[Column] Quantum Computing Age to Come ... Big Blue IBM Seeking Opportunities for a New Leap

"I'm not happy with all the analyses that go with just the classical theory, because nature isn't classical, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical..." At 'Physics of Computation Conference' in 1981, a physicist Richard P. Feynman first delivered the message that quantum computing is needed. Since then, after several decades of steady development and research, we are now in the process of defining quantum computing and developing algorithms. So, IT companies such as Microsoft, Google and IBM are developing a 50-qubit quantum computer and are working hard on research. When quantum computing is applied to various fields in the future, a number of things that the existing computers could not do will become possible. Existing computers computed and processed information using a binary system of 'Bit' using 0 or 1. Quantum computers, however, use the principles of quantum physics, also called quantum mechanics. They use 'Qubit (a.k.a Quantum Bit)' which allows 'superstition' state of 0 and 1, such as 00, 01, 10, and 11. Since they exist in an 'entangled' state, once a change occurs in one qubit, the other entangled qubit can quickly process it. In this way, as quantum computers can simultaneously exist in multiple states and act on all the states, it becomes possible to do numerous calculations separately at the same time with only one processor. Today, there are about 3 billion transistors in smartphones. To double the performance of this smartphone, about 6 billion transistors will be needed. On the other hand, the performance of quantum computers can be expressed as 'n square(s) of 2' with n qubit(s) because of the property of 'superstition' state. For example, if you want to double the performance of a device that has 16 qubits, you only need to add 1 qubit. Quantum computing is incomparably faster than computers using 0 and 1 bits. It will be possible to calculate the formula that humans calculate for hundreds of years within a few seconds. ▲ IBM has made it possible for anyone to experience Quantum Computing through IBM Q. (Image source: www.research.ibm.com/ibm-q) IBM has spent the past 100 years cultivating the foundations of IT and seeding it, and now it is changed to a completely different shape. Vacuum tubes, switches, punched cards, quantum computers and AI all exist in the history of IBM. Moreover, cutting out the history of x86 hardware that it had started and the shift from massive hardware- to technology-centered is also a specialness of IBM's history. Therefore, its history and journeys have a special meaning and need to be watched with interest. IBM pointed out three areas as the possible application areas for quantum computing in the future. First, it is expected to be a field of Chemistry including material design, oil and gas, and drug discovery. In fact, IBM published the results of the simulation using quantum algorithms with chemistry in September 2017 in the international science journal, Nature. The second area is predicted to be Artifical Intelligence (AI), which is a key technology of the 4th industrial revolution, including classification, machine learning, and linear algebra. Lastly, the quantum computing will take effect in a field of Financial Services, especially in the sectors of portfolio optimization, scenario analysis and pricing. Quantum computing's development phases include 'Quantum Foundations', which defines the basics of everything in quantum computing, 'Quantum Ready', which can develop algorithms and expand the sizes. And finally, 'Quantum Advantage' is a phase to commercialization and application to reality with quantum computing. Currently, IBM and also other IT companies researching quantum computing are at just beyond the middle of the 'Quantum Ready' phase. In fact, IBM expects quantum computing to be the mainstream in the next five years, and by 2020 it will be at the phase of 'Quantum Advantage'. In preparation for 'Quantum Ready' phase, IBM launched the Quantum Computing Platform called IBM Q Experience in 2017, making it accessible to anyone including students and researchers. At first, only 5 qubits were available, but now, up to 16 qubits are available. Released with IBM Q Experience, the Quantum Information Science Kit (QISKit) is an open source quantum computing system for developers to help make today's quantum development process and research more active. IBM is working on a 100-qubit quantum computer with the goal of developing it by 2020. The 100-qubit quantum computer has the ability to simulate all the atoms in the universe. ▲ The development of quantum computing will reduce this entire data center to just a few racks. (Image source: Samsung SDS) The performance improvements of existing transistor-based computer systems so far are approaching a certain physical limitation. Semiconductor processes are already nearing the level of physically close to the size of electrons, and the interest in what will happen to the next generation of silicon-based semiconductors is growing. Accordingly, the quantum computing has long been anticipated as an innovative way to go beyond "physical barriers." Given the impacts of quantum computing on us, it is likely to lead the changes beyond the cloud than what we see in the near future for various practical issues. This may be because the operation conditions of the initial system will be as tricky as a superconductor. On top of that, quantum computing is evaluated as a "double-edged sword". This is because it is expected to have the power to cause the collapse of the existing encryption system as well as the change in both the existing infrastructure and service structure. In fact, in March 2017, the world's largest security conference, 'RSA 2017', discussed the threats and countermeasures of quantum computer's threats to the existing encryption technology. Especially, the National Security Agency (NSA) has predicted that quantum computing technology could destroy the current code order since 2016. Canadian research institute 'Global Risk Institute' also claimed that it is higher than 50 percent that the current encryption system is collapsed due to quantum computers in 2031. For now, if quantum computing is commercialized and exploited, it is expected to pose a major threat to any industry based on IT technology. Worldwide web communications, Internet banking, and even cryptocurrency will be exposed to the crisis, and it will be time to change all the systems and structures. With these peculiarities in mind, quantum computing researchers will not only focus on the development of quantum computers but will also work in a direction of enhancing the quality of life after its commercialization. In other words, they should be focused on harmoniousness with other industries. That will be a major premise of 'Quantum Computing' for humans.

Google Play Audiobook Korea Release Demonstration Session

On January 24, 2018, Google held ‘Google Play Audiobook Korea Release Demonstration Session‘ in its office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The session was held to announce the outline and characteristics of Google Play's audiobook service, which was released on January 24th in Korea time, with Jae-hui Kwon, manager of Google Play Global Product Partnership Team, and Oh-jun Kwon, leader of Contents Business at Audiensori. According to the announcement, Google unveiled the Google Play Audiobook service, which can be enjoyed in the Google Playbook app. The service was first launched in 45 countries, including Korea, and supports a total of nine languages including Korean. ▲ The demonstration session of Audiobook service Korea release was held. ▲ Korea is included among the first-releasing 45 countries, and Korean is supported. The Google Play Audiobook service is a sound book service that allows you to listen to the contents of a book, and provides various categories of audiobooks and bestsellers based on the global library provided by publishers worldwide through Google Play Books. Through this service, domestic users can enjoy books produced in Korea as well as overseas books as audio books, and some of overseas books are provided free of charge. In particular, Google Play Audiobook service utilizes machine learning technology to automatically generate and provide a detailed table of contents that facilitates navigation underneath the main table of contents. Machine learning technology divides the text of an eBook and the words of an audiobook into syntactic units and automatically generates a detailed table of contents considering the flow of natural contents and a table of contents by detailed table of contents. By applying an individual book purchasing model, users can purchase an audiobook that they want at a 10% discount without any burden of subscription service. In addition, they can listen to a part of the audiobook through free pre-listening before purchasing and decide to make a purchase, and the purchased book is stored in the Google Playbook app, so users can easily check the list of purchased books. Google Play Audiobook service can be used on a variety of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops using platforms such as Android, iOS, and Chrome Web. It also provides functions that are optimized for user’s lifestyle such as sleep timer settings, playback speed settings, skip forward button, listening to each table of contents, checking remaining time, background playback, and offline playback. In addition, through interworking with Google Assistant, which is Google’s artificial intelligence voice secretary system, a number of ‘hands-free’ functions such as voice commands will be provided to Google Play Audiobook service in sequence. Jae-hui Kwon, who introduced Google Play Audiobook service, said, ”Google Play, which has provided a variety of digital content such as games, movies, and books, is launching an audiobook service in the book sector followed by e-book. In particular, this is an innovative service with machine learning that users can use more conveniently in daily life. As interests and demands for audiobooks grow, we will provide richer audiobook contents.” ▲ The Google Play Books app lets you use the Google Play Audiobook service. ▲ It automatically generates and provides a detailed table of contents under the basic table of contents using machine learning technology. After the introduction of Google Play Audiobook Service, the introduction of the features and usage of audiobooks was followed. The audiobook, which means a book listened by ear, is a content produced for users to read more happily. It is produced by a method in which a plurality of voice actors who fit the characters read directly without mixing the TTS, and live sound effects and background music are added. In the past, audiobooks were produced mainly for the blind, but now they are getting the spotlight as a new way of reading. As for the process of producing an audiobook, after selecting the works and proceeding with the script work, the recording is carried out in the state where the music and effects are prepared. After the editing process and quality verification, it is then provided to users in a way of distributing the finished data. For listening purposes of audiobooks, users answered that they mainly use the audiobook contents to enjoy their own contents or to take advantage of free time while moving. Self-development, poetry, essay, genre literature are ranked as preferred genres. Oh-jun Kwon, leader of Contents Business at Audiensori, who introduced about an audiobook, said, ”Audiobooks are gaining attention from people who prefer to use free time, as well as from voice actors and students, and the number of users is rapidly increasing. I look forward to expanding the basics of audiobook users through our partnership with Google Play, and Audiensori will try to provide better content.”

Epic Games Korea 'Fortnite' Media Showcase

Epic Games Korea, the Korean subsidiary of Epic Games, held a media showcase at Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the morning of 19th January, 2018. The event was organized to introduce features and service schedule of Epic Games' action building game 'Fortnite' in advance of domestic service with some officials of Epic Games Korea including Country Manager Sung-chul Park, Won-se Lee, in charge of domestic business, and Hee-uk Yoon, in charge of marketing, in attendance. Sung-chul Park, Country Manager of Epic Games Korea said, “After Epic Games Korea launched its Korean subsidiary in 2009 for the Unreal Engine business, we feel new since it is the first time to provide service of both the game and engine, which are the main businesses of Epic Games, in Korea through releasing ‘Fortnite’. In order to enable Korean gamers to enjoy games in an optimal environment, we made our best effort to the domestic service of ‘Fortnite’ through Korean localization, real-time global one build contents, and various Korean exclusive benefits. In addition, as we have introduced the game to be rated for over 12 years old so that teenage gamers can also enjoy a Battle Royal game, I would like to ask you a lot of attention to the service of ‘Fortnite’ in Korea.” ▲ Epic Games Korea's "Fortnite" media showcase was held. ▲ Sung-chul Park, Country Manager of Epic Games Korea said, “We made our best effort to the domestic service of ‘Fortnite’. I would like to ask you a lot of attention to the service of ‘Fortnite’ in Korea.” According to the announcement, 'Fortnite' is an Action-Building game that combines elements of battle, construction and action. Its biggest advantage is that users can enjoy creative new concept of battle play with unique skins and emotions over a normal shooting game that users simply shoot down enemies. Especially by dissolving easy play and in-depth game elements into the game, it has been loved by gamers from all over the world right from its release. In July 2017, 'Fortnite' was released ‘Save the World’, a new concept of action building system that four players cooperate with each other through role division into battle and construction as an early access version through Epic Game’s platform ‘Epic Games Launcher’. In September 2017, ‘Fortnite Battle Royal’, a PvP mode separate from ‘Save the World’ was released free of charge. Epic Games has recorded 10 million users in two weeks after launching the 'Fortnite Battle Royal' mode, followed by 20 million users in 72 days, 40 million users in 100 days, and 1.75 million concurrent connected users (CCU). With more than 2 million CCU, it has been recorded as one of the fastest growing games. ▲ In 100 days, it recorded 40 million users and 1.75 million CCU. Regarding the service of 'Fortnite', Epic Games implemented a complete 'Global One Build' policy that simultaneously releases the same content all over the world. Also, it stated that it will never introduce a business model that would impair the game’s fairness such as 'Pay-to-Win' items. It made it clear that it will respond strongly to illegal users such as cheat program users. In addition, Epic Games will continue to provide fresh and new pleasure through fast content updates. It will focus on high quality localization that is more readable than English version and has familiar fonts for Korean users to continue to develop the game. Epic Games has produced the first CF of 'Fortnite' in Korea, produced by Jung-hoon Park, a film director of the movie ‘The Villainess’, and Actor Sang-hoon Jung. It also plans to launch special events for domestic gamers such as releasing a limited edition T-shirt made by designer brand ‘Super Rocket Punch’, and providing Battle Pass to all the pre-orderers who play the game within two weeks after the launch. ▲ Various events for Korean users are prepared. ▲ Epic Games has produced the first CF of 'Fortnite' in Korea, produced by Jung-hoon Park, a film director of the movie ‘The Villainess’, and Actor Sang-hoon Jung. Sung-chul Park, Country Manager of Epic Games Korea, who came back on stage after the presentation of all the information about 'Fortnite', announced that Korea service of 'Fortnite' will start from January 23. Meanwhile, Epic Game’s Game Developer Tim Sweeney sent a video message. “The most important thing to consider when we make a game is 'fun', so we create a game that we want to play. We took six years to develop the game that users can enjoy tense fast-action as well as building construction with their friends, and the outcome is 'Fortnite'. It is the first time for Epic Games to provide service in Korea in its history of 27 years, so it is our new experience. And, it is expected that Korean users will be ranked first in ‘Fortnite’. Please enjoy the game.” ▲ Tim Sweeney said, “It is expected that Korean users will be ranked first in ‘Fortnite’.”

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  Gourmet trip in Asia - watching on EBS Documentary

  Rice Noddles, Nasigoreng, Qingdao beer… They might be the first foods that come to your mind typical Asian foods. New and unusual food often presents us with a feast of unique fancy flavors you haven’t experienced before. Why don’t you join in an Asian gourmet trip with Baek Jong-won, the hand of Midas in the Korean foodservice industry, and melt into alleys of Hanoi, Jakarta and Qingdao!? [Part 1 – Gourmet trip in Hanoi] The first destination of Baek Jong-won’s gourmet trip is Vietnam. Vietnam has many famous foods such as Rice Noodle - Pho -, coffee, Buncha, and Banmi, among which, now, we will find out about Banmi. Banmi is a Vietnamese sandwich made of baguette with fillings. It is so popular that <Lonely Planet> has picked Banmi as one of the ‘World’s Street Food Best 10’. You can easily get Banmi in street vendors and small stores. Vietnamese love Banmi for its low cost as well as for its good taste. How has Banmi, the Vietnamese food, been made of baguette? The history of Banmi dates back to the period of French colonial. From 1883 to 1945, Vietnam was under the rule of France, which made French confectionery, including baguettes, be naturally introduced to Vietnam. However, there is a difference in Vietnamese baguette from French one., which is that the Vietnameset baguette is made with rice flour. So, unlike hard and rough French baguettes, the Vietnamese ones’ are crispy outside and chewy inside. It is Banmi that the Vietnamese baguette is stuffed with Vietnamese traditional fillings. "Is this all made of pork?" - "This is a ham made of pork, beef, and rabbit" "It’s so unique to put pâté in a baguette. This is a modified French dish, which seems to be evolved in a good way" Now let’s take a look at the fillings of Banmi. Banmi is usually filled with ham made of various meats such as pork, beef, rabbit, etc. coriander, vegetable, and pâté. Pâté is also a French food that a mixture of ground meat and vegetables is baked. Not only bread, the outside of Banmi, but also fillings, the inside of it, were influenced by French cuisine. In <The World Travelogue, Atlas>, Baek said that the taste of Banmi is similar to that of Korean food ‘Gimbap’. He stressed that the outer part of Banmi is really delicious though the inner fillings are also great. If you want to enjoy the best taste with your poor pocket, Banmi, the Vietnamese dish, ismay be the best choice for you. [Part 2 – Gourmet trip in Jakarta] Baek went on a second trip to Jakarta, Indonesia to find out why Indonesian food is so much loved by people around the world. Indonesia is a country with an old history of herb and spices so far as to pass them on to the Middle East and Europe in old times. The World Travelogue, Atlas Gourmet Trip in Asia PART 2 Exploration into Food of Jakarta If you go to Indonesia, you should visit the restaurant named ‘Padang Restaurant’, which is located in Padang. That i's because you can taste 'Rendang,' which took first place in ‘the 50 Most Delicious Foods in the World’, announced by CNN. Padang Restaurant serves all the food in the restaurant including 'Rendang'. However, you don't have to eat all of the food, but just pick up the dishes that suits your taste and pay the price of only the dishes you touched. This is a very unique way as a restaurant. "This is my favorite menu at this Padang Restaurant, which is called ‘Rendang’" 'Rendang' is a stewed food with beef in coconut milk. Baek said that ‘Rendang’ is a little sweeter and tenderer than Korean Braised Short Ribs - Galbi-jjim - after having tasted it. The difference in texture is because Korean Galbi-jjim is made boiled with water, while 'Rengdang' is with coconut milk. He, eating 'Rendang', also wondered if Korean Galbi-jjim could captivate the taste buds of people around the world if using milk instead of water making it tenderer. It is said that ‘To come to know a new taste is to meet a new world.’ Why don't you meet another world through exploring food cultures in Jakarta, Indonesia, the region of distinctive flavors? [Part 3 – Gourmet trip in Qingdao] As the saying ‘Even the Chinese can’t try all Chinese foods before they die’ represents, Chinese delicacies are no less rich than its ancient history. The last destination is ‘Qingdao’, representative region for Shandong cuisine which best suit Korean palate. Qingdao, which used to be a small fishing village, has rapidly developed into the fourth largest port city in China. However, we can still find some regions beyond the reach of development. The “Licun Market” is one example. Qingdao is really famous for short-neck clams as much as there is even the saying ‘Eat short-neck clams and drink Qingtao beer’. People here may regard eating them as the greatest happiness. You can enjoy fabulous plates of fried clams at street stalls in Licun Market. Street cooks of the stalls make charcoal grilled dishes on the spot by stir-frying ingredients customers bought on the Licun Market. Although the price is really cheap 5 yuan, which is not more than 1,000 won, a plate, the store is not with a high-end kitchen but serves the dishes properly cooked with Chinese traditional recipe. The charcoal grilled pork and fried pork kidney taste light and great without much seasoning added except salt and pepper. Baek said if you Ttriedy Qingdao’s famous Stir-Fried Spicy Clams - Lachao Gala – dipped in vinegar, you would get nothing to envy in the world. [Conclusion] Simple dishes on the street could be more tasty and attractive than a fancy meal. Such foods, without outstanding technique, provide warm consolation to someone who is tired of and distressed with everyday life. It may be for humanity inside them that unfamiliar exotic Asian street foods come to us in a familiar way. Although Asian gourmet trip has finished with Qingdao, simple but strong flavors and sincerity of the three Asian countries’ foods will always be supportive around us.

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  [OID Korea 2018] OpenInfra Days Korea 2018 Press Conference

  OpenInfra Days Korea 2018, co-hosted by OpenStack Foundation, OpenStack Korea User Group and Cloud Native Computing & K8S Korea, will be held on June 28-29 at COEX in Gangnam- gu, Seoul. This event was developed from 'OpenStack Day Korea' as a part of efforts to promote various open infrastructure technologies and to revitalize related ecosystem. The event will be held under the theme of "Open Infrastructure: OpenStack, Containers, and Cloud Native Computing”, and it will cover the ecosystem of open infrastructure technology created by combining openStack and cloud native computing technologies such as Kubernetes and Container. The OpenStack Foundation, as well as global open source foundations such as Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will participate in the event, and technical presentations, exhibition booths, and workshops will be held under the sponsorships of Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, NetApp, manTech, and Open Source Consulting. At the press conference of OpenInfra Days Korea 2018, Jonathan Bryce Executive Director, Mark Collier COO, Lauren Sell Vice President of Marketing & Community Services, and lan Y. Choi, President of OpenStack Korea User Group, attended. OpenStack Foundation pointed out AI-related infrastructure environment as an area where the use of OpenStack-based infrastructure begins in earnest. Also, it emphasized that its ultimate goal is to solve many problems in the open source world by making users and technology companies working together. ▲ The press conference was attended by key executives of OpenStack Foundation and Korea User Group representatives Q ) The vGPU support in 'Nova' was introduced, and there were various restrictions on the configuration of the vGPU environment up to now. Does vGPU support in Nova also have these kinds of restrictions? (Acrofan) vGPU is a fairly new concept. Within a GPU, there are hundreds or thousands of small processors, components, and logic gates, and we have to deal with them as a piece of hardware. NVIDIA and Intel are making all of these components possible to virtualize within the GPU. The chip manufacturer's support will be needed to enable the use of vGPUs, and its restrictions will be similar to other environments. On the other hand, there is a limited number of chips available for virtualization. The "Cyborg" project in OpenStack uses a GPU or FPGA as an accelerator without virtualizing the chip, creating an accelerator inventory in the cloud and providing it to users or several tenants. If vGPUs and non-virtualized accelerators are used in the cloud at the same time, it is possible to build an infrastructure with powerful processing performance. Q ) In the case of Kata Containers, virtualization is used for container isolation. In general, the container has an advantage of high efficiency by sharing the kernels. However, it seems that using virtualization might reduce efficiency. What is the reason of combining virtualization with container technology, and what additional security benefits can be gained? (Acrofan) Container technology uses C-groups or namespaces to isolate kernel components. Therefore, no matter what tasks are performed in the container, the same kernel must be used, and the CPU, storage, and network will all run in the same location. In this case, it is inevitable to share with other containers and workloads, and the overhead becomes low, while isolation is not sufficient. Therefore, in order to secure the system configuration, it was necessary to configure it in many layers. In case of large public cloud services, they operated users’ containers on each user’s VM for sufficient isolation, which is a less efficient method. For Kata Containers, it uses a much smaller VM. The size of the VM is MBs, not GBs, and it can be started within 100ms, not minutes. It has small kernel size, small overall size, excellent isolation and security, and less overhead than a complete virtual machine. Another advantage is that it is compatible with existing container tools. It is a technology that runs containers at the lowest level of container technology and can be applied as a plugin to container tools such as Docker or Kubernetes. It has the advantage of using existing container tools and applications as they are. The Kata Containers simply adds an option to run the code at that level. Q ) OpenStack has been expanding from cloud to telecommunication and IoT infrastructure. What are the areas that are expected to expand in the future, and what are the projects that are closely related to this? (Acrofan) The “AirShip” project can be applied to various use cases, but in particular, it will be a big help in the edge area. It automates the software stack that runs on the edge and makes it reusable. Also, StarlingX is a more edge-specific project. Both projects are in early stages, but they are likely to be more interesting next year as they mature and the support increases. Since then, there are examples of using OpenStack environment for machine learning and AI. Hardware support, such as a GPU or FPGA, is intended to support this use case. As workloads from data analysis and others increase, new technologies and the related projects will be developed in the future. On the security side, the technology stack, including virtualization, seems to have a lot of room to improve its security or performance. Kata Containers is a technology that enhances security while reducing the weight of containers. Ultimately, the goal is for users and technology companies to work together to solve many problems in the open source world. ▲ The diversification aspect of the cloud has also been an important reason for the change in the strategy of OpenStack Foundation. Q ) What is the exact meaning of "cloud diversification"? Currently, users want to use a variety of technologies in the cloud. Using a variety of architectures will be more beneficial in handling workloads in AI, machine learning, and containers. Different types of chips and storage hardware, as well as a variety of hardware and software will be available. From this perspective, cloud and data center-related technologies are diversifying. In terms of edge computing, the concept of the cloud is also changing. There is a demand to utilize the cloud on the edge side, and there is also a desire to diversify the cloud. Q ) 'Open infrastructure' could be applied to containers and CI/CDs in addition to the cloud. What meaning does 'Zuul' have in an 'open infrastructure'? Infrastructure is automated and applications running in the cloud are changing, and the driving force behind automation and change is that people want to improve, test, and integrate software and continue to deploy software on the cloud. 'Zuul' allows users to develop software that can run on an open infrastructure as open tools. It is a cloud service that allows you to submit code from any cloud hosted server and whichever community, city or country you are in, and automate testing in the cloud. I think this is well suited to the kind of infrastructure we wanted. On CI/CD, it was previously possible to implement immediate compilation and testing after committing codes when development is done using automation build method through Jenkins and others. have. However, in some cases, such as in code reviews, automation builds do not work well. In the case of the foundation, the Infrastructure Team created ‘Zuul’ to solve these problems, and the foundation's document site is managed by it. I believe that open infrastructure can include not only technical areas, but also infrastructures actually used in development. 'Zuul' was originally developed by the community for the OpenStack project, but it has also attracted a lot of attention from outside projects and software departments. Moreover, there was a huge demand from the outside, so it was separated into an independent project naturally. In March, when version 3.0 was released, I think it was a good time to separate the project into an independent project. Version 3.0 also supports technologies that are not related to OpenStack, but considered important such as GitHub, etc. Q ) What do you think about the contributions of Korean communities and companies? The largest part of the contribution in Korea is the integration of the container into OpenStack. Helm and Kolla are tools designed to facilitate the operation of the container in OpenStack. In this part, Korean companies such as SK Telecom are playing a leading role. By contributing to the integration of the container into OpenStack, the stability of OpenStack is consequentially improved and the upgrades become easier. In case of Samsung Electronics, it has an NFV-related solution. It puts lots of development and resources to the part that is managed after containerization on a Kolla basis, and solutionizes the part. SK Telecom is also participating in a project that allows OpenStack to operate on container platform by combining with container technology to easily build and operate OpenStack itself. In particular, SK Telecom not only simply progresses development internally but also contributes development part to the community and progresses co-development with AT&T, Intel, etc in the community. Korea plays an important role in the movement toward open infrastructure, and there are many booths and sponsors in this exhibition than in the past. OpenStack, Kubernetes, and container technologies are combined to provide people with the 'open infrastructure' solution they really want, and I think this shows how much interest Korea is showing in this move. We participate in various events around the world and meet various community members. Here, we found that each country has distinct characteristics. In case of Korea, local leaders are proactive and collaborative, and the introduction of new technology is fast and user-driven. On the other hand, in the past, there were not many cases where domestic companies were doing business extensively based on OpenStack. But this year, domestic companies are coming up to the position in which they can do business and sponsor with open infrastructure technology. As the scope expands to container technology, the opportunity seems to expand. And this might be the trend seen in sponsors and others of the event this year.

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  [OID Korea 2018] ‘OpenInfra Days Korea 2018’ Keynote Address

  OpenInfra Days Korea 2018, co-hosted by OpenStack Foundation, OpenStack Korea User Group and Cloud Native Computing & K8S Korea, will be held on June 28-29 at COEX in Gangnam- gu, Seoul. This event was developed from 'OpenStack Day Korea' as a part of efforts to promote various open infrastructure technologies and to revitalize related ecosystem. The event will be held under the theme of "Open Infrastructure: OpenStack, Containers, and Cloud Native Computing”, and it will cover the ecosystem of open infrastructure technology created by combining openStack and cloud native computing technologies such as Kubernetes and Container. The OpenStack Foundation, as well as global open source foundations such as Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will participate in the event, and technical presentations, exhibition booths, and workshops will be held under the sponsorships of Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, NetApp, manTech, and Open Source Consulting. At the event’s keynote address, Mark Collier, COO of OpenStack Foundation, pointed out ‘diversity’ as the future direction of the cloud, and from the perspective of the community beyond the infrastructure, he introduced that OpenStack is focused on introducing and integrating new technologies to solve the problems that users are facing. Also, in this integration strategy, he suggested four steps; finding common user cases, collaborate across communities, build the required new technology, and test everything. At the same time, the Foundation announced the long-term support version of OpenStack and the introduction of functions such as fast forward upgrade. ▲ Mark Collier, COO of OpenStack Foundation ▲ Now, the ‘long-term support version’ will be provided to OpenStack community version. Mark Collier COO and Lauren Sell, Vice President of Marketing and Community Services, gave keynote speech of OpenStack Foundation. First, the Foundation introduced some results of user survey that the infrastructure currently running in OpenStack environment is more than 10 million cores, and 71% of users who are using OpenStack are in production environment or preparing to deploy to production environment within the next 12 months. It is added that its market size is about $6.1 billion. Currently, OpenStack Foundation is running a variety of software projects centering on OpenStack. Recent noteworthy news in these projects was that vGPU support was provided in the virtual machine environment "Nova" and expected to be useful in a variety of use cases. In addition, the offline "Fast Forward Upgrade" allows users to upgrade from originating version to user desired final version for multiple releases at one time. Also, from the OpenStack "Ocata" version, a long-term support version, which provides 18 months of additional support, will be presented to meet the needs of users. OpenStack is currently used not only for data center and enterprise but also for scientific research and infrastructure operation such as traffic. Also, as it is used in various areas, the requirements for OpenStack, cloud, and infrastructure have changed a lot from the past. Today's infrastructure requires more, such as AI, containers, machine learning, and serverless technology, and these functions are used at the edge level beyond the data center. In addition to the existing standard architecture, architectures are being diversified into ARM-based environments, or environments that user GPUs and FPGA, and various open source solutions are used together. ▲ Lauren Sell, Vice President of Marketing and Community Services of OpenStack Foundation ▲ The four stages of integration for 'open infrastructure' flow like this. In the early days of the cloud, everything seemed to be merged on a standard hardware foundation, but now the movement of the cloud is becoming more "diversified" into various architectures. Moreover, various technologies such as AI and machine learning, which are used to solve various problems, are based on open source. However, the foundation emphasized that open source is not enough, and that it needs more than code to transform into an 'open infrastructure'. At this time, the foundation and the community are the best players in solving this problem through cooperation, and what the foundation has learned from communities in building an open infrastructure is that it is ‘human' that ultimately runs the infrastructure. To these changes, the foundation and the community are responding with strategic changes. In the past, the foundation thought about infrastructure from the perspective of an OpenStack project, but it is now thinking from the perspective of the 'community'. In the case of the community, it is featured by using various new technologies besides OpenStack in approaching the problem. As for difficulties in open source and infrastructure, "integration" is pointed out, and it is explained that new strategies for this part to help integrate technologies are discussed last year. Also, the “four steps for integration”, which includes identification of common use cases, collaboration, incorporation of new technologies, and the general testing, is defined. In identification of common use cases, various organizations have participated in introducing white papers relating to containers and edge clouds. After understanding the use cases, collaboration among communities is needed. There a lot of technologies to integrate, so the foundation stated that it can help with smooth integration by establishing relationships with various communities and identifying the deficiencies of each other through collaboration. The white paper on the edge cloud has worked with a variety of organizations, and it was helped by the Kubernetes upstream community. Moreover, the foundation provided resources to the Kubernetes community. New technologies and projects may be needed to overcome poor technology after collaboration. And the OpenStack Foundation has been leading the OpenStack project since 2012, and last year it had just launched a new main project besides the OpenStack project. The new projects are "Kata Containers" and "Zuul”. What’s more, it is announced that “StarlingX” and “Airship” projects will soon be available as well. ▲ “Kata Containers" and "Zuul" are presented as the new main projects of OpenStack Foundation. 'Kata Containers' is a virtualized container technology that can provide performance of containers, isolation of VMs and security. There were some voices that the existing container technology, which is isolated at the domain level while sharing kernels of the host, are insufficient in isolation. Hence, in some cases, the container platform was mounted on VM and the container was operated. Kata Containers is a technology that can take both the isolation of virtualization and the efficiency of container by utilizing virtualization technology into container isolation. It is an open standard project that combines ‘runv’ of Hyper.SH and Intel’s ‘Clear Container’ project. A new thing for this project is that Google, Microsoft, Huawei and others are taking the leadership, and it was evaluated positively in terms of collaboration opportunities with companies. The project that has been for six years, Zuul’s latest release is version 3, and it is said to be an important project in the foundation. Zuul is a technology developed for the community in OpenStack community, used for software development and testing, and it is one of the largest open source project CI systems. It is characterized by the ability to implement continuous test workflows in complex projects in distributed environments involving thousands of developers from hundreds of countries. Individual tasks are written in Ansible. They support Gerrit and GitHub and can be used outside of OpenStack. The startup project, StarlingX, is a project for edge computing and industrial IoT, with Wind River and Intel collaborating on code, and the mailing list is being actively operated. Mainly hosted by AT&T and participated in by SK Telecom in Korea, “Airship” project implements all pipelines for the installation and configuration of OpenStack environment as a container and a cloud native platform, centered on Kubernetes. When the server comes in and connects, it automates the whole process of deploying the container and configuring the functionality, and it enables to implement this process as a single declaration. Meanwhile, SK Telecom is also contributing code in related projects and applying it to the actual working environment. ▲ Lee Je-eung, President of The Linux Foundation Korea Next, Lee Je-eung, President of The Linux Foundation Korea, briefly introduced about Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). It was established in December 2015 as Linux Foundation-affiliated project foundation, and it coordinates policy and direction aspects of various cloud native projects centered on Kubernetes. There are currently 23 projects under management. In addition to the Kubernetes, which had already entered the mature stage, 16 projects in the upbringing stage and 6 projects in the early ‘sandbox’ stage are being managed. CNCF also supports activities such as transference to the next stage through testing. The move from virtualization to cloud-native is focused on optimizing resource utilization through orchestration among containers by breaking down applications into micro-services and packaging them into individual containers. In the process, CNCF provides political management to connect various related projects through open source-based collaboration in the move to cloud native. Meanwhile, it has more than 240 members involved in the cloud-native ecosystem. As the reasons for participation, CNCF cited neutral contribution and activation, provision of selection, validation and support of projects through Technical Advisory Committee, and opportunity to share much information through activation of intercourse between end user, service provider and communities. By joining as a member, you will have the opportunity to participate in various events and inform your products, and you can expect various support for tests and technology exchange. Moreover, the end-user community with more than 54 members is sharing their experience and accepting it so that projects could be carried out to the right direction. The advantages of CNCF’s membership participation include ‘technology leadership’ aspects such as reflecting opinions of direction and contributing of technology, reflecting opinions of technological development strategies that are important to the members' business, leading additional extension development, deciding direction and suggesting guidance on additional functions, etc. The membership participation also has benefits such as strengthening members’ roadmap through community participation and collaboration, cross-collaboration between enterprise and industry, and ensuring interoperability of members’ products or applications. The membership is divided into Platinum, Gold and Silver membership depending on the benefits and the size of the support, and it is proceeded with certification program, online training program and qualification examination system. ▲ lan Y. Choi, President of OpenStack Korea User Group lan Y. Choi, President of OpenStack Korea User Group, introduced the main activities of the Korean user group so far through 'Community Report'. OpenStack Korea User Group was established in February 2011 and is an official user group certified to OpenStack Foundation. In addition, the Korean user group is contributing to both upstream and downstream activities across the OpenStack ecosystem. As for the upstream activities, contribution of translation in the aspect of internationalization and various contributions from “Airship” project, in which SK Telecom participated, are mentioned. Also, as for the downstream activities, various business activities such as global discussion, local meetup, study activities, community cooperation, and domestic sponsorship were introduced. For the past one year, OpenStack Korea User Group has carried out various activities. After OpenStack Days Korea 2017 held in July 2017, the first open source software community day was held in September, and the six study group meetings were held in November and December. There was a networking day in November and a year-end party in December. In addition, 'Korea Community Day 2018' was held in February 2018, the monthly seminar in March and April, and 'MeltingCon 2018' in May with a number of communities. Moreover, the online lectures produced at the community level are also mentioned as important activities. Meanwhile, an event celebrating OpenStack’s eighth birthday is scheduled in July. One of the most important activities of the OpenStack community, 'User Survey' will be published in the Berlin Summit in October 2018. The survey was formerly available only in English, but now contribution of the community is reflected so that it is also available as a Korean version and domestic users can easily participate.

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  [OID Korea 2018] Covering the spot of ‘OpenInfra Days Korea 2018’

  OpenInfra Days Korea 2018, co-hosted by OpenStack Foundation, OpenStack Korea User Group and Cloud Native Computing & K8S Korea, will be held on June 28-29 at COEX in Gangnam- gu, Seoul. This event was developed from 'OpenStack Day Korea' as a part of efforts to promote various open infrastructure technologies and to revitalize related ecosystem. The event will be held under the theme of "Open Infrastructure: OpenStack, Containers, and Cloud Native Computing”, and it will cover the ecosystem of open infrastructure technology created by combining openStack and cloud native computing technologies such as Kubernetes and Container. The OpenStack Foundation, as well as global open source foundations such as Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will participate in the event, and technical presentations, exhibition booths, and workshops will be held under the sponsorships of Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, NetApp, manTech, and Open Source Consulting. In this two-day event, visitors will be able to meet and study technologies of various fields related to use cases in open infrastructure such as DevOps and CI/CD as well as various open infrastructure solutions including OpenStack, Ceph, Docker and Kubernetes. Many domestic companies including Kakao, Naver, Line, Netmarble, Nexon Korea, etc. will participate in presentations. On the second day, many technology presentations and hands-on workshops from OpenStack Korea User Group, AWS User Group, Korea Azure User Group, Google Cloud Platform User Group, Kubernetes User Group, and IBM developerWorks User Group are prepared. ▲ Developed from 'OpenStack Days Korea', 'OpenInfra Days Korea 2018' covers the whole infrastructure. ▲ Various programs will be held during the two-day event. ▲ The lecture program is divided into four tracks. ▲ The demonstration booths are prepared in front of the venue so that various solutions can welcome participants. ▲ In Korea, Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom are actively using OpenStack. ▲ OpenStack becomes more valuable in high-density ARM server environments ▲ HPE, SUSE, and Nokia are also regular customers at the overseas summit. ▲ 'Line' also participated in this event as a booth. ▲ Meanwhile, the first day of the event exceeded 600 attendees and is expected to reach 1,200 for two days.

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  [Column] Quantum Computing Age to Come ... Big Blue IBM Seeking Opportunities for a New Leap

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  Google Play Audiobook Korea Release Demonstration Session

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  [OID Korea 2018] OpenInfra Days Korea 2018 Press Conference

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  [OID Korea 2018] ‘OpenInfra Days Korea 2018’ Keynote Address

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  Collaboration tool rises as the Work-Life Balance strives trend

  As the Work-Life balance culture is becoming more and more prevalent, there is a growing interest in collaboration tools for systematic task management and efficient teamwork support. Many experts claim that productive collaboration is likely to increase work satisfaction through the realization of Work-Life Balance. Collaboration task is already taking more than half of the working hours and the task proportion even increases further for general office workers. According to reports from McKinsey and Korea Productivity Center, typical knowledge workers spend 70% of their working time on collaborative communication and searching information. Along with the rising trend, the global collaboration tools market is experiencing significant growth every year. According to the Global Cloud Collaboration Market 2016-2020 Report published by Technavio, a UK market research firm, the global cloud collaboration tool market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 11% from the year 2016 to the year 2020. More interesting part is that the growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to outgrow the global average with an annual average rate of 16%. Also, ReportLinker, a US market researching firm forecasts that the global collaboration tool market will grow to $ 59.9 billion by the year 2023 from $ 34.5 billion this year with annual CAGR of 11%. The rapid growth of the global collaborative tool market is due to the fact that collaborative tools play a large role in effective communication and minimization of data integration costs between departments within the company or even between companies. Experts are consistently emphasizing that if collaboration efficiency increases within a limited working hour, it can lead to a reduction in management costs as well as improvement of corporate service quality from a long-term perspective. Especially, as the devices that access information are diversified due to the proliferation of mobile devices, the collaboration tools are also being expanded to web-based services or mobile apps. The proliferation of Work-Life Balance trend will not only lead to the introduction of collaboration tools but will also change the culture of collaboration among companies. In the meantime, the collaborative methods preferred by domestic companies have been conducted in a timelined manner; taking responsibility for their work, communicating in real time, and instructing and performing tasks. The optimized collaboration solution for domestic companies would be the timeline-based SNS collaborating platform and real-time communication-based messenger collaborating solution. However, this method has high team efficiency, but individual users have to invest a lot of working hours, and it has been pointed out that the decrease of work concentration due to real-time response is a disadvantage. Timeline method requires too much time to search past data or information, and it is structured to be interrupted in the midst of business hours because the prompt reply is required. According to a study by Professor Gloria Janet Mark, an informatics professor at the University of California, regular office workers are being interrupted once every 11 minutes and it takes an average of 25 minutes for workers to refocus on their tasks. An emerging solution to overcome these limitations is the issue-based collaboration tool. Also known as the Third Generation Collaboration Solutions and this tool supports data sharing, communication, decision making, and issue management as well as other collaborating tools, but the crucial difference is that the collaboration environment is fully reflecting the workflow. For instance, ‘Collabee’, the most well-known issue-based collaboration tool follows the workflow that takes place in the real work environment. If you create a 'project space' for each team or each project, everyone can contribute based on ideas or issues. Within the generated issue, various collaborations can be performed such as delivering feedback through comments, assigning tasks, requesting for decision making, sharing files, etc. All the communication for solving the issue can be confirmed on one page. In addition, a user can check project progress by Kanban method, or can solely check user’s own issue through the news feed section. Work-Life Balance is the natural flow and the demand that can no longer be resisted. As a result, companies can not postpone their homework, which should increase the productivity while guaranteeing the balance in between work and life. Collaboration tool is not a panacea for actualizing the balance, but it's a feasible solution. It is time to check, whether the issue-based collaboration tool will become the mainstream in Korea with the rising work-life balance trend.

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  T.OS Accelerates Its Efforts to Advance into the Global Market Through Nasdaq Advertisement

  T.OS announced that it is accelerating its efforts to advance into the global market through advertising its cryptocurrency T.OS coin on Nasdaq. T.OS claims to be cryptocurrency for the actual transaction, and in the process of replacing the real money with the cryptocurrency in the future, it continues its efforts around the world to stand as the ‘key currency of cryptocurrency’. At present, T.OS is disseminating its possibilities all over the world in order to build economy for practical use. One of T.OS promotions in progress all around the world, the Nasdaq advertisement of T.OS had been prepared during the preparation stage of advancing into the global market beyond Asia ahead of the listing of large exchanges. The ad was released to the public on the outside of the Nasdaq building on two occasions, the third week of June and the third week of July. T.OS’s payment system maintains the same value at the point of currency exchange at trading floor and at the point of purchase at the store by introducing TOSP coin, which is the internal private coin with unchanging value, into the process of payment, purchase and exchange beside TOSC coin that is used for transaction. TOSP is used only for the internal process of T.OS payment system, so it is not traded in the external exchange, which features the advantage of no price changes through distribution transactions. T.OS stated, “TOSP, a central element of the T.OS payment system, is the internal private coin that is optimized as a quick and stable payment method, so it is cryptocurrency that cannot be distributed in the market. Therefore, since it is excluded from the targets of hackers, customers and business owners can have peace of mind when using TOSP coin in commerce activities.” In addition, the company will present its proprietary-protocol based hardware wallet without internet protocol as order production method so that users can protect their cryptocurrency more safely. It also plans to operate cryptocurrency consulting and franchise and make each country’s trading floor become a stronghold of T.OS payment system after firstly develop 10~20 sites around the world. T.OS plans to launch a payment system for T.OS in the second half of the year and test the actual transaction system through some of merchants, including Japan's famous live house "Kento’s", and then conduct public services in the first half of 2019. T.OS’s marketing manager said, “T.OS project is aiming at a block-chain payment system platform that can be used for both on-line and off-line payments of cryptocurrency. In the future, we will continue to make efforts to promote T.OS to the global cryptocurrency market with technology development and lead the cryptocurrency payment platform.” Meanwhile, T.OS participated in "Blockchain Partners Summit 2018" held at Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul for two days from 21st July as a Platinum sponsor to share the technology and vision of T.OS. Also, at the summit, Wook-tae Kang, CEO of Blockware, attended as a speaker to introduce the advantages of T.OS.

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  Starbucks and Alibaba Group Form Strategic Partnership to Transform the Customer Experience in the Coffee Industry in China

  • Marking a significant milestone for the two companies, Starbucks and Alibaba poised to enable a seamless Starbucks Experience through deepened partnership • Starbucks to collaborate across key businesses within the Alibaba ecosystem, including Ele.me, Hema, Tmall, Taobao and Alipay, to significantly elevate the Starbucks Experience for Chinese customers: o Announces plans to leverage Ele.me’s on-demand platform to pilot delivery services in Beijing and Shanghai in September 2018; delivery program to expand across 30 cities to more than 2,000 stores by end of 2018. o Partners with Hema supermarket to create “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” specifically designed for Starbucks delivery order fulfillment, further expanding delivery capabilities while ensuring the highest levels of the third-place in-store customer experience. • Companies to co-create an unprecedented virtual Starbucks store that will integrate multiple platforms across Starbucks and the Alibaba ecosystems, to enable a seamless and even more personalized experience for members to register, redeem benefits and enjoy an extensive range of services. Starbucks Coffee Company (“Starbucks”) (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (“Alibaba”) (NYSE: BABA) today announced a deep, strategic “New Retail” partnership that will enable a seamless Starbucks Experience and transform the coffee industry in China. Collaborating across key businesses within the Alibaba ecosystem, including Ele.me, Hema, Tmall, Taobao and Alipay, Starbucks announced plans to pilot delivery services beginning September 2018, establish “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” for delivery order fulfillment and integrate multiple platforms to co-create an unprecedented virtual Starbucks store – an unparalleled and even more personalized online Starbucks Experience for Chinese customers. The announcement marks a historic moment as two iconic, global companies build on their distinct retail and technology strengths to revolutionize the customer experience. Leveraging the Alibaba ecosystem and New Retail infrastructure, Starbucks will be able to further unify a seamless Starbucks Experience between its stores and online for customers. “Thanks to the elevated customer experience delivered by our over 45,000 partners, Starbucks is growing and innovating faster in China than anywhere else in the world,” said Kevin Johnson, president and chief executive officer, Starbucks Coffee Company. “Our transformational partnership with Alibaba will reshape modern retail, and represents a significant milestone in our efforts to exceed the expectations of Chinese consumers. Starbucks China is one to watch, and I have full confidence in the team that will bring the new innovation behind the Starbucks Experience to life.” Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of the Alibaba Group said, “Starbucks is more than a destination for premium coffee and we share the same vision to pioneer a new coffee culture and lifestyle through innovation and technology. Alibaba is thrilled to expand our existing partnership with Starbucks by leveraging our cutting-edge New Retail infrastructure and digital power to enable an unprecedented experience for consumers. This partnership is again a testament to the success of our New Retail strategy.” The strategic partnership is part of Alibaba’s broader New Retail push, which aims to transform how commerce is conducted by merging online and offline experiences. New Retail was introduced by Alibaba in 2016 and has since become a hallmark strategy of the retail industry. - Creating an Unparalleled Order and Delivery Experience Powered by the Alibaba Ecosystem Working with Ele.me, China’s leading on-demand food delivery platform with 3 million registered delivery riders, Starbucks will pilot delivery this September in 150 stores located in key trade zones in Beijing and Shanghai with plans to accelerate and expand its delivery program to more than 2,000 Starbucks stores across 30 cities by the end of calendar year 2018. Both Starbucks and Ele.me collaborated to develop a unique, customized delivery infrastructure that has been meticulously determined each step along the way, including dedicated Ele.me delivery riders, precise delivery time, and custom carriers. Both companies have created a tailored order-to-delivery Starbucks program that upholds the unparalleled experience and quality that customers have come to expect in Starbucks retail stores. Through this delivery partnership, Starbucks and Ele.me have pioneered a best-in-class coffee delivery service standard for Chinese customers. “Ele.me has a robust infrastructure for on-demand delivery in China. We are pleased to partner with Starbucks to launch these reliable and trusted delivery services to satisfy customers’ needs and capitalize on the delivery sector’s great potential. It is an important milestone for Ele.me to deepen our collaboration with retail chains and further expand our penetration in the food delivery sector,” said Wang Lei, Chief Executive Officer of Ele.me. In addition, Starbucks will partner with Hema supermarkets to be the first retail brand to establish dedicated “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” within their locations. The “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” will utilize Hema’s distinct fulfillment and delivery capabilities to complement the delivery of handcrafted Starbucks coffee and tea beverages offered through existing Starbucks stores. Starbucks will also leverage Hema’s highly effective consumer insights and unique fulfilment expertise to further penetrate and better serve the needs of individuals and families in communities across China. This intentional strategy will inform the future network planning for new Starbucks stores, combined with “Starbucks Delivery Kitchen” locations, to further expand the scale and reach of Starbucks delivery services, while enabling our partners (employees) to continue to elevate the third-place experience for the customer. Starbucks will open “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” in selected Hema supermarkets in Shanghai and Hangzhou as soon as September 2018, with plans to expand its presence to other cities over time. “Our Chinese customers have a high expectation of their Starbucks Experience and we are proud to introduce a premium delivery experience that reflects the same service and quality they’ve come to love and expect from us in our stores – we will never compromise,” said Belinda Wong, chief executive officer, Starbucks China. “More significantly, through our partnership with Alibaba, we are breaking the physical and virtual barriers between the home, office, in-store and digital space, making China the first Starbucks market to deliver a seamless Starbucks Experience across all facets our customers’ lives and further reflecting the uniqueness and strategic importance of the market.” - Digital Innovations Transforming the Retail Industry A key strategic initiative under the partnership is the development of a pioneering, first-of-its-kind virtual Starbucks store in China. This digital partnership will see Alibaba develop a centralized online management hub, with the unique capabilities to integrate and deliver a consistent Starbucks Experience across multiple digital platforms. This innovation will transcend the traditional limitations of a single-app visit by providing the consumer an elevated, and even more personalized Starbucks digital experience across the Starbucks app and Alibaba’s customer-facing mobile apps, including Taobao, Alipay, Tmall and Koubei. This latest innovation will revolutionize the traditional offline-to-online model by effectively extending the reach of the Starbucks Experience into the everyday lifestyle ritual of the Chinese consumer, regardless of time or place. Whether it is at home or in the office, within a Starbucks store or online, Starbucks customers will be able to access and enjoy a one-stop Starbucks Experience when purchasing merchandise online, buying a Starbucks handcrafted beverage to be delivered to a friend or sending a Starbucks gift of love on the “Say it with Starbucks” social gifting platform. Starbucks will progressively integrate its Starbucks Rewards (SR) membership platform onto the centralized system to leverage its consumer insights to deliver a truly personalized experience to its customers, while establishing a strong foundation for the future development of Starbucks digital experiences in China. Starbucks and Alibaba are trusted business partners who share common values in the spirit of innovation and the unrelenting pursuit of product and service excellence. This deepened partnership is a significant step as both companies partner together to elevate the customer experience across China.

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  [KANTAR] Celebrity-Based AD Campaigns: What are the PROS and CONS in World & South Korea?

  Celebrities are used in advertising around the world. The right celebrity, used in the right way, can undoubtedly be a powerful brand asset. But using a celebrity does not guarantee effective advertising; overall, there’s very little difference between the performance of ads with celebrities versus those without. However, celebrities can make campaigns more effective. There are pitfalls to using celebrities. To gauge whether a celebrity is right for your brand, you need to establish whether they are known, whether they are liked, and what they stand for, among your target audience. ■ WHERE ARE CELEBRITIES USED IN ADVERTISING? The use of celebrities in advertising varies enormously around the world. It continues to be highest in Asia Pacific, as this analysis of ads we have researched with our Link copy test shows. In terms of individual countries, use is highest in Japan and Korea, where around 40 percent of TV ads feature celebrities. In comparison, use of celebrities is 31 percent in China, 23 percent in India, 11 percent in the U.S., and 11 percent in the UK. The type of celebrity used varies a lot by region. Movie stars are particularly popular in Asia, notably Korea and Japan. TV presenters are particularly popular in the UK; while sports stars are more common in the US. ■ ARE THEY EFFECTIVE? Celebrity-based campaigns can be very effective. The Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign won a Cannes Lion Creative Effectiveness award; as did Virgin Mobile Australia for their ‘Fair Go Bro’ campaign. In the US, one client had used a celebrity in some of its ads over a ten year period, and wanted to know if they should continue the relationship. Our analysis showed that the ads featuring the celebrity performed better on key measures than those without the celebrity. The celebrity had also become a strong branding cue. We were able to estimate that the celebrity was worth over $5 million per year to the client. After an ROI calculation, the client continued the relationship. An in-depth analysis of Twitter volumes and sentiment for 16 brands across 5 countries found that celebrities are one of the drivers of short-term buzz. Brand campaigns and short-term promotions generate buzz more often, but celebrity associations and endorsements are likely to increase positive sentiment for the brand in the short term. In February 2014, Mila Kunis was announced as the new face of Jim Beam and featured in a number of ads and videos for the brand. Using our Digital Behavior Analytics solution to decompose the raw digital signal into more meaningful metrics, Kantar Millward Brown was able to quantify that this was a more efficient use of the brand’s marketing budget, and delivered a greater return on investment in both the short term and the long term. However, while individual celebrity campaigns can be highly effective, there is very little difference overall between the performance on most key measures of ads with celebrities versus those without, on key measures like Enjoyment, Involvement or branding. However, our CrossMedia database suggests that campaigns with celebrities tend to be more effective than campaigns without. Why should this be? An internal assessment of the campaigns for the 2018 AdReaction study suggested that campaigns with celebrities tend to be better integrated. It seems the presence of a celebrity can provide an instant link to other elements of the campaign, promoting synergy. But other audio and visual elements can also provide that ‘instant link’. For some long running campaigns, particular celebrities have, over time, become synonymous with the brand: for example, Roger Federer for Rolex, Gary Lineker and Walkers in the UK, Carina Lau and the cosmetic brand SK-II in China. The following example shows the gradual build of one celebrity brand cue over 15 ads. ■ THREE KEY QUESTIONS FOR EFFECTIVE USE OF CELEBRITIES Given that using a celebrity does not guarantee a successful campaign, what are the guidelines for getting it right? We’d suggest there are three key questions you need to answer. 1. Who is the celebrity? Where the celebrity is central to the core idea, it’s important to establish how well known they are among your target audience. Some time ago, a lipstick brand was launched using a foreign model. Among those who recognized her, communication, enjoyment and purchase intent were much stronger. However, less than a quarter of the audience recognized her, severely limiting the effectiveness of the campaign. 2. Is the celebrity well liked? While it isn’t essential for a celebrity to be liked, this can have a significant impact on the emotional response to an ad. The effectiveness of likeable celebrities is more similar across countries: enjoyment is higher when the celebrity is liked, in all countries. All countries tend to see higher scores across persuasive measures and overall Power Contribution when the celebrity is liked. In particular the likability of the celebrity needs to be assessed among the target audience. In one project for a cereal brand in the UK Kantar Millward Brown asked about celebrities who were considered positive role models. One particular male TV and radio presenter was rated highly; but this ranking was driven by the 40+ age group. When we researched an animatic version of an ad for the brand featuring him, he was dismissed by the younger target respondents as being too old and old fashioned. The ad was not produced. 3. What does the celebrity represent? It’s important to understand how well the celebrity fits with the brand, or with where you want to take the brand. When the celebrity is perceived to be appropriate, communication can be enhanced. The ‘right fit’ celebrity can enhance key measures. ■ Potential pitfalls Unlike an animated character, celebrities are human, and subject to human failings. So there are a number of ways in which a celebrity could become a liability to the brand. The Chinese athlete Liu Xiang was in the London Olympics, but had apparently disguised an injury; the injury flared up and he had to pull out. Chinese public opinion turned against him for his perceived dishonesty, and a year later was still far from recovering. Other examples of celebrity activities potentially damaging a brand include: OJ Simpson, the face of Hertz, being charged with murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson; Whoopi Goldberg, failing to lose weight while endorsing Slim-Fast; following the media exposure of his adulterous affairs, and a public divorce from his wife, Tiger Woods lost five major endorsements. Brands are quick to distance themselves from such issues. In early 2016, when Maria Sharapova failed a drugs test, brands she had promoted such as Nike, Tag Heuer and Porsche all distanced themselves from her within 24 hours. In addition, there is always the risk of a celebrity becoming the hero of an ad, rather than the brand. A new campaign was developed for a tea brand in India, featuring popular movie actors. Kantar Millward Brown researched two versions of the ads in animatic forms; one with the celebrities, and one without. The research showed that, in the versions with the celebrities, the message takeout was weaker; the celebrities were ‘drowning out’ the communication. And while the celebrities were intended to help gain attention, the versions without celebrities were just as impactful. The client went ahead and filmed and aired versions without celebrities. But experience suggests that this tends to be more an issue of ad structure than the fame of the celebrity. Testimonial ads, for example, with their clear focus on the brand, rarely suffer this problem. But the celebrity needs to come across as likeable and genuine, or the endorsement may lack credibility. Hence, the right celebrity, used in the right way, can be a powerful brand asset; in any country, in any category. ==================== Executive Director and Creative Domain Lead (Korea) Subhashish Dasgupta currently works at Kantar group company Kantar Millward Brown and leads the Creative Domain for Insights division of Kantar Korea. His marketing and research career spans over 18 years in both Asia and Europe. Subhashish has extensive research experience, encompassing market entry studies, strategic brand and positioning research, brand health tracking, concept and product testing, advertising testing, channel partner motivation tracking, and stakeholder management. His sector experience covers Automotive, Services, Oil & Gas, Telecom and FMCG. Subhashish has two post graduate degrees with an MBA with specialization in Marketing and Marketing Communication.

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  [Media Actually] The Success of Media Commerce, It's a Failure from the Moment You Worry How to Combine Commerce Elements with the Content

  CJ ENM, which combined CJ E&M and CJ O Shopping, was officially launched in July. CJ ENM has emerged ambitiously under the plan to grow into a world-class convergence content commerce company. As it is a form of merging with CJ E&M by CJ O Shopping’s commerce, as well as a case of the first merging of content companies and commerce company in Korea, interest in the industry is higher than ever. There are both curiosity and concern about what kind of picture they will draw as a pioneer. The reason for the emergence of a media commerce-based company like CJ ENM is that the boundaries between media and shopping have been broken, and the possibility of a business model that simultaneously supplies content and products has been seen. For instance, sales of 'Yante Hexagon Plate' of Odense, which is CJ O Shopping’s PB brand, increased about 70% in March. With the popularity of the tvN program ‘Youn’s Kitchen 2’, the so-called 'Hexagon Hotteok Dish', which actress Yu-mi Jung put hotteok with ice-cream, was also sold like hot cakes. It is a success story of a typical media commerce that the content brought sales. In addition, as success stories of various media commerce are continuously appearing, media contents companies are searching for a way to dissolve commerce in a content as naturally as possible. This is because if they interfere with the audience 's right of view and cannot express it naturally, they might be criticized by consumers. It’s no wonder, then, that how and how naturally put commerce in content became the biggest concern of media commerce from a content producer’s position. However, in fact, the contents of media commerce, which have been regarded as success stories until now, were not successful in a way of melting commerce elements in contents well. It was only a 'method' but not an essence. Programs that have been successful’ with media commerce have focused on the 'life style' that was not covered in the contents so far. It is easy to understand when you think about popular contents in the past. Previously popular entertainment such as ‘2 Days & 1 Night’, ‘Running Man’, and ‘Infinite Challenge’ did not pay much attention to the basic human life. They have evaded the lifestyle by even blocking eating and sleeping. So, when they put the commerce element, it was unnatural and stood out. On the other hand, when you look at programs such as ‘Three Meals a Day’, ‘Hyori’s Homestay’, and ‘Youn’s Kitchen’, they focus on human’s basics, food, clothing and shelter. They gained huge popularity by showing a variety of different life styles that people have longed to forget or have forgotten. And this can explain the fever of ‘Mukbang (eating show)’, ‘Cookbang (cooking show)’, and ‘Jipbang (house show)’. In other words, although there may be a difference in each program, by shedding new light on the life style, which is the most basic, and newly suggesting it, it becomes possible to get large sympathies from people. Because it deals with the story of a person’s life, it was also suitable to dissolve commercial elements. Therefore, the worries about media commerce should not be a methodological and non-essential part of how to put commercial elements naturally into content. After going back to the ‘essence of the content’ and focusing on what people see and feel about the content, it must be started with the questions of how to dissolve the story of content in people’s lives and how to show a new life style and further life to people.