This year’s event is differentiated in terms of awareness increase in general public, arrangement of App Zone, and provision of business meeting opportunities by linking with the inaugural conference of the UN-GGIM.
Smart Korea 2011 is to be held between October 26 and 29 at the KINTEX Convention Center, located in Ilsan City, Gyeonggi Province. The industrial exhibition and international conference will take a look at the future vision of the geospatial industry, suggesting how to better utilize space information in the everyday lives of people, public administration services and other fields. The expo will be hosted by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and managed by the Korea Cadastral Survey Corporation, Korea Land Housing Corporation, Korea Association of Surveying & Mapping and Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.
Bridging the World
The event, the fourth to be held, is a convergence industrial exhibition with geospatial data as its main topic. Visitors will be able to see the newest technologies and products, as well as get access to the most up-to-date information and trends. “Korea is not a vast nation, and this is kind of a merit in terms of establishing spatial databases covering the entire country,” said Kim Geon-tae, who is heading the secretariat, adding, “At this year’s occasion, we are aiming to create a link between our advanced technological strengths and their application for higher industrial competitiveness.”
The yardstick for geospatial industrial competitiveness lies in the variety of content. Though unmanned airplanes and vehicles and robots are usually mentioned as examples of spatial data utilization, the scope is much wider to include, e.g., participatory geographic information systems (GIS) facilitating public communication during the course of policy decision making.
The expo’s slogan this year is Bridging the World, Smart Korea. It symbolizes the fact that space information will widen the scope of living while expediting business and elevating people’s living standards.
Unconventional Expo to Break the Mold
Smart Korea will have three points of differentiation. The first is its endeavor to increase awareness of and consensus about geospatial data through open lectures. Last year, the exhibition revolved around those in the industry and government agencies. However, the new programs added this year will help the general public grasp the concept of the geospatial industry with greater ease.
The second is the App Zone, in which a number of smartphone applications related to spatial data will be on display. These days, many smartphone users are availing themselves of location applications. In view of their increasing popularity, the expo will feature a dedicated exhibition space, allowing visitors to learn more about this fast-growing segment.
The last point is the business meeting opportunities it provides in link with the inaugural conference of the UN-GGIM, or the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management, co-hosted by the UN and the National Geographic Information Institute of Korea. The conference is scheduled from October 24 to 26, right ahead of the expo, to better tackle the problems like the Sendai earthquake, avian flu and tsunami disaster in Indonesia on the international community level by means of geospatial data. At Smart Korea 2011, three international seminars will be held as part of the UN-GGIM conference, providing Korean companies with a valuable opportunity to expand their global partnership networks.
Programs to Increase Awareness of Geospatial Data Industry
Also available will be a variety of interesting and useful programs for visitors. Prominent figures from both home and overseas will grace the occasion, sharing their knowledge about geospatial technologies and industrial trends. The conference, consisting of keynote speeches, expert seminars and public seminars, will run from the first to the third day. Target-specific programs will also be featured, including a job fair and geospatial idea contest, along with fun-oriented events like Find the Tab and Running Man.
Still, the highlight of the four-day event will be the exhibition featuring cutting-edge technologies under the title “Smart Service, Life Up,” The exhibition will introduce the various fields and ways space information is employed and help visitors better understand what the geospatial industry is. The opening ceremony will be attended by invited foreign keynote speakers, while a medal award ceremony and numerous other shows and performances will turn the expo into an exciting festival.
“We are hoping to contribute to the smartphone-based popularization of spatial data and present the wide-range of content such data can take the form of,” said the secretariat.
Fresh and Novel Ideas on View at Geospatial Data Idea Contest
As part of Smart Korea 2011, a geospatial idea contest was held between August 1 and September 25, resulting in a significant number of brilliant and practical ideas. The examples that have made the first cut in the mash-up category include a Geospatial Data-based Global Housing Service that provides information on housing welfare and security indices and harmful environmental elements; an Integrated Government Approval Search Utilizing Spatial Analysis; a system for more efficient no-driving-day management; a method for better selecting elderly protection zones; and a GIS-based Interactive Online Urban Master Planning System that allows higher public accessibility to urban planning.
Those in the app planning category are like the followings: Don’t Pass By to report a person laid down in the street to the police or a fire station; Safe Taxi Service Using QR Code for preventing crimes in taxis and helping find lost articles by means of a built-in QR cord; Path Guidance for the Disabled; Personalized Location, Traffic Info and Alarm Service based on a specific user’s pace and expected time of mass transit arrival; information service application to follow vehicles of the path of their lead car by using spatial data, etc.
Final participants are scheduled to demonstrate their ideas at the expo venue on October 26. Following an open peer review, three and six award winners will be selected in the mash-up and application planning categories, respectively.