Korea's Ubiquitous Computing Vision

Filed in archive Ubiquitous Computing on August 29, 2005

Professor Lee at the Digiens@u-City blog outlines Korea's vision for implementing a ubiquitous computing environment:

For ubiquitous communications, the government introduced what it refers to as its IT839 strategy, which covers eight services, three types of infrastructure and nine products.

* * *

For RFID-based services, the government has developed several pilot projects including a baggage tracking service among six domestic airports, a national logistics pilot for imports and exports and an inventory management system for the Defence Ministry. The government's three key infrastructures are a broadband convergence network supporting computers, communications and broadcasting services; an IPv6 service using the next generation Internet protocol; and infrastructure and ubiquitous sensor network based on RFID.

Read the whole thing -- it is an ambitious, fascinating and even intimidating vision.

I haven't written much lately about ubiquitous computing, mainly because I have tended to view it as something for the far future.

In places like the U.S. we are long way off from realizing a ubiquitous computing environment.

For one thing, we are not as far along in our adoption of wireless networks and use of mobile devices as some other parts of the world.

For another, our system of government and our markets are much less centralized than many other countries. That means that here in the U.S. our march toward new technologies appears to people from other countries as being unstructured, a little chaotic, moving in fits and starts here and there.

That's because new technology adoption is driven by a diverse array of business needs and consumer desires, and not by a single centralized government. Technology definitely is not adopted linearly or in an "orderly" fashion in the U.S.

It's impossible for me to imagine the U.S. adopting a ubiquitous computing initiative like Korea's -- and depending on your point of view, that's either a blessing or a disappointment.

(Hat tip to the RFID in Japan blog, where I found the link to the Digiens@u-City blog.)

Tags: ubicomp; RFID