Seeking 'Loonshot' in the Post-Corona Era at KAIST

KAIST, Global Innovation Growth Forum
Hosted by Ministry of Economy and Finance, World Bank
Live Broadcast from 9th to 10th

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] An online international forum seeking innovative growth in the post-COVID-19 era and support for innovation in developing countries through startups will be held at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on the 9th and 10th.

KAIST will hold the 2nd Global Innovation Growth Forum (GIGF 2020) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the 9th and 10th at the Goyang Bitmaru Broadcasting Support Center. This forum will cover changes in innovation conditions and response strategies after COVID-19, focusing on digital innovation, green innovation, startup ecosystems and prospects, and innovation in developing countries. KAIST will lead two main topics: digital innovation (Session 1) and green innovation (Session 2).

The forum will begin with an opening address by Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, and a welcoming speech by Victoria Kwakwa, Vice President of the World Bank. The keynote speeches will be delivered by Park Soo-kyung, Science and Technology Advisor to the Presidential Office, and Vint Cerf, Vice President of Google, known as one of the fathers of the Internet. Following them, Keith Strier, Vice President of Nvidia, a semiconductor company for graphics, and Kamran Khan, founder and CEO of BlueDot, an AI medical platform company that was the first to predict the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, will give keynote addresses.

In the digital innovation session, Keith Strier will present on accelerating the convergence of digital and physical innovation for economic growth, discussing the acceleration of computing and semiconductor technology evolution and its impact on economic development. American economist Erik Brynjolfsson will address the social structure and economic outlook transformed by artificial intelligence.

Nicole Turner Lee, Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, a U.S. policy think tank, will explore the digital divide accelerated by digitalization and the increased global digital divide due to COVID-19, seeking ways to improve internet accessibility and availability for economically vulnerable groups.

CEO Kamran Khan will share his experience in building a global epidemic information platform based on seven years of integrating diverse global data, focusing on solutions and recovery plans for global epidemic threats using data. He will present opportunities created through big data, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies.

In the green innovation session, Jochen Schweitzer, Director of the German Energy Industry Association, will discuss the importance of renewable energy transition and the current status in Europe. Mark Woodall, Executive Director of GreenSync, will present the South Australian government's policies and exemplary cases on innovative digital solutions for efficient management of distributed energy resources. Finally, Vivek Pathak, Director for the Asia-Pacific region at the World Bank, will introduce the World Bank’s economic stimulus package for developing countries to ensure sustainability amid ecosystem crises in the COVID era.

On the second day, the 10th, a congratulatory video by Safi Bahcall, an American physicist, biotech entrepreneur, and author of "Loonshots," will kick off the event, followed by presentations and discussions on the prospects and roles of the global startup ecosystem in the post-COVID era and support for innovation in developing countries through startup collaboration.

This forum will be broadcast live on the KAIST YouTube channel. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided as the forum will be conducted in English due to its global nature.

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