An Analysis of Korean National Information Strategy of IT839 Dong-Hee Shin Won-Yong Kim Penn State University Ewha Womans University dshin@psu.edu wonykim@ewha.ac.kr Abstract Recently, the Korean government launched the IT839 project with the objective of converting Korea into a ubiquitous information society. This study investigates the role of the Korean government in the development of the national information infrastructure and the realization of IT839 vision. This paper reviews the historic and individual data related to the infrastructure project, draws on the social construction of technology theory as a framework for interpreting such data, traces the transformations and translation of this data in the public, political, and social discourse, and discusses the next generation of information infrastructure. Findings imply that despite optimistic prospects and proactive drive, uncertainty still remains with respect to where IT839 will evolve and how it will impact the new information milieu. 1. Introduction Building an effective national information infrastructure (NII) has become a high priority to governments around the world. Just as the telecommunications infrastructure provides the transport means for the information economy to develop, creating the infrastructure for information itself is becoming a key agenda, at national, regional and global levels. As the government initiative forms the foundations in creating an information infrastructure, governments initiate projects to improve telecommunications infrastructures and to construct new channels that are more advanced and accessible. Such projects include Singapore’s Intelligent Island, Malaysia’s the Multimedia Super Corridor 2020, U.S. the Global/National Information Infrastructure, and Canada’s the Information Highway. These NIIs are being designed to create an “electronic city” to link homes, schools, libraries, hospitals, and small businesses to this information superhighway. Just as electricity, streets, and water are core infrastructures that serve residents, businesses, and government alike, so too is the information infrastructure a community-wide need, such as education, human resources, health care and public services. According to the National Information Infrastructure Act of 1996 (Amended from 1993 of H.R. 3723), information infrastructure should “directly benefit all people,” provide “large economic and social benefits,” and be “designed to be accessible and usable by all, including historically and economically underserved populations and individuals with disabilities, in the fields of education, libraries, health care, the provision of government information, and other appropriate fields.” Focusing on this underlying principle as a normative framework, this study investigates the role of the Korean government in helping Korea forge its path into the next generation of the information society. It focuses on the processes involved in the planning of the NII projects and evaluates its prospects by tracing various views from different stakeholders. It examines the direction, nature and future of IT839 by focusing on the political economy of informatization. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from the theory of Social Construction of Technology (SCOT), this study collected qualitative data primarily through in-depth interviews with diverse stakeholders: policy and regulation groups, user groups, industry, and research institutions. In addition to interviews, this research collected and analyzed archival Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2008 1530-1605/08 $25.00 © 2008 IEEE 1