By Kim Yoo-chul

LG CNS, an LG Group affiliate that provides information tech services, said Tuesday it will hold a technology conference ― Entrue World ― at the Grand InterContinental Hotel in Seoul on April 19.

This year’s theme has been set as ``New innovative tools in a world of smart devices,’’ according to LG.

Some 1,500 industry executives and company officials will take part in this year’s event. Since 2001, the conference has been regarded as the right podium to discuss the latest trends in the local technology industry, LG CNS said.

``The concept of e-commerce was first unveiled in this conference, also real-time enterprise (RTE) has widely been adopted by many companies since the introduction of the concept,’’ said Oh Sea-chun, the chief of LG CNS’ public relations office, Tuesday.

Technology experts including LG CNS CEO Kim Dae-hoon are expected to lead various sessions.

Thomas H. Davenport, a professor from Babson College, will make a keynote speech, ``The Era of Analytics and Big Data,’’ the company said.

The professor’s choice of theme comes as the U.S.-based search giant Google’s new privacy policy plan has been raising big concerns globally.

The heated debate over data privacy comes at a very complex time for Google, whose business model is based on giving away free search, e-mail and other services, while making money by selling user-targeted advertising.

Even top telecom authorities in Europe have asked Google to explain what it will do with collected user data, how long it will store it and whether it will be linked to the person’s real identity, as well as the legal justification for its approach.

``We hope fresh debate will come from the forum,’’ said Oh.

Omae Kenichi, James Champy and Thomas Malone were the forum’s previous keynote speakers. Oh said the forum is recognized as the leading conference in the country in terms of scale, with 19,461 participants, 190 presentation themes, and 161 presenters.