SK Seeks Detailed Solutions for Deep Change at Icheon Forum

Chairman Chey Tae-won Emphasizes "Deep Change Possible Only by Predicting Future Changes Through Learning Opportunities Like Icheon Forum"
This Year's Icheon Forum Operated as a 'Discussion Venue' to Find 'Solutions' in Lectures for Understanding 'Deep Change'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Group’s representative knowledge management platform for ‘Deep Change’ (fundamental innovation), the ‘Icheon Forum,’ will be held online for three days starting from the 18th.

SK Group announced on the 17th that during the three-day ‘Icheon Forum 2020 Main Forum,’ which involves SK CEOs, employees, global scholars, and external experts, they will seek detailed growth solutions for SK through practical and concrete discussions and expert lectures.

Considering social distancing due to COVID-19, the forum will be conducted online from the SKMS Research Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, featuring panel discussions on five topics: environment, innovation in work methods, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation (DT), happiness map, and social value management account (SV Account). Lectures and discussions by overseas scholars will also be held online.

The Icheon Forum began in 2017 when SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won proposed that “in a rapidly changing economic and social environment, companies need a discussion platform to develop insights to understand technological innovation and socio-economic demands and prepare for the future to avoid sudden death.”

This year’s Icheon Forum has changed not only in format by being held online but also in operation. While the forum focused on lectures to ‘understand’ the need for deep change until last year, SK explained that this year it will be discussion-centered to find practical methodologies for deep change beyond mere understanding.

To this end, SK CEOs, employees, and external experts will participate in panel discussions on five topics, engaging in open debates to find actionable solutions for deep change.

For example, on the opening day, the environmental panel discussion titled ‘Deep Change for a Clean Earth and Sustainable Growth,’ lasting 150 minutes, will cover specific discussions such as ▲commitments from members on the importance of the environment and the necessity of environmental business ▲eco-friendly practices in daily life ▲directions for change to implement environmental business.

Throughout the three days of the Icheon Forum, lectures by overseas scholars are also scheduled. On the 18th, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of ‘The Black Swan,’ and Chris Anderson, CEO of 3D Robotics and proponent of the ‘Long Tail Theory,’ will give lectures and hold discussions on ‘The Path of Innovation after COVID-19.’ On the 19th, lectures by Jeff Dyer, co-author of ‘Innovation Capital’ and professor at Brigham Young University, USA, and Nathan Furr, professor at INSEAD, France, are planned. On the 20th, Tal Ben Shahar, a happiness consultant famous in the US Ivy League, will deliver a lecture.

Prior to the main forum, SK Group held ten sub-forums from May 21, starting with the first happiness map sub-forum, until the 22nd of last month, allowing employees to contemplate and prepare for deep change methodologies themselves.

Regarding this, Chairman Chey said in an internal broadcast on the 11th, “Through learning opportunities such as the Icheon Forum sub-forums and main forum, understanding how the world moves allows us to know what will happen next year,” adding, “Since the discussions at the Icheon Forum are linked to next year’s plans through CEO seminars, it is necessary for members to think and reflect on their own.”

An SK official said, “We plan to conduct the forum not only in a formal format but also in talk show or broadcast news styles to create a comfortable atmosphere for sincere conversations,” adding, “If all SK members actively utilize knowledge platforms like the Icheon Forum, it will serve as a starting point not only for self-development but also for business model (BM) innovation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.