Speakers touch on new future services at the 2018 Service Future Innovation Symposium. (Photos: KSA)

Chairman Lee Sang-jin of the Korean Standards Association (KSA) gives a speech at the 2018 Service Future Innovation Symposium.

The 3rd Service Week took place at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul from July 3 to July 6 under the theme “Changes in Jobs, Work and Life Balance and Human Relationships in the Wake of Technology Advancement and Service Innovation.” The event was hosted by the Korean Standards Association (KSA).
Service Week, which made its debut in 2016, takes place in the first week of each year to stress the importance of the service industry. The 2018 Service Future Innovation Symposium was held as part of the opening session of the 3Rd Service Week. The symposium, held under the theme, “Advent of New Services, Brought on by Technology Advancement,” attracted about 400 experts from industry, academia and research circles.
Prof. Lee You-jae of Seoul National University, a keynote speaker, said, “The development of such technologies as AI will have a great impact on companies and jobs.”
Lee analyzed the exact character of customers and corporate services. He predicted the utilization of diverse technologies to create ideal services. As for the “sharing economy,” Lotte Rental President Pyo Hyun-myung said, “What consumers want are experiences and use values, not ownership.” Businesses that can meet these values will be highlighted, he predicted.
For instance, he said, the future automobile industry will be like a provider by offering mobility solutions and user experiences, not owning automobiles. The industry paradigm will change from a method of buying and selling cars to businesses of buying and selling travel time and distance, and service products, reflecting lifestyles of the sharing economy, not buying things, will have to be considered, he said.
A ceremony to award certificates of the 2018 Korean Standard Service Quality Index (KS-SQI) top winners took place on July 4. The 2018 KS-SQI top award certificates went to SK Telecom, which won for the 19th consecutive year, Samsung Fire & Marine, which won for the 17th consecutive year, Samsung Electronics Service, which won for the 17th consecutive year, Samsung Life Insurance, which won for the 10th straight year, SK Planet, which won for the 11th straight year, SK Telink, which won for the 10th consecutive year, and KT, which won for the 10th consecutive year. In particular, InterContinental Hotel, Shinhan Investment, Shinhan Card, and LG Continental recovered to the top spot.
The 2018 KS-SQI was the 19th rendition of the survey. The service levels of the index were seen rising from an initial 54.8 points to 73.2 points this year. Of late, the quality of companies’ services showed signs of upward equalization thanks to improvements beyond expectations, so the index appeared to be stagnant in recent years, a KSA official said.
The event took on significance now that the providing of new services combining such technologies as AI and big data gets more importance to enhance the quality levels of services customers can sense with the advent of the 4th industrial Revolution, they said. An event to celebrate Service Day took place on July to award and give words of encouragement to individuals and companies who contributed to enhancing the quality of services. The event also coincided with a ceremony to award the 2018 Korea Service Grand Prix. The award went to sixteen companies, including Lotte E&C, Shinhan Life, and GS Retail.
A ceremony to present the 2018 Service Design Award took place at the COEX in Seoul on June 5. The KSA and the Korea Service Management Society jointly hosted the event to explore, share and spread creative service design practices in the service industry and public administration sectors.
The Service Design Award was launched in 2014. A combined 18 case entries were presented to the 2018 Service Design Award, the fifth rendition.