The annual World IT Show, the country’s largest information and communications exhibition, opened on April 17 for a three-day run at COEX Mall in Seoul’s Gangnam-gu District. Shown are visitors to last year’s event from April 19-23. (Ministry of Science and ICT)
By Israa Mohamed
An event in Seoul is showcasing the daily innovations of artificial intelligence (AI) at one place.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said it is hosting this year’s World IT Show (WIS) from April 17-19 at COEX Mall in Seoul’s Gangnam-gu District, displaying the latest items and services in information and communications technology (ICT).
As the nation’s largest exhibition of its kind, WIS shares the latest ICT trends and provides a glimpse into the sector’s future. Launched in 2008, the annual exhibition over the past 16 years has showcased the newest technologies.
A combined 446 domestic and foreign companies and organizations from 10 countries are taking part in this year’s event, whose theme is “Innovation in Everyday Life, Created by AI.”
Domestic corporations such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK Telecom, KT, Kia Corp., LG CNS and Kakao have teamed up to form a digital exhibition square with smaller companies like JJnet, which won an Innovation Award at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show of the U.S., and other up-and-coming digital startups like Little Cat, Graphene Square, Entre Reality and Skia.
This year’s exhibition shows items reflecting changes in daily life brought about by AI. An academic conference will feature seminars by entrepreneurs in each field on the future built by AI given its more penetrating role in society through fields like generative AI and AI semiconductors.
For foreign diplomats attending the exhibition, the ministry explained the nation’s digital policy and provided interactive experiences on Korea’s innovative AI goods and services.
Before the opening ceremony, the ImpaCT-ech Grand Prize for a digital innovation convergence technology and the WIS Innovation Awards for promising start-ups were given.
Samsung Electronics won the President’s Award for developing the world’s first 12nm-class 32Gb DDR5 DRAM, whose demand is surging due to AI. Six companies like EightTech that advanced technologies for AI-based robot resource selection and production of renewable raw materials received honors from the ministry.
“We will host the AI Summit Seoul next month and a discussion with world leaders on the safe use and development of AI,” Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong Ho said. “We will keep providing policy support to take a massive leap as an AI power and model country in the sector.”
ess8@korea.kr
