Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Korean Economy and Information Technology

     Due to the recent adoption of information technology in Korea, the economy of this country has strengthened significantly. (For the statistics, please see the following link:  http://www.unescap.org/drpad/panel/hwang/HWANG.htm). They are not stopping, however, with where they are now. Korea has implemented a new policy to use information technology to create what they are calling "Cyber Korea 21" which is basically a new society for the country based on knowledge and information. The government is creating new jobs by reinforcing the information infrastructure, increasing the national productivity, and helping out new businesses.


     Something interesting that I found was that Korea is implementing computer courses for over ten million students as well as civil servants and those in the military service in order to create a "society without 'information-have-nots'". While it may seem as if they are using information technology to destroy tedious, repetitive jobs, they are giving those who are occupying those jobs a chance to move up instead of just leaving them on their own. They are eliminating jobs, but creating more in their places.

     Since 1995, the Korean economy has been growing due to information technology and they seem to have a pretty good plan to continue this trend. How are other economies growing due to their implementation of information technology? In what ways could information technology be detrimental to those economies or even the Korean economy?

6 comments:

  1. It's very interesting to see how many economies, South Korea included, is benefitting from expanding their use of technology. Do you think that the training being provided will leave a skills gap in other areas of the economy?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think its very similar to what we are doing in the United States, we've outsourced a lot of low skill level jobs to other countries but at the same time have grown in information technology and other jobs that require high skills and education.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You could kind of liken the IT revolution to the industrial revolution. As the new technologies grew and forced people to adapt the world as a whole got better. Yes there were many civil issues that arose from the new technology but in general it was a good thing. Allowing people to grow and move into newer industries. So as IT presses countries around the world to grow I think you will see more and more skilled people.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Caleb, I think that the training will leave some sort of gap in the skill levels of these people, but at the same time, I think that there will always be jobs available for those without those skills. If not, I'm sure there is some way for them to take the same classes as everyone else.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't mind technology replacing some jobs, but nothing beats person-to-person interaction. For example, the use of ATMs and direct deposits has completely cut out my interaction with my bank, and while thats okay for me because I'm always on the go some people still really value going to a business and actually interacting with a human being. I agree that technological advances cut out a lot of human error but in some situations it's not really worth it. Replacing people with technology across the board just takes away from the experiences you get from speaking with real people. I guess it has it's pros and cons

    ReplyDelete
  6. The technology these days are different form 5 years ago it evolve everyday. we can't depend on what we have we should think of the future. Although thats what Korea is doing with their economy they still apply it by providing computer courses.

    ReplyDelete