The National Computerization Agency of Korea announced that the agency will have the new name of National Information Society Agency (NIA)“ and take follow-up procedures, as the Framework Act on Informatization Promotion with the proposal to rename the Agency was passed in the Assembly plenary session on September 8.


Established in 1987, the National Computerization Agency has supported the public sector informatization and policy development as the leading agency for national informatization.


However, it has been pushing efforts to change its name and define its roles and identity for the ubiquitous society.


Since the inauguration of President Chang-Kon Kim in May last year, the National Computerization Agency announced its new vision to become the ‘Ubiquitous Society Leader’ and has carried out many activities to strengthen its position as a specialized agency for ubiquitous technologies.


By setting the year 2006 as the ‘First Year of the Ubiquitous Area’, it has so far promoted active project implementation and policy development, including the name change.


In fact, the business scope of the National Computerization Agency has expanded together with the new name to ‘facilitate the use of new IT and provide related expertise’ and ‘analyze trends to support informatization policy development and study laws and institutions’.


Regarding renaming the organization, President Chang-Kon Kim mentioned that “The Agency should now do more than just supporting the national informatization. The time has come to review the identity of the Agency in terms of its expertise and responsiveness for the future society that will be fast-changing and highly informatized.”


He also specified that “the Agency needs to be evaluated government project implementation as well as specialized services for the country and the people. The National Computerization Agency will reborn as ‘National Information Society Agency (NIA)’ in January next year, on the 20th anniversary of its establishment, and make the best efforts with its young spirit to achieve the new vision and goals for becoming the ‘Leader of the Ubiquitous Society’ and the ‘specialized organization to provide customer-oriented knowledge information service’ ”