ACADEMIA

The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux, today announced that Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) will participate in the Lab's Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) and Data Center Linux (DCL) working groups as OSDL's first Korean member. ETRI is at the forefront of Linux innovation and adoption in Asia, one of the world's hotspots for open source software activity. In April of 2004, the governments of Korea, Japan, and China agreed to cooperate on the promotion of Linux as an alternative to currently used operating systems and formed the Open Source Software (OSS) Promotion Forum. ETRI is a key part of this unique cooperation among Asian economic competitors and is actively developing and promoting Linux in the Korean market. "ETRI is committed to the development of Linux technologies for business and consumers in Korea and around the world," said Sung In Jung, team leader of ETRI. "We're looking forward to working with our peers in the OSDL Carrier Grade Linux working group and contributing our 25 years of experience in computer and telecommunications systems research to advancing Linux." According to technology analyst firm IDC, Linux software revenue in the Asian market outside of Japan will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 82.5 percent between 2004 and 2008, with revenue leaping 78.6 percent in 2005 alone. IDC forecasts overall telecommunications service revenue for the region to grow by 11 percent in 2005 to US$163 billion. "There is tremendous enthusiasm around Linux among Korean government agencies and within many Korean industry sectors," said Masanobu Hirano, OSDL's director of Asia. "OSDL is committed to working with the private and public sector in Korea to further accelerate the adoption of Linux. We are delighted that one of the country's top technology groups is joining OSDL as our first member in Korea." In a sign of the Korean government's commitment to Linux, the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency announced in January of 2004 that it would begin switching governmental projects over to Linux and open source software.