Korea Information & Communication Technology Industry Association

What Korea Information & Communication Technology Industry Association does

KICTA (Korea Information & Communication Technology Industry Association) is a Seoul-based non-profit trade association established in 2003 under Korean Civil Law Article 32 with authorization from the Ministry of Science and ICT. Originally chartered as the Korea Broadcasting Production Technology Association, it was rebranded in 2016 to broaden its mandate from digital broadcasting to the wider IT and ICT industry. The association's primary function is facilitating international market entry for Korean ICT SMEs, mid-tier firms, and startups by serving as the authorized implementing agency for government export voucher programs administered by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

KICTA's core services include organizing Korean national pavilions at major global exhibitions (CES, MWC, IFA, GITEX, NAB, Japan IT Week, CommunicAsia, CHTF), administering export voucher subsidies for SME exhibition participation, and publishing ICT industry news, member updates, and trend reports through its koreaict.kr portal. In 2025, KICTA supported record participation levels — over 1,000 Korean companies at CES, 247 at GITEX, 128 at Japan IT Week Autumn, and 106 at IFA — with the 2026 government voucher allocation supporting approximately 4,000 SMEs under the integrated export support program.

The business model is a non-profit membership model. Revenue streams comprise membership dues, exhibition participation and entrance fees, and government program management budgets for export voucher administration. There are no external shareholders, no parent company, and no equity funding; surplus is reinvested into public-interest association activities. KICTA is governed by a board of directors, with Lee Han-beom elected as Chairman in May 2025, and operates from Kolon Digital Tower Billant 2 in Guro-gu, Seoul.

Name

Korea Information & Communication Technology Industry Association

Legal name

사단법인 한국정보통신기술산업협회

Website

https://koreaict.kr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Short description

KICTA is a Seoul-based non-profit trade association that helps Korean ICT SMEs and startups access global markets by organizing Korean pavilions at major exhibitions (CES, MWC, IFA, GITEX) and administering government export voucher programs under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees and dues: Members pay membership dues as part of joining and ongoing participation in the association. Revenue is used exclusively for public interest purposes, not for distributing profits to members.
2. Export voucher program management fees: KICTA acts as an implementing agency for government export voucher programs (수출바우처), managed under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (중소벤처기업부) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (산업통상자원부). The association receives government budgets to operate these programs and supports member companies' participation in international exhibitions.
3. Entrance fees and registration fees: Members and non-members pay participation fees to join international exhibition programs organized by the association, including booth costs, installation fees, registration fees, and logistics charges.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

KICTA is a non-profit ICT industry trade association that supports Korean ICT SMEs, mid-tier companies, and startups in international market entry. Its core offerings include administering government export voucher programs (수출바우처) and organizing Korean national pavilions at major global ICT exhibitions (CES, MWC, IFA, GITEX, NAB, Japan IT Week, CommunicAsia, CHTF), providing subsidized booth space, logistics, interpretation, and travel coordination to member companies.

Product overview

KICTA (Korea Information & Communication Technology Industry Association) is a non-profit industry association established under the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning to promote and support Korea's IT and ICT industries. Rather than offering a unified software product, KICTA provides a portfolio of trade promotion and export support services including the Export Voucher Program (수출바우처) for government-subsidized SME export support, Overseas Exhibition Support for participation in international trade shows (CES, MWC, Japan IT Week, GITEX, IFA, NAB, CommunicAsia), and Domestic Exhibition Support (WIS, SECON). The association also operates an ICT Industry News portal and Conference pre-registration services. KICTA's core function is facilitating Korean SME international market entry rather than operating a traditional technology product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Export Voucher Program Services (수출바우처)

Quantifiable outcome

• CES 2025: Over 1,000 Korean companies participated with KICTA support — largest Korean participation ever
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Ministry of SMEs and Startups (중소벤처기업부)coreOthersThe Ministry of SMEs and Startups is the primary government oversight and funding body for KICTA. KICTA serves as an implementing agency for government SME export support programs, including the export voucher (수출바우처) scheme, and receives government authorization for these activities.
• Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (산업통상자원부)coreOthersThe Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy oversees export voucher programs (수출바우처) that KICTA administers. KICTA manages exhibition participation under this program, providing subsidies for booth costs, logistics, interpretation, and airfare for qualifying ICT companies.
• Ministry of Science and ICT (과학기술정보통신부)coreOthersThe Ministry of Science and ICT is the founding supervisory ministry for KICTA (originally called the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning). It authorized the establishment of the association and continues to oversee its activities.
• KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerKOTRA and KICTA collaborate on international exhibition support. KOTRA operates a separate overseas exhibition individual participation support program (up to 6 million KRW per company), which KICTA promotes to members alongside its own export voucher program.
• Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses (중소기업중앙회)supportingGTM or Marketing PartnerKICTA collaborates with the Korea Federation of SMEs (중진공) in managing the export voucher program for qualifying SMEs, coordinating application reviews, service contracts, and settlement processes.
• CES (Consumer Electronics Show)coreOthersKICTA organizes the Korean national pavilion at CES in Las Vegas, recruiting member companies and providing subsidized booth rates, installation services, and logistics support. CES is one of the largest global consumer electronics exhibitions and a key venue for KICTA's export support activities.
• MWC Barcelona (Mobile World Congress)coreOthersKICTA organizes Korean national/association pavilions at MWC Barcelona, the world's largest mobile communications exhibition. Activities include booth arrangement, installation, and logistics for member companies, supported by government export voucher programs.
• GITEX Global (Dubai)coreOthersKICTA operates Korean pavilions at GITEX Global in Dubai, the largest ICT exhibition in the Middle East. In 2025, KICTA supported 247 Korean companies at GITEX 2025.
• IFA Berlin (International Radio Exhibition)coreOthersKICTA organizes Korean association pavilions at IFA Berlin, a major international home appliances and consumer electronics exhibition. In 2025, 106 Korean companies participated with KICTA support.
• Japan IT WeekcoreOthersKICTA recruits Korean companies for Japan's largest IT exhibition (Japan IT Week, held twice yearly in Tokyo), operating Korean pavilions and supporting participation through export voucher programs. 128 Korean companies participated in the 2025 Autumn edition — the largest ever.
• NAB Show (Las Vegas)coreOthersKICTA organizes Korean pavilions at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, the world's largest international broadcast equipment exhibition, supporting Korean broadcast technology companies' international marketing.
• Korea Communications Commission (방송통신위원회)supportingOthersThe Korea Communications Commission is a government regulatory body for broadcasting and communications in South Korea. It originally authorized the establishment of the association (originally as 한국방송제작기술협회) and remains a related institution referenced on KICTA's website.
• Korea Electronics Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI, 한국전자통신研究院)supportingTechnology or IntegrationETRI is a major government research institute for electronics and telecommunications. Listed as a related institution on KICTA's website, ETRI collaborates on technology development and standardization activities relevant to the ICT industry.
• Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA, 한국정보통신기술협회)supportingTechnology or IntegrationTTA is a standards and certification body for ICT in South Korea. Listed as a related institution on KICTA's website, TTA collaborates on technical standards and certification programs for ICT products.
• Korea Radio Promotion Association (한국방송통신전파진흥원, KCA)supportingOthersKCA promotes broadcasting and radio communications in South Korea. Listed as a related institution on KICTA's website.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• GSMA: Global mobile industry trade body and organizer of MWC Barcelona, a flagship KICTA pavilion venue. Others: counterpart venue operator rather than direct competitor — comparable membership-association model but with global rather than Korea-only focus.
• Consumer Technology Association (CTA): U.S. trade association that owns and operates CES, KICTA's largest exhibition venue. Others: a strategic venue/ecosystem partner enabling KICTA's pavilion model rather than competing for Korean SMEs.
• Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA): Korea's ICT standards and certification body, listed as a KICTA partner. Others: enabling partner rather than competitor — provides standards/certification overlay to the ICT industry ecosystem KICTA serves.

Direct peers

• Korea Mobile Internet Industry Association (MOIBA): Korean industry association for mobile internet, apps, and wireless ICT. Direct peer: membership-based non-profit supporting Korean mobile/ICT SMEs' international growth, with comparable export-marketing mission.
• Korea Software Industry Association (KOSA): Industry association for Korea's software and IT services sector. Direct peer: similar non-profit industry-association model serving Korean technology SMEs with policy advocacy and export promotion, on closely overlapping ICT scope.
• Korea Internet Association (KIA): Korean internet and online-service industry trade body. Direct peer: serves Korean internet/ICT member companies with policy advocacy and international cooperation, overlapping KICTA's ICT SME support remit.
• Korea Electronics Association (KoKEA): Korea's primary electronics and electrical industry trade association. Direct peer: also a non-profit member organization supporting Korean electronics companies, listed as a related institution on KICTA's site, with overlapping SME export-support activities.

Broad incumbents

• Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA): Government-affiliated agency under MOTIE promoting Korean exports and inward investment. Broad incumbent: explicitly named KICTA partner; runs its own overseas exhibition individual-participation support program, representing both a collaboration and a partial overlap with KICTA's export-voucher mandate.
• Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses (KBIZ): Largest SME umbrella body in Korea, co-administers the export voucher program with KICTA. Broad incumbent: a co-implementer of the same government SME export-support scheme, working the same beneficiary base.

Regional players

• Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA): Japan's primary electronics and ICT industry trade association, a regional counterpart. Regional player: structurally similar membership-based promotion body for ICT exporters, but serving Japanese rather than Korean SMEs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Korea Information & Communication Technology Industry Association