New Vice Minister of Science and ICT Holds First AI Field Meeting... Emphasizes Software as a Service

Visit to Duzon Bizon Eulji Office on the Morning of the 5th
Discussion on SaaS Trends and Ecosystem Revitalization Plans
2nd Vice Minister: "Support Initiatives Including New Innovation Fund Creation"

The newly appointed 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, who took office at the end of last month, visited a software (SW) company for his first on-site meeting. This was to listen to the voices of the SW industry, which plays a crucial role in digital innovation amid the paradigm shift to Software as a Service (SaaS).

Kang Do-hyun, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT. Photo is unrelated to the content. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 5th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that 2nd Vice Minister Kang Dohyun held an on-site meeting at the Eulji building of ICT company Douzone Bizon under the theme "AI Normalization, SW is Now SaaS." The choice of the SW industry for his first on-site meeting since taking office is interpreted as reflecting the belief that strengthening SW competitiveness is essential for Korea’s digital leap forward, as SW-centered innovation is occurring across all industrial sectors.

This on-site meeting was organized to review recent trends with the industry and discuss ways to revitalize the SaaS ecosystem in response to the paradigm shift where digital service usage environments are evolving into SaaS utilization forms. Attendees included 2nd Vice Minister Kang, Cho Junhee, Chairman of the Korea Software Industry Association, and representatives and executives from major SW companies such as Douzone Bizon, Megazone Cloud, Sendbird, FortyTwoMaru, Wisnut, Business Canvas, Synapsoft, Arkonsoft, and Classting.

Before the discussion, Douzone Bizon presented "Cases of Corporate AX (AI Transformation) Utilization through AI+SaaS Convergence." Megazone Cloud, serving as the chair company of the SaaS Promotion Council, introduced "Recent SaaS Industry Trends," and Sendbird, active in overseas markets including Silicon Valley, shared "Cases of Global Expansion through SaaS."

The discussion covered policy support to accelerate SaaS transition, institutional improvement measures to promote SaaS use in the public sector, and ways to facilitate overseas expansion of promising domestic SW companies through SaaS.

2nd Vice Minister Kang stated, "In the era of the AI revolution, it may be difficult for SW to survive without transitioning to SaaS. For domestic SW companies to enter overseas markets, SaaS transition is essential and will serve as a stepping stone to overcome the limitations of the existing system integration (SI) model and enhance the competitiveness of our SW companies."

He added, "The government also believes that the future of Korea’s SW industry lies in SaaS and is promoting support for SaaS development and the transition of existing SW companies to SaaS, including the establishment of a new 'SaaS Innovation Fund.' We expect the SaaS Promotion Council to serve as a private-sector hub."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to invest a budget of 730.8 billion KRW this year to foster the SW industry, including SaaS. This includes investing 121.9 billion KRW in cloud industry development, including the newly planned 'SaaS Innovation Fund' project (20 billion KRW), and actively supporting the growth and global expansion of SW companies through projects such as the SW High-Growth Club (18 billion KRW) and Global Marketplace Entry Support (2.5 billion KRW).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.