A study on the changes in the ICT industry after the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to explore the changes in the ICT and global value chains (GVCs) after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study compared the difference between Korea’ domestic ICT industries, ICT imports and ICT exports before and after the COVID-19 outbreak by using trade data of ICT products and national economic indicators, and presents growth strategy for the ICT industry in the post-COVID 19 era. For this purpose, this study determined the causalities between Korea's imports/exports of ICT products and composite Indexes before and after COVID-19, and derived implications in the ICT industry environment after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

Analysis results showed the following changes in Korea's ICT industry in the post-COVID-19 world. (1) Non-face-to-face and contact-free technologies related sectors in the ICT industry, such as the semiconductor sector, have grown exponentially; (2) as the USA has grown as the new key player, the causal relationship with China, a key player of the GVC in the pre-COVID-19 era, disappeared; and (3) the GVC of the ICT industry is not a rigid one-way vertical structure, but is changing to a flexible structure influenced by cooperation and competition between countries.

Originality/value

The results indicate that it is essential to constantly develop new ICT sectors that make use of non-face-to-face and contact-free technologies in the post-COVID-19 era, and the main strategies in response to the changed GVC would be taking the initiative by securing source technologies and expanding through cooperation with other GVCs and resource sharing.

Citation

Yang, C.-G. (2023), "A study on the changes in the ICT industry after the COVID-19 pandemic", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 123 No. 1, pp. 64-78. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-03-2022-0165