The Role of the Citizen in the Korean Ubiquitous Society Vision Jukka Jouhki Department of History and Ethnology University of Jyväskylä [email protected]
Jan 15, 2015
The Role of
the Citizen
in the Korean
Ubiquitous Society Vision
Jukka Jouhki
Department of History and Ethnology
University of Jyväskylä
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Why u-Society? Why Korea?
UN on IT : IT is affecting foundations of economic,
social and cultural life around the world
even the meaning of space and time are changinggreater income, profits, knowledge and civilization
South Korea one of the leading IT societies in the world
non-Western societies less researched/discussed
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Population
Korea’s heart is Seoul– Total population 49
M, Seoul area 24.5 M– Population density
per km2 = Korea 491, Japan 337, India 328, Finland 15, SEOUL 17219
ABOUT KOREA
Unique languageCulturally isolated until the turn of 20th century
Long history of being ruled by the big brothers of Japan and China
homogenous people
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Sociocultural Context
Societal values
ABOUT KOREA
Confucian, collective, hierarchical
Patriarchy, upholding harmony, nationalist
competition, saving face
Strong ingroup vs. outgroup, significance of contacts/network, loyalty
a young democracy
Cronyist ties: taking care vs. corruption
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On a Global Scale
• 1st in – broadband access per capita
(Point Topic)– e-government (Brown U.)– scientific literacy (OECD) – also in total working hours
(OECD)
• 2nd in – annual export growth – GDP growth (OECD)– granted international patents
(WIPO)
• 3rd in – IT industry competitiveness
(EIU)
• 5th in – R&D spending (WB) – Technological Achievement
(UN)
• 6th in – number of PCs (ITU)
• 13th in – nominal GDP
• BUT: – Quality of life (30th)– Economic freedom (36th) – GDP per capita (34th)
ABOUT KOREA
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Definition & ApplicationsMark Weiser: third wave of computing, calm technology
Pervasive
Ambient
RFID
SensorsMobile
Wireless• The New new media environment
UBI-QUITOUS?
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Internet
Korean Internet is Korean
KOREAN NEW MEDIA
High population density easy internet infrastructure
Superstructure supports and encourages the infrastructure
Techno-nationalism
critical mass of Korean users
•Also excessive usage
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• Strong online game culture – ”PC Bangs” making Internet
really social
KOREAN NEW MEDIA
The net of young Koreans: MMORPGs and movies
• WiBro (cf. mobile WiMax), – Wireless broadband gives
Koreans wlan/wifi on the move
– Since 2006– Speed over 100 Mbps
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Mobile communication culture
The business relatively protected
KOREAN NEW MEDIA
The mobile phone culturecolorful and ubiquitous
Mobile TV working seamlessly
Huge mobile game culture
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– The young have a totally different attitude compared to the older Koreans
• A device to renew collectivity
KOREAN NEW MEDIA
A perfect tool to reinforce Neo-Confucian collective network
Ubiquitous and 24/7 contact potential to family and friends
Strict and refined cell phone etiquette
A cybernetic extension of body, a wormhole to media world and peer group
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A modern fetish
Haptic-visual qualities emphasized
E.g. ringtones reflect collectivity (not
individualism)
E.g. the amount of text messages sent per day
correlates with amount of happiness.
KOREAN NEW MEDIA (has to feel and look pleasurable)
E.g. fear of loosing contact
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Goal: u-Korea
• Ubiquitous society ”around the corner” but is Korea already around the corner?
Smart living-room in Ubiquitous Dream Hall exhibition
Ever-2, a female android ”capable of expressing human emotions”
U-KOREA VISION
The vision of the Big Tech and Gov’t isu-Korea where every citizen can use digital networks anytime, anywhere and all the time
Key emphases on smart home, robotics, mobile phones, e-learning, e-government
Also traveling, shopping, surveillance
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The Vision
• Pervasive computing, everywhere, anytime• Ministry of Information and Communication on u-
society:– just around the corner, and will change everything– an environment in which anyone can use a computer
and network in a convenient, safe manner anytime, anywhere with anyone
– the ubiquitous city truly never sleeps– filled with human warmth
U-KOREA VISION
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ApplicationsU-KOREA VISION
u-Office
translator programs
RFIDremote work
u-schoolPDAs ”Cyber Home
Learning System”
sensors
u-Home
shopping
robotics
entertainment
teaching
industry
military
domestic service
smart kitchen
smart deliveryE-government
sensors
sensors
sensors
automatic bureaucracy
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The Ubiquitous Dream Hall (UDH) in Seoulexhibition of u-Korea
sections: public, home, office
a crystallization of Korean ubiquitous society development & vision
How is u-Korea justified?the vision has to be ”sold”
visual and textual rhetoric
A Crystallizing CaseU-KOREA VISION
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Today “modern men find themselves at a loss in the middle of the urban desert”
BUTIn u-Korea
”More time with my family. I love my family. Growing with my company. I take pride in my job. Giving and sharing with each other. I build a[n] emotional ubiquitous world.”
your home ”recognizes and sympathizes with you,” ”will be a part of your family” and “respond to your every touch just as a part of your family”
the government will “bring a digital world full of human emotions within our reach”
The planned technologies “enable a warmer & richer life”
U-KOREA VISION
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Tomorrow’s city…
helps you find “the fastest route cutting through urban congestion”
has “advertisements following your every move” adding “vibrancy and dynamism to urban landscape”
It’s TOTAL as…
there will be “a complete makeover of everyday life”
the “ubiquitous technology brightens our future”
Korea is “at the forefront of a new paradigm shift that will change the way of life completely”
it’s the “Ubiquitous Revolution”
U-KOREA VISION
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The Rhetoric Emphasizes…
The TOTALITY
U-KOREA VALUES
(Nuclear) family values
more time with family
smart & emotional home as part of family
Work ethic
efficient work
enjoyable labor
Ecological values
no pollution
”placid cityscape”
Consumerist valueseasy transport ”through urban congestion” shoppingubiquitous advertisement
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The Rhetoric Utilizes…
U-KOREA VALUES
Romantic technophilia
Anthropomorphization
emotionalizationof technology
BUT also: Darwinist economical values, technonationalism
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The Role of the Citizen?
Emotional-u bringing additional value to the citizens?
u-Korea: the human as a happy prisoner of the system or practicing positive anarchy through technology?
U-CITIZEN
u-Korea wants technology be part of the family
Is it ground-breaking innovation or smart marketing?
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U-CITIZEN
technology enhancing collectivity towards more uniform culture?
cyborgization of humans?
surveillance society
DIGITAL DIVIDE, DIGERATI
Robot-Human interaction
automatic tracking, evaluating, transferring information, control
ubiquitous urbanity
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u-Korea has no intimacy or ethical issues – or has it?
U-KOREA VALUES
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Want to know more?UBIQUITOUS (AND INFORMATION) SOCIETY IN GENERAL• Airaksinen, Timo, 2006. Ihmiskoneen tulevaisuus. WSOY, Helsinki.• Martikainen, Petri and Mäntylä, Martti, (eds.) 2006. Towards Ubiquitous Network Society. Helsinki Institute for
Information Technology, Helsinki.• Martin, Bill, 2005. Information Society Revisited: From Vision to Reality. Journal of Information Science, Vol. 31,
No. 1, pp. 4-12.• Mannermaa, Mika, 2007. Democracy in the Turmoil of the Future. Parliament of Finland, Helsinki.• Hall, David,1980. Irony and Anarchy: Technology and the Utopian Sensibility. In Cathleen Woodward (ed.) 1980:
The• Myths of Information: Technology and Post-industrial Culture. Routledge & Kegan-Paul: London. 125-136• Weiser, Mark, 1991. The computer for the 21st Century. Scientific American, Vol. 265, No. 3, pp. 94-104.• Bell, Genevieve & Dorish, Paul 2007. Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Notes on Ubiquitous Computing’s Dominant
Vision. Personal Ubiquitous Computing, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 133-143.U-KOREA• Korea.Net, http://www.korea.net, a special report on u-Korea• Ubiquitous Network Societies: The Case of Republic of Korea, 2005. International Telecommunication Union,
Geneva.• Webb, Molly, 2007. South Korea. Mass Innovation Comes of Age. Demos, London.• Yoon, Kyong-Won, 2006. The Making of Neo-Confucian Cyberkids: Representations of Young Mobile Phone
Users in South Korea. New Media & Society, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 753-771.• Jouhki, Jukka 2008: The Emotional Technology of Tomorrow. The Visual and Textual Rhetoric Promoting a
Ubiquitous Technology Society in Korea. IADIS Multiconference on Computer Science and Information Systems, Amsterdam, pp. 173-180.
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Thank you
&
Hug a robot today!