Korea Hosts 1st Int`l Conference on Convergence

Korea’s first conference on convergence held yesterday in Seoul took a look at a variety of development strategies.

The International Conference on Convergence was sponsored by the Knowledge Economy Ministry and hosted by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology at the Seoul COEX. At the conference, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan appeared on a screen to say, “Korea’s economic status depends on how it prepares itself for the upcoming convergence era.”

Kwak Seung-jun, chairman of the Presidential Council on Future and Vision, also said the auto industry began to be called as information technology industry, not machinery industry. “In the era of convergence, more value is generated from convergence, not technological growth. Accordingly, convergence capabilities linking different technologies and mixing different functions have become critical to competitiveness,” he said.

In his keynote address, futurist Daniel Pink said, “In the past, companies had to be involved in corporate activities within given boundaries for their success. Now, they cannot succeed unless they cross boundaries.”

Also stressing the importance of human resources, Pink said creative people such as artists, inventors and storytellers armed with a creative mindset can form the next-generation business elite that manage the core strengths of organizations.

At the conference, demonstrations of aerospace, health care and robotic technologies were also offered. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute showed a video clip of the Korean Peninsula recorded by unmanned scout planes and satellites via a large screen on stage.

It also called the aerospace industry as a complicated sector armed with the latest technologies.

GE Healthcare Korea President Karim Karti demonstrated how to use his iPhone to display an X-ray image by touching a name of a patient on the screen. “Since diagnosing a patient is important before treating him or her, devices vividly displaying a patient’s condition should be in place.”

Otis Elevator made a presentation on the elevator industry, which has diversified offerings through convergence by providing intelligent elevators armed with IT technologies and an energy-efficient elevator system supported by an independent power generation system.