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FROM HERMIT KINGDOM TO GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY POWER
South Korea developing new mass model of innovation says UK think tank
South Korea is speeding ahead of the UK into the knowledge age, boasting the most networked society on earth, a mass of highly educated people and a ubiquitous innovation system, claims a new report, The Atlas of Ideas: Mapping the new geography of science, launched today.
The findings come from Demos, one of the UK’s most influential think tanks, whose 18-month study offers the most comprehensive insight into emerging innovation in Asia. A series of four reports focus on the dramatic growth and pace of scientific innovation in South Korea, India and China, with a fourth report providing an overview of the international situation, and outlining how Britain should respond.
Molly Webb, author of the report said:
“South Korea is one of the best connected, best educated societies in the world. It is known for its democratic transformation and its hugely popular digital culture where gamers are celebrities and personal computers are children’s playgrounds.”
“Korea has the highest broadband and mobile phone penetration in the world – and soon Seoulites will use mobile phones on the underground metro. It is Korea’s developing capacity for ‘ubiquitous innovation’ that may set it apart in the future.”
According to the study, South Korea has made a dramatic transformation from ‘hermit kingdom’ to global technology power and today has the most extensive ubiquitous information infrastructure in the world. Both government and businesses are investing heavily in research and development (R&D), with some Korean companies outspending their UK peers and harbouring ambitious plans for the future. From a country that had virtually no graduates and low levels of literacy forty years ago, South Korea is now a country where:
- Total R&D investment has reached nearly 3% of GDP, amounting to US$25 billion in 2006, the sixth highest rate in the world. Private industry accounts for 75% of this.
- Ten next-generation technologies were designated in 2003, intended to be drivers of Korea’s ‘second leap’ to GDP of US$20,000 per capita by 2012.
- Enrolment in higher education was only 200,000 in 1970 and now tops 3,500,000, an 18-fold increase. Over the same period, R&D investment grew tenfold. Government aims to increase the R&D workforce to 270,000 in 2007.
- The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) is investing US$70 billion in a ‘Ubiquitous Korea’ IT839 Strategy to transform Korea into a “digital welfare state” by 2010.
- 10 ministries are investing in biotechnology, aiming to put Korea in the top 3 countries in biotech by 2015.
- Government plans are for Korea to have ten cutting-edge nanotechnologies and 12,600 nanotechnology experts by 2010
The study reveals how South Korea is betting on mass connectivity, universal education and international collaboration in science to ensure its future competitiveness. Already, the results are promising:
South Korea boasted the highest annual growth in patent families – more than 20 per cent – and the highest growth in US patents from 1986 to 2003.
In 2006, Korea had one of the highest rates of broadband penetration in OECD countries with 26.4 subscribers per 100 inhabitants
The growth in peer-reviewed journals indexed by Thompson ISI since 1998 is one of the highest in Asia, especially in areas of strength like materials research
The report cites examples such as the birth of the state-sponsored Open Source Software (OSS) movement and partnerships with the US, Japan and China to develop homegrown standards. A prime example is the development of WiBro (portable broadband) being rolled out across the subway system in early 2007, a collaborative project between Intel and several Korean firms.
Report author Molly Webb said:
“There is no doubt that innovation is central to South Korea’s survival. It played catch-up to industrialized countries but it plans to lead emerging technology areas. South Korea has great potential to become a significant source of science-driven innovation. It has achieved miracles in the past 40 years, and it might do the same again.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Atlas of Ideas reports will be launched at a major international conference on science, innovation and globalisation, at the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology), Savoy Place, London. Speakers include: Will Hutton, Boris Johnson, Martin Rees, Sir David King, Bhiku Parekh, John Micklethwait and key figures from the Chinese, Indian and Korean science communities.
Three reports accompany the Atlas of Ideas overview, looking in detail at the rise of Asia’s innovation ‘hotspots’ concluding that:
The Atlas of Ideas project was led by Demos with support from a consortium of partners, including: Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Office of Science and Innovation; UK Trade and Investment; British Council; Scottish Enterprise; Microsoft Research; Vodafone; the Institution of Engineering and Technology; South East of England Development Agency; East of England Development Agency; Universities UK; Medical Research Council; Irish Management Institute; and Claydon Gescher Associates.
Download all four Atlas of Ideas reports, each looking in detail at the rise of Asia’s innovation ‘hotspots’:
The Atlas of Ideas: How Asian innovation can benefit us allChina: The next science superpower?
India: The uneven innovator
South Korea: Mass innovation comes of age
Interviews are also available by arrangement on the day of the launch on 17 January at The Atlas of ideas: Mapping the new geography of science Demos international conference on science, innovation and globalisation, at the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology), Savoy Place, London.