 Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Joong-kyung, left, holds a plaque showing the list of 10 software prodigies together with a recipient of the honor at a ceremony of designating them held at the Renaissance Seoul Hotel, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Ministry of Knowledge Economy |
10 `Steve Jobs’ hopefuls picked
By Kim Tae-gyu
The government has chosen 10 software prodigies who it expects could eventually become industry leaders comparable to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) said Tuesday that it had chosen the 10 university students, dubbed software maestros, through a strict screening process that took more than a year.
“We went through 100 candidates over the past 14 months to decide the 10 finalists, who were outstanding in all the areas across the board,” an MKE official said.
“Including 50 million won in prizes, each of them will be able to get up to 300 million won ($266,000) in support necessary to start venture start-ups of their own.”
More than 350 applied for the program last year to become 100 hopefuls who were shortlisted before the 10 winners were picked.
Another group of 100 are currently competing to become the second selected software maestros.
Economy Minister Choi Joong-kyung stressed that the “maestro system” would help Asia’s No. 4 economy duplicate its hitherto success in hardware in software.
“As far as hardware is concerned, Korea hit success as demonstrated in such segments as shipbuilding, automobiles and machinery. In parts industries, we chalk up an annual trade surplus of $80 billion,” Choi said in his congratulatory message during the ceremony celebrating the 10 winners.
“If we can become a powerhouse in software, Korea can evolve into the top economy of the world... I hope our country will nurture Korean equivalents of Steve Jobs.”
Choi added that the global behemoths Microsoft, Intel and Apple show the significance of software, which he said will be also the pivotal component in warfare down the road.
“In the future, countries with superior software are expected to beat opponents. Robots will assume the jobs of warriors just as unmanned airplanes show a glimpse of what is in store,” Choi said.
Rep. Kim Young-hwan from the main opposition Democratic Party said that the best software ever has yet to be developed and hopefully the maestros would do it.
“Steve Jobs achieved groundbreaking feats at the age of 21 and so did Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. I think that we will see such innovators among these maestros,” said the third-term lawmaker, who leads the National Assembly Knowledge Economy Committee.
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