A Study on a Diffusion Mechanism for the Knowledge-based Service Industry in Later-comer Countries: The Case of ASYCUDA

지식집약서비스산업의 저개발국 확산 메커니즘 연구

Recently, a wide variety of research on the knowledge-based industries, which are considered a key area of social science research, has been conducted. In this light, this study examines a case of knowledge diffusion taken from the IT service field. The IT service industry has been considered difficult to diffuse due to its unique technological regimes and sophisticated market demand. In particular, the established public service systems have limited markets and encompass national characteristics, thereby making their international diffusion difficult. However, despite these limitations, the automated customs system ASYCUDA has been distributed successfully and is now operating in about 100 countries, making the case very unusual. Using various industrial innovation models, and an analysis of lead markets, with regard to ASYCUDA, this research examines patterns of technological learning activities by actors, characteristics of the lead markets, and paths of technology transfer. The findings indicate that when active technology providers attempt to streamline and standardize the technology to make it suitable for the characteristics of the initial technology application areas(lead markets), this helps to diffuse the technology to passive recipients and the surrounding nations. The findings also confirm that south-south cooperation in the acquired technologies was of considerable help in sharing knowledge among the passive technology recipients, and that the active technology providers' programmed, well-organized technology assistance was a key driving force behind technology transfer and diffusion between the surrounding nations.