ID :
211116
Tue, 10/04/2011 - 13:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/211116
The shortlink copeid
With new building, AhnLab hopes to infuse HQ with Silicon Valley creativity
SEONGNAM, South Korea, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- AhnLab Inc., South Korea's largest maker of anti-virus software, moved into its new headquarters on Tuesday, with hopes that the minted space would pioneer the culture of free and open communications and creativity in South Korea's information and technology (IT) industry.
The company's home in a southern suburb of Seoul was designed to encourage conversations and idea-sharing, unusual in South Korea's tight and rigid corporate culture, the company's chief said.
"Open space for chatting is very important. Some of the ideas that have popped out over lunch have turned into our best products," AhnLab's chief executive Kim Hong-sun told reporters.
The 10-story building greets visitors with a wide-open square that can accommodate artistic events. The staircase, which provides a view of the Pangyo Techno Valley town, brings together the company's three teams of personal computers, servers and security consulting, Kim added.
The building has spaces that can turn into impromptu meeting points or stand-up conference rooms.
"People become defensive when they attend conferences," the chief executive said. "The 'fun zone' may look like a play room but ideas are born when people play."
The reign of Google Inc., Apple Inc. and other Silicon Valley companies over the mobile and computing industry has sparked a sense of urgency among South Korea's big-name tech firms like Samsung and LG in recent months and prompted local government officials to call for nurturing the country's own versions of Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs.
"This will be the main ground for the IT ventures, and just like Silicon Valley, where engineers move from Google to Facebook and vice versa, competition for the top engineers will become fierce," said Kim, pointing across the street to another glass-covered building under construction, the future home of NCsoft Corp., the country's leading online game developer.
The 16-year-old anti-virus maker started out as a venture startup in 1995 in Seoul. Since then, it's become one of the largest IT software companies in South Korea.
AhnLab recently grabbed local media headlines when its founder Ahn Cheol-soo considered, and ultimately turned down, a bid for the Seoul mayoralty.
ylee@yna.co.kr
(END)
The company's home in a southern suburb of Seoul was designed to encourage conversations and idea-sharing, unusual in South Korea's tight and rigid corporate culture, the company's chief said.
"Open space for chatting is very important. Some of the ideas that have popped out over lunch have turned into our best products," AhnLab's chief executive Kim Hong-sun told reporters.
The 10-story building greets visitors with a wide-open square that can accommodate artistic events. The staircase, which provides a view of the Pangyo Techno Valley town, brings together the company's three teams of personal computers, servers and security consulting, Kim added.
The building has spaces that can turn into impromptu meeting points or stand-up conference rooms.
"People become defensive when they attend conferences," the chief executive said. "The 'fun zone' may look like a play room but ideas are born when people play."
The reign of Google Inc., Apple Inc. and other Silicon Valley companies over the mobile and computing industry has sparked a sense of urgency among South Korea's big-name tech firms like Samsung and LG in recent months and prompted local government officials to call for nurturing the country's own versions of Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs.
"This will be the main ground for the IT ventures, and just like Silicon Valley, where engineers move from Google to Facebook and vice versa, competition for the top engineers will become fierce," said Kim, pointing across the street to another glass-covered building under construction, the future home of NCsoft Corp., the country's leading online game developer.
The 16-year-old anti-virus maker started out as a venture startup in 1995 in Seoul. Since then, it's become one of the largest IT software companies in South Korea.
AhnLab recently grabbed local media headlines when its founder Ahn Cheol-soo considered, and ultimately turned down, a bid for the Seoul mayoralty.
ylee@yna.co.kr
(END)
