South Korean Government To Invest 350 Million Dollars To Develop An Internet Of Things Ecosystem To Address The Declining Growth Of Tech Industries In The Country
The government of South Korea is set to allot a $350 million budget to invest to 300 globally-competitive companies within the next four years, in order to develop an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, reported ZDNet on Sept. 24.
The IoT is a network of devices that are inter-linked with software, electronics, sensors and network connectivity to allow these devices to gather and exchange data. This technology enables devices to be detected and controlled remotely through existing network infrastructure. The term "Things" is not only limited to mobile and smart devices, but may also include vehicles with built-in sensors, heart monitoring implants, field operational devices or biochip transponders.
The officials of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning as well as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the investment plan of the South Korean government in an IT conference in Seoul on Sept. 22.
The country's officials have observed a slow growth in local tech industries pushing them to explore other growth engines, including wearables and IoT devices in order to compete with the top tech performers globally. South Korea plans to develop and enhance the new generation of smart devices equipped with IoT technology, which will allow personal and household items to transform into smart devices as well
Experts are forecasting the growth of IoT devices from two billion in 2006 to 200 billion by 2020.
Market Watch noted Sept 29. the timing for IoT devices is perfect as the world is now equipped with enough IP addresses for tens of billions of items, in addition to more affordable hardware costs. People may expect these devices to attend to human needs from entertainment to medical without the need for human intervention every so often.
South Korea is set to back 10,000 tech experts and help local companies to find greater opportunities abroad. It will also encourage big entities to share their IoT platforms with smaller companies to boost cooperation among various companies in the market.
