Korea will nurture the fast-growing geospatial information industry as one of the nation’s new growth engines in an integrated and systematic manner, the new head of the Korea Cadastral Survey Corp., or LX, said on Wednesday.

“LX will transform into a hub organization to realize the vision, renewing its corporate name as the Korea Land Geospatial Information Corp. soon,’’ LX CEO Kim Young-pyo told The Korea Herald.

The new entity, aimed at promoting the nation’s geospatial information industry, will be launched when the National Assembly passes the pending basic law on land geospatial information, which merges three existing laws on mapping of national territory from land to ocean. Previously, LX’s main business was cadastral, or public record, surveying.

“Demand for location-related information is growing at an explosive pace throughout the world, driven by the development of technology and use of smartphones,’’ Kim said.

In an era of technology and connectivity, location information is applied to various aspects of daily life ranging from car navigation to travel. The rising popularity of smartphones also boosts demand for geospatial information.

“Korea will be able to take a bigger piece in the emerging geospatial industry when collected geospatial data converges with advanced information, communication and technology,’’ Kim said.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the global geospatial information industry has grown 11 percent annually for the past few years and its market size is projected to reach 150 trillion won ($140 billion) by 2015.

The government has been promoting the geospatial industry to create added value as part of its strategy to merge industry with ICT in the pursuit of a creative economy.

“LX will build an open platform for land geospatial information and promote the growth of competitive private companies in this sector,’’ Kim said.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)