Discussion 2
It is necessary to development unique cultural invironment for Seoul Digital Industrial Complex
Lee Sang Seon, CEO, Digital Valley News
On December 14th, 2000, Guro Industrial Complex had a new name, Seoul Digital Industrial Complex (G-Valley). Since then, it has successfully gone through an amazing transformation. Experts and Journalists highly praise the complex for its success. Before 2000, the complex was just filled with sewing or fabric factories and printing offices but now IT related businesses take up over 80 % of the complex, and the number of IT centers (apartment-type factories) with a host of startups there has increased from around 100 in 2000 to 10,823 (according to the record on June, 2011), boasting the world's highest density business district.
The industrial complex has a unprecedentedly greater number of companies than any other in the world. Even the industrial centers in the US, and European countries can not beat the one in Seoul in terms of the number of companies. Sillicon Valley has about 4,000 companies, Boston about 3,000, Salt Lake City about 2,100, Texas Austin about 1,750, Cambridge in the UK about 1,150, Sophia Antipolis 1,150.
The number of companies operating in the G-valley is three times as high as one in Sillicon Valley. While Sillicon Valley is a 30mile-long and 10mile-wide area, the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, G-Valley is 1,981,552㎡ or about 60pyung, located in Guro 3dong, Gumcheongu, Gasandong.
Despite its high density, the G-Valley is still desperately short of human resources and support for companies. By comparison, well-renowned colleges such as Standford Univ., Berkeley Univ., Santa Clarita Univ. and also research centers, institutes and foundations are located inside Sillicon Valley and play roles in producing talents and as supporters. In addition, the California government has created a business- friendly environment like by giving huge tax benefits. This is how Sillicon Valley has become a craddle of the world's best companies including Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, etc.
G-valley is confronted with harsh criticism for its poor business environment and lack of excellent talents. The complex failed to reach any agreement with well-renown universities nearby to produce skilled workers for the complex and even existing research centers like Ceramic research institute and Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL) there are moving out of it. Even a head office of Korea Industrial Complex corporation will also be relocated to Dagu. There are a very few business support institute for venture capitals, global marketing. Given this, many experts don't expect to see more support for companies in the foreseeable future. One of reasons that make things worse in the industrial complex is a government's longstanding policy to limit expansion of metropolitan areas, which makes even more difficult to secure funding to build needed facilities.
As one of the ways to help the G-vally develop, many suggest creation of unique culture in the complex housing 10, 823 companies. Most of workers in that area are in their twenty or thirty and have college diplomas. They need a unique culture that suit them. That suggestion is very understandable considering that most of workers live in over 100 IT centers (apartment-type factories). Taking demographic structure and working environment into consideration, it is time to create unique culture to help the G-valley grow further.
