Monday, March 25, 2002
I've been a bit slow to update my blog of late on account of the fact that I was writing a new article for ZDNet. The article is going to deal with Japan's and Korea's approach to dealing with their telecom monopolies, which differ dramatically from America's approach. Their approach has been, for the most part, to end protection and allow the market to heal itself rather than call in government to "fix" a problem they caused in the first place.
However, government CAN do useful things for the economy. Some of Korea's policies are particularly inspired, as this article discusses:
The policy program's first target is Korean children, who by 2001 will take computer classes from 1st grade in LAN-connected labs at 10,000 schools nationwide. The government also has their mothers in mind, having established institutes to train some 2 million housewives in the use of the Internet. "It's nice for us to know we're not being left behind," says 30-year-old Mun Yu-kyoung, a Seoul homemaker who took a government-sponsored computer class with two of her friends. "Learning how to use the Internet was an empowering feeling. I feel more young and modern and I can finally understand most of what my son is talking about." Riding on the success of the housewives' classes -- a Ministry of Information and Communications poll showed that 65.5 percent of the women who completed the course went on to use the Internet regularly at home -- programs have been put in place that will bring some 20,000 military personnel, 150,000 farmers, and 20,000 young farmers and fishermen online by 2003. Also in the works is the "Silvernet Campaign," a bid to decipher the mysteries of computing for citizens 55 and older. "We have the time and money to educate them, and we want to reach these people," says Kim Byung-kyu of the Korea Network Information Center, a research body that works closely with the government to formulate social Internet policies. "Everyone is now aware that the Internet is an integral part of life, and that education in this area is crucial."
In other words, the Korean government is actively trying to make your average Korean a better consumer. Such a policy is MUCH more useful than clumsy government attempts to build effective companies. Granted, the Korean government still attempts at times to use its influence in the economy to the benefit of the Korean "chaebol," but such errors are becoming less frequent as the government absorbs the lessons of the Asian financial crisis and continues the deregulation of its economy. Today, Japan looks like a water buffalo compared to nimble South Korea. Korea is willing to make the changes that Japan, due to rich nation inertia, seems unable or unwilling to make.
However, government CAN do useful things for the economy. Some of Korea's policies are particularly inspired, as this article discusses:
The policy program's first target is Korean children, who by 2001 will take computer classes from 1st grade in LAN-connected labs at 10,000 schools nationwide. The government also has their mothers in mind, having established institutes to train some 2 million housewives in the use of the Internet. "It's nice for us to know we're not being left behind," says 30-year-old Mun Yu-kyoung, a Seoul homemaker who took a government-sponsored computer class with two of her friends. "Learning how to use the Internet was an empowering feeling. I feel more young and modern and I can finally understand most of what my son is talking about." Riding on the success of the housewives' classes -- a Ministry of Information and Communications poll showed that 65.5 percent of the women who completed the course went on to use the Internet regularly at home -- programs have been put in place that will bring some 20,000 military personnel, 150,000 farmers, and 20,000 young farmers and fishermen online by 2003. Also in the works is the "Silvernet Campaign," a bid to decipher the mysteries of computing for citizens 55 and older. "We have the time and money to educate them, and we want to reach these people," says Kim Byung-kyu of the Korea Network Information Center, a research body that works closely with the government to formulate social Internet policies. "Everyone is now aware that the Internet is an integral part of life, and that education in this area is crucial."
In other words, the Korean government is actively trying to make your average Korean a better consumer. Such a policy is MUCH more useful than clumsy government attempts to build effective companies. Granted, the Korean government still attempts at times to use its influence in the economy to the benefit of the Korean "chaebol," but such errors are becoming less frequent as the government absorbs the lessons of the Asian financial crisis and continues the deregulation of its economy. Today, Japan looks like a water buffalo compared to nimble South Korea. Korea is willing to make the changes that Japan, due to rich nation inertia, seems unable or unwilling to make.
