We analyzed the innovation ecosystem of smart city industries in Korea using input–output models and structural path analysis on data from 1960, 1975, 1995 and 2015 input–output tables and applying Korea’s GDP deflator. The industries were classified into nine industries through minimum units of input–output tables by year: Agriculture and Mining, Traditional Manufacturing, IT Manufacturing, Energy, Construction, IT Services, Knowledge Services, Traditional Services and Other unclassified.
The spectrum of primary and secondary industries such as Agriculture and Mining and Traditional Manufacturing decreased over time, whereas those of smart city industries such as IT Manufacturing, IT Services and Knowledge Services are relatively increasing. This indicates that the external industrial structure is changing toward smart city industries. The smart city ecosystem analyzed with a focus on production showed an explosive quantity growth in IT Manufacturing, which showed approximately 10 times higher growth than the industry showing the lowest growth, and 2.5 times higher growth than the industry showing the second-highest growth. Typical examples of IT Manufacturing as a smart city element are semiconductors, computers, internet network and sensors. The rapid growth of IT Manufacturing as a smart element industry has great implications for the entire economic structure, indicating that the value-added is greater than other industries.
Growth rates for industries in which goods and services are input in terms of technical coefficients were relatively higher in smart city industries such as IT Manufacturing, IT Services and Knowledge Services than others. This indicates that the demand for smart city industries is rapidly increasing, which means that other industries took informatization and smartification with a focus on IT Manufacturing, IT Services and Knowledge Services industries and that smart city industries are replacing others. By the analysis of production inducement coefficients, manufacturing industries such as IT Manufacturing were found to have a greater ripple effect than service industries such as IT Services and Knowledge Services. The average increase rate of production inducement coefficients was highest in IT Services and Knowledge Services, which indicates that the potential for the ripple effect in these two industries was growing, and they create greater value-added than other industries.
The number of paths in structural path analysis indicates the complexity and connectivity of the entire ecosystem. The path analysis found the structure of the smart city industry ecosystem had complexity and connectivity and was evolving. Unlike analysis of production, technical coefficients and production inducement coefficients, the structural paths from IT Manufacturing to other industries decreased due to the stronger direct paths of IT Manufacturing, indicating that direct transactions between IT Manufacturing and other industries are increasing. IT Services and Knowledge Services showed an increase in all structural paths, indicating that they are emerging as key industries that create value chains of new industries and are serving as accelerators for the development of other industries.
Smart city industries are at the center of industry convergence and reinforce transactions among other industries. The number of paths needing the intermediary role of smart city industries is increasing. Paths including two or more of the three smart industries are also increasing in a highly significant result. In particular, paths with IT Services and IT Manufacturing or paths with IT Services and Knowledge Services, which had not existed before 1995, first appeared in 2015, consistent with industry convergence. IT Services creates value chains of new industries. Overall, the ecosystem of smart city industries showed convergence and evolution, creating value chains of new industries. IT Manufacturing, IT Services and Knowledge Services are growing as important industries. The qualitative, quantitative and convergence path analysis results presented in this study show sustained growth in the smart city industry.