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| KAIST President Shin Sung-chul, right, poses with Murat Sonmez, a managing director who heads the World Economic Forum's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, after signing an MOU in Seoul in October 2017. / Courtesy of KAIST |
By Jun Ji-hye
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will open the Korea Policy Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (KPC4IR) later this month to study new technologies and contribute to expanding innovative ecosystems, the university said Tuesday.
The center comes after the World Economic Forum (WEF) formed partnerships with the Ministry of Science and ICT and the university to work together to develop core Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to pursue "inclusive growth."
The opening ceremony will take place at the university in Daejeon, Dec. 10.
When WEF Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab met President Moon Jae-in during his visit to Korea in April 2018, he highly rated Korea's potential in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and vowed to cooperate, according to the university.
This led the WEF's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, based in California, and the ICT ministry to plan a joint research project, with the university selected as the body to carry it out.
KAIST signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the WEF's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in 2017 and has been in charge of developing relevant technologies and policies.
Key WEF officials, including Murat Sonmez, the managing director heading the WEF's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, will participate in the center's opening ceremony. ICT Minister Choi Ki-young and several Korean lawmakers will also attend.
On the ceremony's sidelines, key participants including Sonmez will discuss various topics such as regulation and global leadership.
"With the launch of the KPC4IR, Korea will rise to being a global leader that will develop core technologies and preemptively study socio-economic issues involving the Fourth Industrial Revolution," said Lee Sang-yup, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST, who will head the KPC4IR.
