Chairman Hwang Kyu-yeon of Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOK) talks with representatives of the German research and certification institutions including Friedrich Nauman Foundation and Fraunhofer Geselschaft and German Amb. Stephan Auer to Korea at the 4th Industrial Revolution and the Smart Industrial Complex Int’l Seminar held on Nov. 9. (Photo: Kicox)

Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX) on Nov. 9 hosted the 4th Industrial Revolution and the Smart Industrial Complex Int’l Seminar at the President Hotel in Seoul to discuss the ways to cope with the industrial revolution.

A number of German research institutions and certification institutes including German Amb. Stephan Auer stationed in Seoul, officials from the Friedrich Nauman Foundation and Fraunhofer Geselschaft, and TUV SUD participated in the seminar to show what Korea should do to cope with the future of the smart industrial complexes.

In the first session, Christian Bolovuner, head of the International Research Headquarters of Fraunhofer Factory Automation Research Institute, spoke on the Strategy to Strengthen the Corporate Competitiveness in the Age of Digitalization while Helke Knover, head of the Korea Support Headquarters of TUV SUD spoke on the Corporate Reform Strategy in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

In the second session, Deputy Manager Suh Seung-chol of the B&R Automation Korea Inc. and Manager Moon Mun-chol of the Smart Industrial Complex Promotion Team each spoke on the automation examples of the B&R Industrial Automation and the Vision and Strategy for Smart Industrial Complex held by KICOX, respectively.

President Hwang Kyu-yeon said KICOX will manage industrial complexes, which share 70 percent of the industrial output in Korea, and 80 percent of Korean exports to turn themselves around to be smart industrial complexes to cope with the 4th Industrial Revolution.

KICOX will emerge as the representative organization for turning the industrial areas around to smart industrial complexes on the occasion of holding the seminar.

In the meantime, KICOX will clear up its ideas for turning itself around to be a smart industrial complex and head for an industrial complex with a high competitive edge over others; an industrial complex for mutual growth support; and an industrial complex for creating jobs. KICOX will strive to spread the smart industrial complex to all over Korea under the three key strategies.

Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX) is a specialized institution for industrial complexes dedicated to contributing to the development of the national economy by developing and managing industrial complexes nationwide and by supporting production activities of the companies operating there.

Ever since its establishment in 1964, KICOX has been developing and managing industrial complexes nationwide, with brisk operations of six nationwide-area headquarters and 18 branch offices, for the agency to play a pivotal role in boosting national and regional economies through the enhancement of the national manufacturing production rate, exports and employment.

Industrial Complex Cluster Program

KICOX has, since 2005, been pursuing the “Industrial complex cluster program” to strengthen the competitiveness of industrial complexes with an aim to raise the existing only production-oriented industrial complexes into knowledge-based clusters where virtuous cycles of creations and innovations can be created.

KICOX formed the “Mini cluster (MC)” as a main body of the Korean unique cluster style, which consists of small academia industry-research cooperation groups to promote specialized industries.

The 68 MCs nationwide formed depending on the characteristics of the regional industries contribute to both the capability strengthening of the regional-based enterprises and the development of the regional economies by forming academic-industrial networking and supporting cooperation.

Now more than 7,000 MC members of regional companies, colleges, institutes, and aid organizations are briskly participating in academic-industrial collaborative projects in an attempt to identify and resolve the hardships of companies. As of last year, they successfully carried out over 15,000 projects.

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