KAIST

Thank you Hubo for the kind introduction.

Good evening.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I am honored to be introduced by Hubo, the world champion of the 2015 DARPA Challenge and a world famous star robot.

If anyone expected something different than Hubo, something like killer robots, sorry to disappoint you. This is the only one we could proudly present to you at this stage.

Hubo has given us a great deal of pride and prestige, but it has also led to some misconceptions about what we are working on.

Exactly one year ago in April, some overseas scholars misunderstood and thought that we are making killer robots. They thought that if KAIST could have enough technology capability to make the DARPA champion, they presumed that we could make a killer robot as well.

Fortunately, all those misunderstandings were cleared up soon after. And to be clear again, we don’t have and will not make any killer robots. But we are grateful to be the home of Hubo and his father, Professor Jun-Ho Oh.

At this time, I would like to ask Professor Jun-Ho Oh and his team to stand so that we can recognize and celebrate their brilliant work. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is indeed my great pleasure to welcome all the participants tonight. I would like to extend my special gratitude to our distinguished guests who make tonight very special:
- Mayor of Daejeon City Tae-Jeong Her
- Congressman Sang-Min Lee from the Democratic Party of Korea
- CEO of THE Trevor Barratt
- CKO of THE Phil Baty
Thank you for joining us.

At this time, I would like to recognize our corporate sponsors from Samsung, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motors, Hyundai Mobis, KIA Motors, Saudi Aramco, Hankook Tire, and Golfzon. All these global corporations are KAIST’s precious partners. I also thank you for the City of Daejeon and Daejeon International Marketing Enterprise for their support. Thank you for your generous sponsorship to make this summit possible.

The City of Daejeon has been a magnet for science and technology in Korea since 1973. KAIST is placed in the center of this cluster of innovation called the Daedeok Innopolis.

The Korean government established this cluster to create a collaborative platform and maximize synergy by integrating all of the R&D resources scattered around the country.

This cluster, including KAIST, has played a central role in the emergence of Korea, and is now gearing up to steer Korea through the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Chairman Klaus Schwab at the WEF also expressed his high expectations on the role of this cluster in Daejeon naming it “The Special City for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Ladies and gentlemen,

Unlike the linear development that the past three industrial revolutions made over the past 250 years, this fourth one will make an exponential transformation via the three new megatrends of hyperconnectivity, superintelligence, and meta-convergence.

Inevitably, not only countries but also organizations will lose competitiveness when failing to respond to this great wave of transformation. Higher education not only holds the key to the future well-being of individuals but is also instrumental in ensuring a sustainable future for communities, nations, and the world as a whole.

The global economy, more than ever, expects universities to be drivers of change and new value creators. Faced with this new global environment, universities should critically assess their institutions’ impact and develop visions for sustaining global growth.

In this context, KAIST launched Vision 2031 last year to become a Global Value-Creative Leading University. The vision reaffirms our commitment to serve the world better through research breakthroughs and fostering future talents.

I am pleased our Vision 2031 perfectly aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Initiatives.

I also appreciate that the THE is applying a new approach to evaluate universities. I believe this will be the first step for reflecting universities’ pursuits to do great things that will make the world better place. The three areas in this new ranking, research, stewardship, and outreach are very relevant for reflecting emerging universities’ activities and their impacts. Ladies and gentleman,

KAIST has continued to conduct pioneering research to sustain the planet for decades. Our stewardship of science and technology is already well proven and has helped Korea develop into a leading global economy.

Our global partnerships expand across 300 institutions in 60 countries and will be the seeds of outreach to the global community.

Most notably, KAIST, which was founded with a six-million US dollar loan from USAID fifty years ago, has now reached out to Kenya to open their first advanced science and technology institute, Kenya-KAIST. We will proudly continue this virtuous circle to sustain global growth and our impact will continue to grow.

I hope many other institutions will join us in this effort to take on more social responsibility and work to be valuable members of the global community.

Let me close my speech by welcoming you all once again and extend an invitation for you to explore our beautiful campus and the City of Daejeon during your stay.

Thank you very much.

April 3, 2019

Sung-Chul Shin
President of KAIST