SW-Computing Providing Large-Scale, High-Performance, Real-Time, and Intelligent Functions as a Platform Drawing Attention
New Services Provided by Adding Artificial Intelligence to ICBM (IoT, Cloud, Big Data, Mobile)

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the Technology Roadmap 2022 (draft) with 10 major ICT R&D technology fields and added artificial intelligence field. To strengthen mutual linkage of science and technology ICT selected by the Ministry and discover new industries, the 10 major ICT R&D technologies are ▲Digital Content ▲Convergence Services ▲ICT Devices ▲Information Security ▲Mobile Communications ▲Network ▲Broadcasting/Smart Media ▲Radio Waves, Satellites ▲Software ▲Foundation SW Computing, etc. Accordingly, e4ds news plans to sequentially introduce the R&D strategies of these fields to present future technology development roadmaps. [Reporter Shin Yun-oh]

IT's ICBM is showing formidable growth.

SW-computing technology that provides large-scale, high-performance, real-time, and intelligent functions as a platform, commonly required for explosive growth in computing devices and data and hyperconnected smart services, is attracting attention.

SW-computing technology includes four core areas: big data, cloud computing, computing systems, and artificial intelligence technology. Performance improvements of systems through SW technology innovation are being attempted, and with changes in the ICT paradigm, future SW computing technology is also developing in forms of convergence and intelligence.

Domestic Big Data Market Expected to Experience Rapid Growth of 17.5%

This technology field is characterized by creation of high added value through market and service-oriented technology convergence. Major issues are convergence centered on artificial intelligence, high-performance, real-time, and high reliability for each technology domain. The outlook is that artificial intelligence will be added to so-called ICBM (IoT, Cloud, Big Data, Mobile) to provide new services.


▲ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) announced that technology regarding the functional structure of Cloud Desktop Service (DaaS), which refers to using a personal PC environment in the cloud, was adopted as an international standard at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) meeting under the leadership of research personnel.

Global market prospects also respond accordingly. The 2016 market size of 389.5 billion dollars is expected to grow to 664.6 billion dollars in 2022 at an annual average rate of 12.3%. Specifically, big data is expected to grow from 26,700 million dollars to 80,610 million dollars, cloud from 115,278 million dollars to 267,969 million dollars, and computing systems from 247,540 million dollars to 316,017 million dollars. However, the computing systems market is the largest, but a slowdown in annual average growth rate is expected due to market saturation.

Domestic market growth is similar to global market trends. The 2016 market of 11.8 trillion won is expected to increase to 24.6 trillion won in 2022 at an annual average rate of 11.2%. Looking in detail, big data is expected to grow from 355.8 billion won to 1,049.4 billion won, cloud from 8,270.9 billion won to 19,968.3 billion won, and computing systems from 3,225.9 billion won to 3,631.1 billion won. With activation of cloud, the related market is the largest and continuous growth is expected, and due to growth momentum of cloud, IoT, etc., the big data market is expected to experience rapid growth (17.5%) just like the global market.

Investment Scale and Brand Awareness at a Disadvantage, Insufficient Experience in Global Market Entry

The domestic industry has strengths in that it possesses world-class terminal development and commercialization capabilities based on strong government policies supporting various IT services and activation.

However, insufficient competitiveness of foundational core software technology and disadvantage in investment scale and brand awareness act as weaknesses. Moreover, the market structure centered on domestic consumption and insufficient experience in global market entry are problematic, and there is a shortage of advanced professional personnel compared to emerging global companies. The external situation is also unfavorable. Dependency on technology and markets is accelerating centered on existing leading companies, and the rapid technological catch-up of follower competitors such as China and weakening of domestic technological competitiveness are also concerning aspects.

CP Kim Hyung-chul stated, "We must lead new growth drivers through securing independent technologies in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and big data, expanding SW computing future technology R&D, and overcoming the limitations of domestic technology capabilities through international joint research and joint development with open SW leaders," and added, "We must establish the foundation for convergence-type new technologies and create a healthy SW and computing ecosystem through cultivating advanced personnel."

Target to Secure 5% of Global Market Share in Cloud Solutions and Services by 2022

Accordingly, the government has decided to achieve 90% or higher technology level compared to technology-leading countries by 2022. By 2022, it aims to secure 5% of the global market share in cloud solutions and services, increase big data analysis and prediction utilization enterprises to 40%, and nurture five global mid-sized companies in the high-performance computing field.

The big data field includes big data collection, storage, processing, and management technologies, intelligent big data analysis and prediction technologies, and big data service and application technologies, while cloud includes cloud platform technology, interoperability technology, application and service technology, and expansion/convergence technology. The computing systems field includes high-performance server system technology for cloud data centers, next-generation smart storage system technology, high-speed cluster/heat dissipation computing technology, and computing infrastructure technology for software-defined data centers.

Regarding future strategy, CP Kim Hyung-chul stated, "For big data, we will promote R&D in diverse convergence data processing, artificial intelligence, and governance, and expand to various industries to preempt the global market," and added, "We will also strengthen competitiveness in cloud and computing systems through global commercialization."