Even Behind China in AI
A survey has found that Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) competitiveness is only 80% of that of the US. In particular, it has been found in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud (server leasing service) technologies, which are attracting attention in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, Korea lagged behind China.
According to the 'Analysis of ICT Technology Competitiveness Level in 2016' Report based on a survey conducted by the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion (IITP) under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Communication on 5,287 experts in industry, academia and research centers, premising that the US’s ICT industry competitiveness is 100%, that of Korea was 80.5%. That of Europe was 89%, that of Japan 86.9% and that of China 76.9%.
Of 10 sub-fields, Korea has the highest competitiveness in the mobile communication and broadcasting and smart media sectors. Korea's mobile telecommunication technology is 91.4% and 84.5% in broadcasting and smart media compared to the US. "KT and Samsung Electronics succeeded in making the first fifth-generation mobile communication test call in the world last October, and Korean telecommunication companies released various Internet (IoT) services. These two facts earned Korea high scores," the IITP said.
On the other hand, Korea’s AI, cloud, and satellite technologies were only 74 to 76% of those of the US, and were behind China. "Major companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Naver, and Cacao have been expanding investment in the AI field since the second half of 2016,” the IITP said. “However, both its investment scale and technological competitiveness fell short of those of the first ranker in the world." Besides, software and digital contents were also selected as areas where Korea's technological competitiveness was significantly weak.