Global companies which excel in software have become dominant players in the ICT industry. They have changed the rules of the marketplace, creating new business models and market segments. We will discuss the underlying meaning of “Why software is eating the world?”, a statement made by a famous Silicon Valley venture capitalist in 2012.

We will review the characteristics and abilities of software and services, and then share examples of how software can add value to existing devices. With examples from leading companies, we will discuss how they continue maintaining a competitive edge over competitors.

Finally, we will talk about basic requirements needed for high-quality software engineers.

Ho Soo Lee is currently with Samsung Electronics as Advisor at IT/Mobile Communication Division, and also with Seoul National University, Computer Science & Engineering Dept. as visiting professor. He has been working in IT & CE (Consumer Electronics) industry for about 28 years, first with IBM Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York (1985-2005) and then Samsung Electronics (2005-present).

As Executive Vice President, he has been with Samsung Electronics for the past 8 years since 2006, and was responsible for the development of corporate-wide software and the oversight of content & services activities. As Head of the Software Center, he led corporate-wide software R&D efforts for three years from 2006. Most recently, he was Founding Head & EVP of Samsung's Media Solution Center (MSC), which is responsible for content & services for all Samsung smart devices. As Head of of MSC from June 2008 to October 2012, he has made significant contributions in laying a solid groundwork for the global ecosystem and software & services for Samsung smartphones.

He graduated from Seoul National University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, majoring in Electrical Engineering. He received his doctorate degree for his research studies in the field of artificial intelligence from Northwestern University in 1985. He subsequently joined the IBM Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. During his twenty year career at IBM, he worked on a several projects in information technology. As part of a global team comprised of research, consulting, services, and solution development business units, he solved real-world client problems and made significant contributions to the establishment of a new business paradigm. He is founder of the IBM Ubiquitous Computing Lab, which is devoted to R&D in software and context-aware computing.

He has published a number of papers and holds eight United States patents. His interest lies in Content and Services, Software, Platform and Business Ecosystems for Smart Devices, Artificial Intelligence, especially in Knowledge–based system and Rule-based Programming, and Recommendation Systems. He likes shooting photos and has a photo blog site (www.deepmeer.com).