Since its foundation in 1993, KATP has established itself as one of the most representative academic societies of Korea's professionals who study ICT policies and strategies from various academic perspectives. History of the KATP is in itself reflects the leapfrogging development of the ICT sector in Korea. The subjects that drew the attention of earlier members were concentrated on privatization and competition of the telecommunication industry as well as technology standardization and informatization. Later, as the three convergence trends- voice and data, fixed and mobile, media and telecom - became evident, research subjects were expanded to overall economic, legal, and sociological aspects of ICT. This naturally attracts not just economists but professionals of law, media, and business administration to society.

KATP of today can be characterized as multidisciplinary convergence, academic excellence, and proactive participation. Research areas of the members include not only the traditional industry and regulatory issues of media-telecommunications but also the most up-to-date groundbreaking subjects such as artificial intelligence, block-chain, cryptocurrencies, IoT, cloud computing, and the gig economy.

As the third decade of the 21st century begins, the ICT sector, even more the overall economy in Korea faces significant challenges. The pride of the ICT forerunner country with the fastest internet and building the most advanced semiconductors and smartphones has been fading. People are becoming less confident that the ICT sector would help to solve problems such as sluggish growth, aging society with the low birth rate, and growing inequalities. The roles of the KATP members are to identify these problems, providing the arena for academic and policy discussions, and thereby contributing to building the base for the new development. I ask all the members to be proactive partners. Also, the KATP welcomes anyone interested in our activities and asks for your support and suggestions.