IBM Korea, the local branch of the US-based tech giant, is betting its future on its cognitive computing and cloud service businesses as the world embraces a new age led by futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and blockchain.

The US tech firm is seeking to expand the usage of Watson, its AI-powered cognitive data computing platform, in South Korea and become a strong cloud service provider to local firms with growing data storage and management demand.

“Looking into the next 50 years, we want to raise the cognitive and cloud service business portion of our business to more than 50 percent,” said IBM Korea CEO Andrew Chang during a ceremony to mark the Seoul-based firm’s 50th anniversary.

Globally, IBM’s cognitive solutions and cloud service businesses represented 42 percent of its total revenue in the first quarter of this year. And IBM Korea, which now generates most of its revenue via its information technology and hardware services business, will follow this direction in the coming years, Chang said.

Cognitive computing powered by artificial intelligence forms the basis of IBM’s Watson platform, designed for application to a wide range of sectors including health care, finance, retail, logistics and manufacturing.

Watson has already begun expanding its presence in Korea, as local hospitals are quickly moving to bring the high-tech computing system into their facilities, the IBM Korea chief said.

Five provincial hospitals in Korea have already adopted Watson for Oncology -- which studies a patient’s medical records as well as a vast database on cancer-related research papers and clinical trial records to aid the diagnosis process and recommend optimal treatment options.

Of the five, two hospitals -- Gachon University Gil Medical Center in Incheon and Pusan National University Hospital in Busan -- have adopted Watson for Genomics in addition to the IBM-developed oncology system, according to the company.

On top of medical diagnosis, IBM has also moved into the retail front, partnering with Lotte Group to build a shopping assistant chatbot based on Watson that guides customers through the shopping, purchase, payment and delivery processes.

To expand Watson’s applicative value here, IBM Korea is slated to introduce a Korean language version of the cognitive computing platform this year via its strategic partner SK C&C.

SK C&C, the IT solutions unit of Korea’s SK Group, is preparing to launch Aibril, a Korean version of Watson that offers the system’s AI computing capabilities in the local language. The SK company said it expects to introduce Aibril in late June or early July, though it has yet to set an official release date.

Ahead of its official launch, SK C&C launched a beta version of Aibril in late March, inviting local startups to build new services based on the Korean-language Watson’s API.

SK C&C holds the priority sales right to the Korean language version of Watson, under a strategic partnership between IBM Korea and SK C&C, Chang said.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)