The Operating System(OS) is What Really Matters

Moon SongChun, Professor at KAIST Business School

There are many controversies over establishing IT control tower. Objecting the reintroduction of the past control tower, the Ministry of Informaiton and Communication is though seemrational because it will only attract more government regulation. However, there are also risks in privatizing the IT sector. Among IT, the Operating System(OS) is considered the most challenging field to develop. The Unites States however has monopoly over this area. If this trend does not change, the Unites States will continue to have a dominant governance over the whole IT business world.

Here the main problem to focus on is the Operating System(OS). It is because almost all IT fields are heavily dependant on the OS. In case of the United States, its govermant developed both the OS and Internet over the period of 1950s and 60s, and also built a history of successfully transferring it from public sector to private sector.

If the Operating System(OS) is the pier, internet is the bridge over these piers.As an example,when atransportation card touches the card reader machine on a bus,it receives its signal, stores it, memorizes its data and calculates the right amount and transfer that information wirelessly back to the card reader machine. This whole series of process is controled by the OS. This example showsthis bus" card reader machine is also equipped and operates througha small Operating System. As a result, without the OS, there is no way internet can run and operate even on this smallbus card reader machine.

In this sense, with continued dominance of U.S. over the OS, Korea will continue to remain its subcontractor. If Korea does not work its way to develope OS market now, it will lag behind leaving huge regrets. In establishing OS market, the government should get involved and also learn from its mistake that"s done in 1980s when they pulled out its aid over internet development after one-shot of support.

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