Although the significance of statistical data in the fourth Industrial Revolution era is growing, it seems that the software (SW) statistics sector available to the ICT industry is insufficient.

According to the SW industry, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, which is core of the SW industry, has to improve the management system by directly deriving the SW statistics or by updating the statistical data through unifying related associations in charge of statistics. This concern caused as it is not easy for companies to find the latest SW statistics.

For instance, the latest version of annual statistical information such as the amount of SW production in the ICT statistical portal (IT STAT) operated by Korea Information Society Development (KISDI) is found to be based on a few years ago. IT STAT in ICT industry and SW industry △ production △ export △ manpower △ number of companies are total annual statistical information which are mostly from 2014 to 2015.

The IT Industry Promotion Agency of Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning uses the SW Policy Institute statistics.

However, in the case of the SW Policy Institute, the latest statistics are also on a yearly basis for 2014 or 2015. Meanwhile, the Korea SW Industry Association does not have any SW statistics.


An industry representative said, "There is a need for statistics on the market size, cooperation with foreign companies and exports for the previous year. We need not only to provide the latest data every year, but also to obtain statistics on new markets. It is urgent to prepare a plan to secure statistical data on new market."

The statistics for each item presented on a monthly basis are from the end of last year to the beginning of this year. The accuracy and the timeliness are lowered based on 20-30% of the population.

An ICT industry representative stressed, "Market outlook, alliances with foreign companies and lack of available statistics for export in the previous year insufficient. It is imperative that measures are prepared so that they can be done in addition to providing the latest data every year."

Therefore, the delay in the announcement of ICT-related annual statistical information is an analysis of the aggregation process. The annual statistics show that it is necessary to wait for the statistics of the National Statistical Office for information and telecommunication equipment to pass. It is estimated that various associations are collecting statistics for each region and it takes time to synthesize them. KISDI stated, "Monthly statistical information is collected by each association itself. And, it takes a long time to estimate. Meanwhile, it also takes a long time to comprehensively utilize statistical information as well as data from the National Statistical Office."

KISDI is considering a preliminary announcement based on the monthly report to overcome the delay in the release of annual statistical information. Besides, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning will discuss how to update ICT statistics accurately and quickly, centering on the "ICT Statistics Council" launched last year and the "ICT Statistics Development Council" of the KISDI, KAIT, and SW Policy Research Institute. A representative of Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning revealed, "We will strengthen the statistical management to increase the available information by sharing the latest statistics through the council."

By Park Jong-jin truth@dt.co.kr



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