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Computers will be embedded in every nook and cranny of our daily lives in the future.
Swiping your card at a digital information kiosk at any given transit point will load your travel preferences and tell you the local traffic situation and an expected arrival time. Stepping into an automated physical exam booth will allow you to be diagnosed by an onscreen doctor.
Your home will be fully computerized, too. Even on rainy days, a giant window, doubling as a digital display panel, will display glorious weather and your choice of view. You will be able to activate home appliances from the comfort of your favorite chair with a simple voice or fingertip command.
Such forms of "ubiquitous technology" or "ubiquitous computing" are already here. According to the Institute for Information Technology Advancement, 52 core IT technologies, including Virtual Reality, should be ready within the next decade.
Korea has shown great interest in next-generation IT technologies, such as telematics, radio frequency identification or RFID, and information security. Korean-made IT products account for 30 percent of all exports.
Last year, Korea's IT exports totaled more than US$130 billion -- quadruple the 1995 figure.
The importance of IT as Korea's leading economic growth engine is evident in its new policy. The government says it will invest W3.5 trillion (US$1=W1,118) in the next five years to double the country's IT exports.
Arirang News.
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