Towards Leading ICT Integrator
SK Holdings C&C, an information technology services firm, said it has set a sales target of 2.5 trillion won (US$2.11 billion) for the information and communications technology (ICT) integration business, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, by 2020.
"Digital transformation is collapsing boundaries between industries and driving disruptive changes in all industries," Lee Ho-soo, president at SK Holdings C&C's IT service division and head of the ICT R&D center, said in a press conference held at SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on June 1. “Our main goal is to facilitate our clients’ digital transformation in such a competitive environment and enhance their competitiveness through our new ICT technologies.”
SK C&C has shifted its focus to data service business in the past two years. Earlier this year, the company established establishing its ICT R&D center and underwent a major corporate reshuffle based on AI and cloud computing last month. Its main growth engines are emerging industries such as AI, cloud computing and smart factories.
In the AI sector, particularly, SK C&C will seek to present new specialized platforms by industry through an analysis using AI. Its Watson AI service brand as “Aibril”, which was recently released, will provide a solid foundation for realizing such vision. With Aibril, SK C&C plans to focus on building specialized platforms by industry, including finance, medical care and logistics.
The company will introduce its Korean-language-based Watson cognitive computing system at the Pangyo Cloud Center as early as the end of the year and develop various applications through the system in the future.
Lee Ki-yeol, head of Digital & Finance Business Group at SK Holdings C&C, said, “From now on, customers don’t have to directly purchase or develop AI. All you need is an idea to develop an application that you need for business with the AI system in the cloud center.”
In addition, SK Holdings C&C plans to expand the smart factory system which currently focuses on electronic component and semiconductor to automotive component and LCD next year.
In particular, the company makes an effort to build the system which can calculate the probability of system failure by collecting real-time data from equipment due to the high demand of big data for projection and optimization in the manufacturing industry.