Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Leading edge…also concerning problems of the digital society


In connection with yesterday’s posting I have found another interesting article in the New York Times. “In Korea, a boot camp cure for web obsession”, shows another example for my statement yesterday that Korea is leading in facing the challenges of digital society.
This article describes boot camp like institutions for young people who are addicted to the internet. I do not want to give a summary of the article but instead give you some interesting excerpts.

“South Korea boasts of being the most wired nation on earth. In fact, perhaps no other country has so fully embraced the Internet.”
“Compulsive Internet use has been identified as a mental health issue in other countries, including the United States. However, it may be a particularly acute problem in South Korea because of the country’s nearly universal Internet access.”
““Korea has been most aggressive in embracing the Internet,” said Koh Young-sam, head of the government-run Internet Addiction Counseling Center. “Now we have to lead in dealing with its consequences.”
“Korea is on the leading edge,” Dr. Block said. “They are ahead in defining and researching the problem, and recognize as a society that they have a major issue.”

I can only repeat myself: Korea is not only the place to look for business opportunities in the TMT sector but also if you are interested which challenges arise for the digital society and how they can be tackled.

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