ICT convergence in various fields such as industrial convergence, public convergence, and smart life.
Service-centric intelligent solution service is the key

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) has released its Technology Roadmap 2022 (draft), which includes 10 key ICT R&D technology areas and artificial intelligence. The 10 ICT R&D technologies selected by MSIP to strengthen the interconnectivity of science and technology (ICT) and discover new industries include: digital content, convergence services, mobile communications, networks, broadcasting/smart media, radio waves and satellites, basic SW computing, software, information security, and ICT devices. e4ds News will present the R&D strategies for these areas in turn, presenting a roadmap for future technology development. [Reporter Shin Yun-oh]


Convergence services are technologies that provide services by building an Internet of Things infrastructure to realize a hyper-connected society and combining ICT, such as the Internet of Things and intelligent information technology, in each field of industrial convergence, public convergence, and smart life.

Prior to 2015, convergence technologies were characterized by technology-centric terminals (H/W) and connectivity (N/W), with sensor and ICT utilization and intra-industry convergence as key issues. However, after 2016, convergence technologies will be characterized by service-centric intelligent solution services and applications (S/W). Building ecosystems leveraging ICBMs and intelligent information technology-based standard platforms and activating cross-industry convergence will likely become key issues. In other words, initially, it will be divided into representative platforms for each service, and later, it will be utilized in an inter-industry integration/linkage manner centered on the Winning Platform.

▲ Agricultural and livestock ICT, a type of industrial convergence ICT, includes production convergence technologies such as smart farms. A demonstration of KT GiGA Smart Farm, which controls greenhouse facilities using Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The market outlook is positive. For example, the global u-health market is expected to grow from $143.1 billion in 2009 to $498.7 billion in 2018, and the global mobile payment market is projected to grow from $235.4 billion in 2013 to $720 billion in 2017. The emergence and growth of new internet-based convergence services are driving new industries and companies to become key drivers of growth.

So, what is the current state of the domestic industry in this convergence service market? A SWOT analysis reveals that strengths (S) include the establishment of an excellent ICT infrastructure for implementing convergence services, a world-class network, strong competitiveness in related industries such as semiconductors and displays, and outstanding terminal manufacturing capabilities.

Absence of a groundbreaking business model

However, it has the following weaknesses (W): the absence of a groundbreaking business model that can bring about disruptive innovation, the market being inactive due to strong regulations, the lack of an ecosystem for corporate coexistence and industrial revitalization, and the lack of competitiveness in software and platform development. The threat factors (T) include the excessive initial costs due to the lack of standardization of related technologies, the fierce competition among leading companies such as Google and Apple to secure the platform, and the difficulty in achieving economies of scale and scope due to the active policy support from advanced countries such as the US, Germany, the UK, and Japan and the absence of policies for mutually beneficial cooperation between companies.

Still, there's hope in the sense that opportunities clearly exist. Various new industries and business opportunities exist due to ICT convergence. Government policy support will lead to active market participation by many companies, lower hardware module prices, and enhanced software industry competitiveness. Furthermore, expectations are high given the ease of developing differentiated services by combining terminal manufacturing capabilities with superior infrastructure.

Accordingly, the government plans to create new markets (domestic market valued at KRW 40 trillion) and secure technologies (90% technology level) with the goal of advancing industries and enhancing public convenience through the creation of a hyper-connected social convergence service ecosystem. The IoT R&D investment areas include IoT services, IoT platforms, IoT networks, IoT devices, and cyber-physical systems (CPS). For industrial convergence ICT, R&D will focus on agricultural and livestock ICT, manufacturing ICT, and energy ICT.

Public convergence ICT targets public safety/disaster prevention ICT and medical ICT. In the smart life sector, R&D investment will focus on smart homes, smart cities, and wellness care ICT. Starting with KRW 73.1 billion in 2017, investment in these areas will increase to KRW 92.1 billion in 2019 and KRW 107.1 billion in 2021, for a total investment of KRW 573.6 billion by 2022.

Looking at some specific details of these investment areas, IoT services develop core technologies for creating domain-specific Internet of Things services and providing customized services to users, and apply and verify new technologies for convergence services based on cross-domain utilization. We plan to secure standard service models to secure a leading position in the global market for IoT services. A total of 37.5 billion won will be invested in these projects by 2022.

The need for convergence between IoT infrastructure technology and ICT technology

The agricultural and livestock ICT sector will pursue the development of common platform technologies (distribution, facility horticulture, and livestock farming) and intelligent growth modeling technologies. A total of KRW 39 billion will be invested by 2022 to complete standardization through corporate verification and commercialize and disseminate certification standards. The medical welfare ICT sector will develop technologies that enable the easy measurement of various healthcare-related information and personal health information analysis technologies. KRW 46.2 billion will be invested by 2022 to develop standards for information storage, transmission, and cohort data for data-based services such as convergent medicine.

The smart home and city sector will also receive KRW 24.5 billion in support by 2022 to address heterogeneity, security, and privacy issues, which are major obstacles to industrialization, secure AI-based smart home city information analysis source technologies, and secure a cloud-based, distributed smart home and city platform.

Park Hyun-jae, CP in charge of convergence service R&D, said, “The convergence service industry will encompass strengthening the future national industrial competitiveness, improving the quality of life of citizens, and building an ecosystem of advanced services in the relevant field to solve social issues through the convergence of IoT infrastructure technology and ICT technology.”