Korea Leaps on Cloud Computing Bandwagon
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Korea is the latest country to leap aboard the cloud computing bandwagon, with the government planning to spend around 610 billion won (about $521 million) through 2014 to provide the foundation for a Web-based computing industry.
According to the initiative announced by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country's media and telecommunications regulator, much of the planned spending is to be devoted to establishing cloud computing infrastructures and developing core technologies.
The government will also support industry efforts to standardize the technologies and applications, and to introduce authentication standards.
The KCC is projecting that the country's market for cloud computing services and related industries will grow to 2.5 trillion won over the next five years, four times the size it is now, and account for about 10 percent of the global market by then.
The computing initiative will be jointly managed by the KCC, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and will aim to generate larger government demand and reduce overlaps in investment.
"The government will play a critical role in generating the demand for cloud computing, and a collaborative approach between government agencies will be key," said Heo Sung-wook, an official from KCC's network policy division.
"The government will also have to work closely with private companies in the cloud computing business to develop service models and support their research and development (R&D) efforts. The talks for establishing technology test beds are advancing."
Cloud computing, the latest buzzwords in the technology sector, describes a new era of Internet usage in which information and software are delivered over the Web, rather than through desktop computers.
Most activities and data will be stored online and accessible from a wider range of devices, including computers and mobile Internet gadgets, and the changes will allow companies to deliver information technology (IT) power in more efficient and cost-effective ways, government officials say.
The world's major Internet and technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon, are aggressively pushing their own versions of cloud computing services.
The technology community in Korea seems to have the fever too with companies like Samsung SDS and LG CNS eager to get out of the gate early.
The Korean government, believing that initial demand will be driven more by the public sector than the private, is intent on acquiring a leading role in developing the infant industry.
According to the five-year plan, about 448.8 billion won of the budget will be slated for generating cloud-computing demand from the public sector, including establishing a comprehensive data center for government agencies and introducing a cohesive service platform.
About 51.4 billion won will be spent on a number of trial projects, which include providing Internet protocol television (IPTV) over cloud networks, integrating appropriate solutions for mobile communications, and exploring the possibility of using cloud technologies to improve the government's plan for a nationwide "smart grid" power network. Another 58.2 billion won will be spent on research and development of core technologies.
Despite all the hype, some industry watchers believe that it will take at least several years for cloud computing to take off here.
It is still unclear whether companies will be willing to compromise their control of data, especially in a country where security remains a serious issue.
Despite touting itself as a high-tech powerhouse, the country has been exposed repeatedly for its poor security standards, as witnessed by the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in the summer that crippled more than 80,000 computers.
Apparently, the idea of linking hundreds of different devices on a single, big server remains an uneasy thought for many.
There are also arguments that, despite developments over the past years, computing power and network technology have yet to reach a point where high-impact applications such as image and video editing work as well online as they do on hard disk.