Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and KISTEP held ‘2019 Technology Assessment Open Forum: The Future of Social Robots’ on 22nd November(Fri).
 

The forum was prepared to collect public opinions on ‘2019 Technology Assessment Result (draft)’ derived from ‘Public Forum’ consisted of ‘Technology Assessment Committee’ with experts in S&T and humanities·social science, and general pubic.

 
 

▲ Gyu-taek Oh (Director, Science, Technology and Innovation Office, MSIT)

 
 

▲ Sang-seon Kim (President, KISTEP)

 
 
Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and KISTEP select a new future technology with great ripple effects on technology·economy·society every year, assess its effects to overall society in advance, and conduct a technology assessment to prepare counterplan.
 

The technology assessment of this year was conducted for ‘Social robot technologies’ which are expected to contribute to various social problems derived from increasing single-person households and the elderly population.
※ Social robot technology: technology for a robot to perform social functions by interacting with people based on recognition and social communication abilities


The forum was began with the presentation of ▲Soon-Cheon Byeon (Director General, Office of S&T Policy Planning, KISTEP) for ‘The introduction and status of the technology assessment’, and the presentations of ▲Jaehong Kim (Head, HMI Research Group, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) for ‘Social robot technologies’, and ▲Jae-Shin Lee (Professor, School of Media and Communication, Chung-Ang University, and the chairman of technology assessment evaluation committee) for ‘2019 Technology assessment result (draft), and panel discussion followed.
 
 
 

 

▲ Soon-Cheon Byeon (Director General, Office of S&T Policy Planning, KISTEP)

 
 

▲ Jaehong Kim (Head, HMI Research Group, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)

 
 

▲ Jae-Shin Lee (Professor, School of Media and Communication, Chung-Ang University)
 

The panel discussion was led by ▲Jae-Shin Lee (Professor, School of Media and Communication, Chung-Ang University) who served as a chairman of the technology assessment committee, with 5 panels of ▲Jaehong Kim (Head, HMI Research Group, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute), ▲Ho Yeong Lee (Research Fellow, Department of ICT Strategy Research, Korea Information Society Development Institute), ▲Minwoo Kim (CEO, Hodoolabs), ▲June-Seek Choi (Professor, Department of Psycology, Korea University), and ▲Se-Joon Byeon (Representative of Public Forum), and open floor discussion with general public followed.


 

 

▲ Panel discussion

Director Oh explained the purpose of the forum saying that “As the development of science and technology causes complex ripple effects on overall society, advance preparation for new technologies to affect to our lives is required.” And he clarified that “The forum is expected to provide proper understanding and desirable development directions for social robot technologies, which perform social functions considered as human domain.”
 
 
In the opening address, president Kim mentioned that “It is very important to anticipate how new technologies will affect to technology·society·economy in advance, and to prepare systems and policies to respond it.” He added that “Based on the technology assessment on social robots with the wisdom of experts and general public, social robot technologies are expected to maximize positive effects of new technologies, and to provide positive ripple effects on the society by minimizing negative effects.
 
 
Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is planing to complement ‘2019 Technology assessment result (draft)’ by reflecting the opinions from the forum, and to report it to Presidential Advisory Council on Science & Technology.
 
 
 

▲ Photo from the Forum