By Kim Young-won

BUSAN ― KT chief executive Hwang Chang-gyu said Monday that the South Korean economy needs to adopt a new growth model that allows start-ups, and small and medium-size enterprises to flourish through innovation.

In a keynote speech at the Global ICT Premier Forum on the sidelines of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, Hwang suggested that the country’s conglomerates should make their abundant resources available to start-ups and SMEs so that they can come up with creative convergent technology and become “hidden champions.” 

“We need to develop hidden champions by allowing them to make use of the conglomerates’ capabilities and grow through open innovation and research and development in order for Korea to take a big leap in the global ICT industry,” said Hwang at the forum.

Hidden champions are SMEs or start-ups that are small in terms of sales but have a strong global presence due to their technology.

German SMEs with annual sales of less than 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) that rank among the global top three in their respective industries are commonly referred to as hidden champions.

KT, Korea’s largest telecommunications company, will do its part as a big company and support start-ups and SMEs in Pangyo Techno Valley in Gyeonggi Province, he said.

Hwang noted that they will be able to use KT technology assets such as high-speed gigabit fixed-line and wireless Internet networks, ultrahigh-definition content and data analytic solutions.

The company hoped that through the use of its ICT infrastructure, they can come up with creative and disruptive technology that can spur the development of a creative economy and an ecosystem for the country.

“An important task in convergence is that we need to pursue open innovation which will break down barriers between industries and technologies,” Hwang said.

He also stressed the importance of Korean companies working with education and research institutions to make technological advances amid the rapidly changing environment.

“Companies, research institutes and universities should work hand in hand from the beginning to the end in developing technology and obtaining a competitive edge in the world’s ICT sector,” the KT CEO said.

(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)