까지 영상회의와 인터넷 등 원격근무 기술을 갖춘 2개의 스마트 워크 센터를 세우고, 2015년에는 공공형 50개, 민간형 450개로 숫자를 늘릴 예정이다.

또한 자체적으로 스마트 워크 기술을 구축하기 힘든 중소기업들을 위해 정부 지원이 제공된다.

허성욱 방송통신위원회 네트워크기획보호과장은 2015년까지 공무원을 비롯 전체 노동 인구의 30%가 스마트 워크를 이용해 집에서 근무할 수 있게 할 계획이라고 밝혔다.

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