MOTIE Vice Minister Kim Jae-hong at the rostrum.(Photos: MOTIE)

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has inaugurated the Energy Tech Innovation Forum, which is designed to pursue the interdisciplinary integration of energy technologies and other industrial sectors.

Lee Hee-beom, chairman of the Korea Employers Federation (KEF), was selected as the chairman of the inaugural forum.

Among the roughly 200 people on hand at the inauguration ceremony on July 3 at the Josun Hotel in downtown Seoul were MOTIE Vice Minister Kim Jae-hong; Kim Yong-geun, president of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT); Ahn Sung-nam, president of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP); Lee, the chairman of the forum; Rep. Kim Eun-hee; Prof. Kim Tae-you, of Seoul National University; and Prof. Kim Woo-bong, of Kunkook University. Officials from major Korean energy companies such as KEPCO, Korea Gas Corp., Hyosung, and Fuel Cell Power as well as industry technology firms such as LG, Doosan, KT, and Changsung were also present. 

The establishment of the forum in which experts and officials from the energy technology and industrial technology sectors participate is aimed at developing new technologies and exploring new convergence technology markets in accordance with changes in the energy technology paradigm, MOTIE officials said. 

A few examples of interdisciplinary integration of the energy sector and other industrial fields are the decentralized energy supplying system, smart grid, and other new growth engine projects to improve energy efficiency and strengthen safety. 

Participants of the forum will establish an interdisciplinary network for building open innovation infrastructure in the energy technology field and discuss diverse agendas, according to the MOTIE officials. 

The forum will be divided into five subcommittees designed to materialize convergence technology, business models, and support policies in five segments with the potential of integrating energy technology and other industrial sectors: energy/parts & materials, energy/system, energy/ICT, energy/future technology (NT, BT, etc.), and energy/humanities & social sciences. 

MOTIE Vice Minister Kim Jae-hong; Kim Yong-geun, president of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology 

(KIAT); Ahn Sung-nam, president of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP); and 

KEF Chairman Lee Hee-beom, concurrently the chairman of the Energy Tech Innovation Forum, attend 

a ceremony to inaugurate the Energy Tech Innovation Forum at the Joseon Hotel on July 3.