"The Information Minister outlines his plan to sustain the country�s tech lead -- As its domestic IT markets grow increasingly saturated, and competition from neighboring countries stiffens, South Korea stands at a dangerous juncture: find a way to sustain its lead, or watch the work of two decades fall by the wayside. That�s why Daeje Chin, the South Korean Minister of Information and Communication, spent the week schlepping around the San Francisco Bay Area. He touted South Korea�s �ubiquitous information society� and met with Silicon Valley companies. More than anything, he looked for foreign capital that could jump-start his country�s flat-lining industries. South Korea has one of the most advanced IT industries in the world, boasts top cell phone adoption rates, and leads the globe with 75 percent broadband penetration."
The global cloud computing market is undergoing new significant growth, driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and the demand for flexible, scalable infrastructure. The recent market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) provides compelling evidence of this transformation, highlighting the accelerating growth in cloud infrastructure spending and the pivotal role of AI in shaping the industry's future trajectory. Shared Infrastructure Market Development The study reveals a 36.9 percent year-over-year worldwide increase in spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud deployments in the first quarter of 2024, reaching $33 billion. This growth substantially outpaced non-cloud infrastructure spending, which saw a modest 5.7 percent increase to $13.9 billion during the same period. The surge in cloud infrastructure spending was partially fueled by an 11.4 percent growth in unit demand, influenced by higher average selling prices, primari