On November 28, the very first International Conference on Science & Technology for Society (ICSTS) was held at the El Tower in Seoul from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This conference was hosted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) and jointly organized by seven institutions, including KAIST and National Research Foundation of Korea, across the nation. Some 200 participants took part in the conference to hear experts talk about using science and technology to create a better society.

▲ Rober Wimmer, one of the keynote speakers at ICSTS | Wan Ju Kang
With the ambitious title “Master Class – Building a Warmer Society,” the first ICSTS was officially inaugurated with opening remarks from Jeongtae Kim of MSIP. His discourse was on the progressive development of research and development (R&D) for solutions to social problems. He illustrated that progress in science and technology is not only for its own sake but also for its positive contributions in overcoming social obstacles or resolving globally influential issues such as poverty, global warming, illiteracy, malnutrition, aging, and rising energy demands – all in all, improving the general quality of life.
The opening remarks was followed by four keynote speeches that centered on utilizing the rapid progress of science and technology to solve social problems mentioned above. For example, Kiyoaki Murakami, a research fellow from Mitsubishi Research Institute, viewed the abundance of resources these days as a problem of its own – it leads to large-scale pollution. Abundance of resources can be considered an unwanted effect of technological development, but at the same time, a motivation for the development of environment-friendly and cost-coefficient technologies.
After the keynote speeches and the luncheon was the case studies session, which welcomed nine speakers to share their own reflections and experience in their respective fields of study. One of the speakers was KAIST undergraduate Young Jae Kim, also an organizing committee member of KAIST’s own International Conference for the Integration of Science, Technology, and Society (ICISTS-KAIST), who contributed his and ICISTS-KAIST’s vision of what an appropriate relationship among science, technology, and society is.
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