Ministry of Science and ICT Announces 2019 Informatization Statistics and Analysis Results for the Past Five Years
Utilization rates of AI, big data, IoT, and cloud have improved significantly since 2017

The utilization rate of new technologies by domestic companies is increasing significantly. It has been found that the utilization rate of key technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, has increased significantly since 2017.

On January 22, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the results of the '2019 Informatization Statistics Survey' and the 'Analysis of Informatization Statistics Surveys over the Past 5 Years,' which investigated the informatization status of businesses nationwide.

Looking at the trends over the five years from 2014 to 2018, the utilization rate of new technologies has increased rapidly, centered on large businesses with 250 or more employees, and it is expected that the utilization rate of small and medium-sized businesses will also increase in the future due to the influence of policies to spread new technologies.
The usage rate of the Internet of Things (IoT) was 3.2% as of 2018, but when looking at businesses with 10 or more employees, it increased about 13-fold from 1.1% in 2014 to 13.8% in 2018.

The cloud usage rate was 6.4% as of 2018, and for businesses with 10 or more employees, it increased from 12.9% in 2014 to 22.7% in 2018, approximately It was reported to have doubled.

The big data utilization rate was 1.7% as of 2018, and for businesses with 10 or more employees, it nearly doubled from 3.3% in 2014 to 7.7% in 2018.

The utilization rate of artificial intelligence (AI) was only 0.6% as of 2018, but when looking at businesses with 10 or more employees, it increased from 0.5% in 2016 to 2.1% in 2018, showing an increase of about four times over the past three years.

In addition, mobile-based informatization due to the increasing use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs Business activities utilizing operations and mobile platforms are expected to accelerate.

In terms of website operation types, PC-based websites have decreased, while website access utilizing mobile web, social media, and mobile apps is showing an increasing trend.
The Ministry of Science and ICT expects that the utilization rate of artificial intelligence will continue to increase, driven by policy efforts to lay the foundation for the AI ecosystem and expand its use, such as the Data and AI Economy Revitalization Plan (January 2019) and the AI National Strategy (December 2019).

Park Yun-gyu, Director General of Information and Communication Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “Looking at the trends in informatization usage levels over the past five years, even small businesses with fewer than five employees, which previously had the lowest informatization levels, have grown to the average level across most survey categories. This indicates that informatization has deeply permeated the entire Korean industry.” He added, “Starting this year, we will significantly improve the informatization statistics survey by considering the survey standards of international organizations such as the OECD to properly measure our status as an ICT powerhouse. We will ensure that the informatization statistics survey establishes itself as a foundational infrastructure for national informatization policies that enable us to leap from being an IT powerhouse to an AI powerhouse.”

The Informatization Statistics Survey is a nationally approved statistic that surveys the level of informatization usage as of the end of the previous year by selecting a sample of 14,000 out of approximately 4.02 million businesses nationwide to comprehensively understand the informatization status of domestic businesses.