Ubiquitous Trend Infiltrates Into Rural Villages

Ubiquitous Trend Infiltrates Into Rural Villages

2005-05-17

The ``ubiquitous trend,¡¯¡¯ the movement to extend to people a connection to the Internet at any time and at any place, is penetrating into rural villages in Korea on top of the high penetration in the bustling urban areas.

The movement, geared toward eliminating the digital divide in a super-connected future society, is currently being spearheaded by Hanaro Dream chairman Shin Yun-sik, former Hanaro Telecom chairman.

``Korea¡¯s ubiquitous discussion has mostly pivoted around the metropolitan areas, but we should not forget 3.5 million farmers who account for more than 7 percent of population,¡¯¡¯ the 69-year-old Shin said.

To help farmers jump on the bandwagon of the ubiquitous trend, Shin masterminded the establishment of the Korea Ubiquitous Village Forum (KUVF) in March.

A total of 50 dignitaries participated in the initiative as sponsors including co-leaders of Information and Communication University president Huh Un-na and former Agriculture-Forestry Minister Huh Shin-haeng, in addition to Shin.

Eighteen commissioners convene every Saturday to ferret out a way to modernizing the farmhouses with top-end technologies.

``Most of the Korean farm villages are now saddled by multiple problems of diminishing population and aging populous, phenomena caused by poor education opportunities and a lack of proper jobs,¡¯¡¯ Shin said.

``I think we should directly address the two problems to grapple with the roadblocks en route to rural informatization and the KUVF will come up with an answer,¡¯¡¯ he added.

To create attractive jobs in farming villages, he suggested state-of-the-art technologies, such as radio frequency identification chips, should be applied in organic agricultures.

Such pesticide-free products will be able to sell at high prices by branding them and finding end users through online shopping malls run by the cultivators themselves.

Also, Shin said cyber education systems will help rural high school students overcome their disadvantages by connecting them to advanced tutoring contents of metropolitan cities.

``We plan to demonstrate that a farming town also has a shot at becoming an advanced information society by starting a pilot-run in Kohung, South Cholla Province,¡¯¡¯ he said.

In Kohung, Shin already started boosting environment-friendly agriculture via high-tech technologies and branding them.

Plus, he looks to set up a high school in Kohung with a facility for broadcasting educational contents that are now taught in Kangnam-gu of Seoul as early as next year.

Gluing Eyes to Education

Shin said the ``ubiquitous trend¡¯¡¯ will automatically crop up in urban areas by companies that jockey to make money in the populous cities, but rural villages are dearth of such momentum.

Indeed, Korea¡¯s dominant telecom carrier KT revealed last week its scheme of building 20 ubiquitous cities in urban areas equipped with next-generation connectivity by next year.

But there has been no outstanding efforts from businesses to establish ubiquitous villages up until now.

After successfully nurturing u-village in Kohung, he aims to make such model villages in other provinces in order to extend the rural ubiquitous trend to across the nation.

``Some people raise suspicions whether the ubiquitous trend can penetrate into the rural areas. But I am sure we can attain our goal in the not-so-distant future,¡¯¡¯ Shin said.

In fact, Shin has a knack for pioneering where nobody has tried to venture out into before as amply demonstrated by his contribution to the nation¡¯s proliferation of the high-speed Internet.

In April 1999, the bureaucrat-turned-businessman headed the commercial launch of asymmetric digital subscriber lines, which pumps data at an average speed of 2.5 megabits per second, about 50 times faster than previous dial-up modems.

Back then, many pessimists hesitated to channel loads of money in the broadband technology due to its uncertain prospects but Shin had forged ahead despite the concerns.

Observers point out his strong drive with ADSL with confidence is in no small part responsible for the country¡¯s current broadband success. Now more than 12 million of Korea¡¯s 15 million homes are hooked up to the always-on Internet.

In recognition of this feat, the government gave him the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit in 2003.

``I learned much from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates who has granted much money for the development of education. I think businessmen are required to pay back to the society in earnest like him,¡¯¡¯ Shin said.

In late 2003, Gates surprised the world by announcing that his foundation will donate $51 million to create 67 public high schools in poor neighborhoods in New York.

He also set up Maxwell Dworkin building in the Harvard University where the world¡¯s first computer is stored. The title was named after his mother Mary Maxwell Gates and Beatrice Dworkin Ballmer, mother of current Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.