[Opinion] Urgent Need of IT Law

The government’s central issue of the economy management plan is to construct `a strong knowledge-information-based nation`. It can be witnessed through their major policies during last three years. Each Ministry has propelled the IT (Information Technology) and digital related policies with a sense of urgency, such as nurturing of the venture capitol and supporting of the venture enterprises, supporting of about 30,000 small or mid-sized businesses to be information technology based companies, nurturing of the multi-media contents industry, and installing of free-internet-lines for schools of the nation.

Even with the crisis of IMF, IT industry in Korea has continued to grow 20 percent each year. Korea is said to be a country best-equipped with the internet-infrastructure, and the most active internet businesses are taking place. Therefore, the government deserves to be praised that they have successfully transformed the paradigm of our economy from the industry-based economy to the knowledge-information-based economy.

However, at the backstage of the visible success, a chronic problem is hiding. A good example is that they cannot gain the desired results due to the inefficient government policies and the duplicated areas of the businesses in nurturing of the IT industry among different ministries. Especially, the competition in the area of the business among the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy (MCIE), Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), and Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) is quite serious. From the viewpoint of the industry, it seems good to have many government ministries that want to help them, yet, it is concerning because of the confusion of the policies and the overabundance of administration.

The tension among ministries related with the IT industry cannot be seen a product from the egoism among ministries. It is a transient phenomenon that happens as the classic form of the industry transfers to the form of the IT industry. Due to the digitalization process of the economy progresses, the arrival of the duplicated business areas and the confusion is inevitable.

For example, the current hot issue of the IT industry is the unification of the on-line and the off-line and the transformation of the traditional industry to form of the e-business. Then, is MCT in charge of the MCIE Commerce, which takes charge of the traditional industry, or the MIC, that takes charge of the IT industry?

The contents industry also has been in the analogue form and consumed in the form of analogue so far. Yet, as the IT industry develops, the contents are produced in the digital form and consumed through the internet. Then, is the internet broadcasting a form of broadcast or a communication? Who takes charge of the business? The MIC or the MCT?

To become an advanced country in IT, they need to transcend the traditional idea of the business areas. How can they lead the development of economy with an analogue administration system in the era of digital unification?

United States has already become the leading country in the IT industry when they made the HPC Law, a pan-departmental law that takes charge of IT research and development, 10 years ago. Japan is driving a strong plan to nurture the IT industry with the IT-basic law as well.

However, Korea has not even set a system of related laws yet. The function that integrates the similar policies and effective adjustment is in a stage of paralysis.

The IT industry is the locomotive for the growth of a country’s economy. The government has to begin with the maintenance of the rail road so that the locomotive can run. If each ministry steps forward to construct the rail roads, the locomotive cannot avoid a derailment. This is the reason why the author thinks that an enactment of an IT-basic-law is necessary.

Moon Yong-Sik (President of the Hanacom Co. Ltd.)