The 2017 Bigaram International Exposition of Electric Technology (BIXPO 2017), which ended at the Kim Dae-joong Convention Center and Holiday Inn in Gwangju on Nov. 3 after a three-day run, attracted 268 Korean and foreign companies and institutions.
True to its theme “Connect Ideas, Meet the 4th Revolution,” the BIXPO 2017 looked into the direction of the energy industry as well as future tech trends and convergence in the context of the trends of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The BIXPO 2017 was the largest-ever with the release of new technologies heralding the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The BIXPO 2017 was the third rendition of the exposition on the “Era of Energy 4.” The expo debuted in 2015 to build the Bigaram Innovative City of Naju into a global energy hub.
Power and energy experts speaking at the BIXPO 2017 stressed the need for making new values through unlimited connection tearing down the conventional boundaries like going beyond physical connection and paradigm shift.
CEO Don Tapscott of Tapscott Group, an author of the book “Blockchain Revolution,” gave a special lecture in which he predicted an era when energies will be traded through virtual network like bitcoin.
At the CTO Forum on Day 2, three utilities companies from Korea, the United States, and Japan introduced energy convergence management platforms. Countries are scrambling to take an upper hand in a race to build a platform.
Michael Howard, president and CEO at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), called for the design of integrated power grid to enhance energy efficiency. Changes the power industry has made for the past 25 years will be like how it will unfold in the next eight years, he added. Howard set five major values – consumers, electricity efficiency, diverse energy resources, integrated power grids, and digitalization. In an interview at the end of the exhibition, KEPCO President Cho Hwan-eik said the BIXPO was a global power exhibition, the first and largest-ever one. KEPCO plans to brace for the future with power big data solutions rather than the conventional protection regime of monopolized power market, he said.
The BIXPO 2017 saw its exhibition space become 30 percent wider than BIXPO 2016 by expanding to an outside hall and 2nd floor conference rooms. The upcoming exhibition drew more than 260 exhibitors, 40 percent more than last year, organizers said.
The BIXPO 2017 was divided into three themes ― new technology exhibition, international invention fair and international conference. The previous New Technology Exhibition came in four themes ― new energy business, new climate change, Inno-Tech Show, and SME Shared Growth Fair.
During the BIXPO 2017, there were seven New Technology Exhibition pavilions, including three new ones ― Energy 4.0 Pavilion, Smart City & Start-Up Pavilion, and New Power Generation Tech Pavilion, all corresponding to the trends of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The Energy 4.0 Pavilion showcased such new technologies as the operation of an intelligent power grid using A.I. and big data, as well as electric facility check-ups using robots and drones. Some 100 major foreign smart city companies and Korean smart city startups featured the latest technologies and products at the Smart City & Start-Up Pavilion.
The new Power Generation Tech Pavilion attracted Korean power companies, including KHNP, which showed off the latest new technologies, including those related to CO2 reduction.
The Invention Fair, held on the second floor of the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center, came in four themes, including KEPCO Invention Fair. As BIXPO 2017 exhibitors were allowed to participate in an invention contest, the competition got stiffer this year. Three categories ― power, energy, and ICT& eco-friendliness ― were added to this year’s invention competition.
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