- Ranks 3rd among 50 countries in 3 consecutive years since 2005... Proves to have joined the most advanced counties in information and technology
- Country's perseverance ranking the world's 3rd advanced in proportion of households with broadband Internet, mobile broadband subscribers per 100 households, and proportion of households with a cable television... Sweden and the US ranking the 1st and the 2nd respectively
- Introduced the nation's strategies and vision for its ubiquitous society... Analyzes the Internet's new paradigm Web 2.0


Korea's national informatization has ranked the world's third for three consecutive years since 2005.

According to the National Information White Paper 2007 released by the Ministry of Information and Communication Republic of Korea(MIC) and the National Information Society Agency(President : Mr. Kim, Chang Kon), the National Informatization Index(NII) for the year 2007, which has targeted the world's major 50 countries to measure their nation-wide informatization level, shows that Korea has received the evaluation that puts the country in the top 3rd position amongst all 50 countries for three years in a row since 2005. The survey proves, once again, the northeastern country's status of the world's one of the most advanced countries in information and technology.

It has been analyzed that behind the above-mentioned ranking achievement, the country's world-class advancement in proportion of households with broadband Internet(ranking the world's 1st), mobile broadband subscribers per 100 households(the world's 1st), proportion of households with a cable television(the world 1st) and others have exercised a substantial influence.

The evaluation showed that Sweden has scored the world's top most advanced country in four straight years ever since 2004, followed by the United States(2nd), Korea(3rd), Switzerland(4th) and the Netherlands(5th). According to the evaluation, Sweden is the world's number one country in Internet user per 100 inhabitants, fixed telephone line per 100 inhabitants, and proportion of households with television, respectively. The United States showed strength in the number of PCs per 100 inhabitants as well as proportion of households with television. Switzerland was predominant in the number of PCs per 100 inhabitants, fixed telephone line per 100 inhabitants, and proportion of households with a cable television. The Dutch forte was also noticeable in Internet user per 100 inhabitants and proportion of households with a cable television.

The NII, an annual release by the National Information Society Agency since 1993, has been prepared using the ITU statistics and is composed of eight indexes(number of PCs per 100 inhabitants, Internet user per 100 inhabitants, proportion of households with broadband Internet, fixed telephone line per 100 inhabitants, mobile cellular subscribers per 100 inhabitants, mobile broadband subscribers per 100 households, proportion of households with television, and proportion of households with a cable television) in four areas(computers, Internet, communications and broadcasting). Since 2007, in particular, statistics in mobile broadband subscribers per 100 households has been an addition to the index list to reflect the latest trends in informatization.

The edition of National Information White Paper 2007 has analyzed overall tendencies in Korea as a society as well as a country that is going through a transition from a knowledge-information-based society to a ubiquitous society. The publication has also included the major points from the u-KOREA Basic Plan, a national implementation effort to consolidate the country's future status as a leader in ubiquitous society, and ACE-IT Strategies, Korea's IT strategies to achieve its Vision 2030: Greatest Hopes for Korea.

Additionally, the White Paper has listed, based on objective data, comprehensive analyses and summaries of the e-government implementation status and achievements, business informatization and e-commerce level and prospect, citizens' informatization status in areas such as education, culture, social welfare, etc., u-infrastructure establishment achievements and outcomes, national information protection level and actions, production and overseas advance status in the IT industry and others so that the country's informatization status can be viewed from a multi-faceted perspective.

Analyses of informatization status have also been included in the Paper as related to under or less developed countries in informatization such as Mexico, Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates, not to mention some of the world's leading countries in the area in question. Those countries showing the underdevelopment still have a lower level of informatization represented in various indexes. Nevertheless, their will to implement informatization is strong, which indicates a high potential for IT growth and development.

National Information White Paper 2007 includes a special edition for the Web 2.0 phenomenon that has been attracting much attention as the new Internet paradigm, listing analyses of the major phenomena and characteristics such as the Long Tail theory, UCC production and use where consumers become producers, and the new media paradigm that allows for citizen participation.

As described above, the National Information White Paper, since its first publication in 1993, has been providing a comprehensive and objective overview as well as analysis of Korean society's informatization status presenting an overall perspective of such implementation, and has been utilized as the most fundamental material to date in identifying and understanding the nation's informatization status for informatization-related experts and the general public.

The National Information White Paper is distributed free of charge to public organizations and institutions including government agencies, national, public and municipal libraries, and colleges and universities(approx. 1,000 copies) as well as sold commercially in major book stores across the nation for the convenience of ordinary citizens(fixed price: 30,000 KRW). All of the full texts of the Paper editions that have been released to date are prepared both in PDF and e-Book to be available on the National Information Society Agency's web site(www.nia.or.kr). The full text of Information White Paper 2007 will also be available on the web site in August. In addition, an English version of the Paper is due for release and distribution in October to provide overseas readers with the information on the country's informatization status.