The Power of Technology and Knowledge (ICISTS 2017 Brochure)
Technology has immense power. It affects the economy, politics, and culture as well. The advent of new technologies requires that we learn to interact with them. “Draw to the Web: Interactions in Society,” the theme of ICISTS, makes me proud of our students for bringing up the most intriguing issues including the megatrends of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We see mounting challenges and opportunities that the young future-shapers will face and think through in fathoming these interactions and their ramifications.
The world is now grappling with the implications of the transformation that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing about. The scope and the speed of its transformation, aroused by emerging technologies, will be beyond our imagination. More than ever, the world is hyper-connected. Superintelligence will dominate us and we will be forced to forge new interactions with Robo Sapiens, i.e. AI robots. The convergence approach of multi-and interdisciplinary research and scholarship will be a vital part of creating new knowledge and technology.
We harness knowledge and technology to make the world better, but it sometimes sounds like a goal that is too elusive to reach. An increasing number of new technological breakthroughs are unfolding now. Likewise, a significant number of new technologies fail to make any positive impact and just vanish. We are also at a critical juncture wondering how to deploy technology and knowledge in a way to sustain ‘inclusive growth’ in our society. When we collaborate beyond borders and across academic boundaries, it will prompt more innovative ideas which will change the world.
Your vision and ideas for these complex issues will help forge new developments in exploring new interactions for the sake of sustainable growth for our society. I hope you will experience enlightening moments through active interactions with your global colleagues. Working together, you can envision a better future.
I would like to thank all the speakers and participants for their time and contributions. I also appreciate the members of ICISTS who are making unwavering efforts to enrich KAIST’s globalization initiatives. It is my sincere wish that this conference will continue to serve as a global platform for innovative ideas which will make a meaningful impact on the world.
Best of luck to you all.
Sung-Chul Shin
President KAIST
=================================================================================================================
ICISTS Welcoming Address
July 31, 2017
Good morning everyone!
My name is Sung-Chul Shin, President of KAIST. It is my great pleasure and privilege to welcome all of you participating in the ICISTS 2017 this morning.
On behalf of KAIST, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the speakers and participants for your time and contributions.
In particular, my special thanks go to the distinguished keynote speakers who flew long ways to Korea despite very tight schedules. I am sure that their insightful speeches will greatly influence and challenge the young students attending this conference.
I also appreciate the members of ICISTS who are making unwavering efforts to organize this exciting conference.
The theme of ICISTS, “Draw to the Web: Interactions in Society,” makes me proud of our students for bringing up the most intriguing issues including the megatrends of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
We see mounting challenges and opportunities that the young future-shapers will face and think through in fathoming these interactions and their ramifications.
The world is now grappling with the implications of the transformation that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing about. The scope and the speed of its transformation, aroused by emerging technologies will be beyond our imagination.
More than ever, the world is hyper-connected.
Superintelligence will dominate us and we will be forced to forge new interactions with AI robots, which I call Robo Sapiens.
The convergence approach of multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research will be a vital part of creating new knowledge and technology.
An increasing number of new technological breakthroughs are unfolding now. Likewise, a significant number of new technologies fail to make any positive impact and just vanish.
We are also at a critical juncture wondering how to deploy technology and knowledge in a way to sustain ‘inclusive growth’ in our society.
When we collaborate beyond borders and across academic boundaries, it will prompt more innovative ideas which will change the world.
Your vision and ideas for these complex issues will help forge new developments in exploring new interactions for the sake of sustainable growth for our society.
I hope you will experience enlightening moments through active interactions with your global colleagues. Working together will help you envision a better future. It is my sincere wish that this conference will continue to serve as a global platform for innovative ideas of our young students which will make a meaningful impact on the world.
Next, I would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce KAIST for the foreign participants
KAIST is the first and top science and technology university in Korea, which was established 46 years ago under the special foundation law.
It was time for Korea to try to transform from an agricultural country to an industrialized one. KAIST was tasked with a mission to foster highly talented manpower in science and technology and conduct research, both of which were desperately needed at that time for the nation’s development.
In those days, elite students went abroad for advanced studies and didn’t come back to Korea: Brain-drain was a serious problem in our country at that time.
To retain and educate the elite students in Korea, KAIST provided a special benefit package for its students including full scholarship, free room and board, an allowance, and waiving of military obligation for male students.
To recruit the best faculty from home and abroad, KAIST offered salaries three-times higher than other Korean universities.
KAIST has fulfilled the mission passionately and faithfully, thus far producing over 58,000 graduates including nearly 12,000 doctoral degree holders.
Their contributions at universities, research institutes, industries, and government, have driven the progress of science and technology in Korea, and have played a pivotal role in the nation’s industrialization and information revolution during the past half-century.
For instance, KAIST doctoral graduate employees account for more than 20% in major Korean companies including Samsung, LG, and Hyundai.
KAIST is now preparing for the next half-century for another quantum leap. As the first alumnus President since the foundation of KAIST, I have proposed a new vision of KAIST-“Global Value-Creative World-Leading University.”
To realize this vision, KAIST should foster knowledge-creative global leaders and produce world-leading research achievements for the progress of science and technology and human civilization in the world.
I strongly encourage many foreign students here today to plan your graduate studies at KAIST in the near future. If you are admitted, you will be supported with full scholarships.
Let me close my speech here by wishing all the participants to have a wonderful and memorable time during the conference.
Thank you very much!
Sung-Chul Shin
President, KAIST