Opening ceremony of the Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology The opening ceremony of the Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology took place on March 23rd at the Yonsei International Campus. In his opening speech, Director Lee Ki-tae said, “If the country’s future growth depends on science and technology, everything is essentially dependent on humans. The Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology will foster IT leaders through open innovation, joint research with domestic and international university research institutes.” He added, “There is no future to a country that does not seek and solve human matters”. As for the role and responsibility of the Institute, Director Lee said, “The Institute is established to nurture the best CEOs in the convergence era—equipped both with capability and good personality. It will also provide state-of-the-art technology to small and medium businesses.” In his keynote speech, Chairman of KT (formerly Korea Telecom) Lee Seok-chae elucidated the features of a leader in the convergence era. He pointed out that convergence of different technology, academic fields, and communities is the competitive edge of the heroes in the second IT revolution era—Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg. Mr. Lee quoted the case of App Store, which “has created a gigantic single contents market that not only oversteps national boundaries, but connects the world 24 hours as well”. He further indicated that convergence is no longer the exclusive possession of the entertainment industry, but rather the impetus for business growth and human network. Mr. Lee asked the young audience to be challenging and open-minded. After explaining Apple’s global outsourcing and faithful relationship with its contractors, Mr. Lee stated that respect toward others and strong faith will be Korea’s competitiveness in the era of convergence technology. : Intensive Research in Main Convergence Technology Areas Since last August when the Ministry of Knowledge Economy had designated Yonsei University as the first to undertake the ‘IT Outstanding Talent Foster Project’, Yonsei has taken the initiative, an important step, towards nurturing creative convergence talents or ‘da Vinci’ talents. As the Korean version of the MIT Media Lab, the ‘IT Outstanding Talent Foster Project’ attempts to nurture convergence talents through research-based education. To achieve this, the Yonsei has established the School of Integrated Technology, which has for Spring 2011 accepted 16 undergraduates and 22 graduate students, including the developer of ‘Seoul Bus’ App Yoo Ju-wan and Science Olympiad winner Cho Ah-jin. Yonsei has also launched the Institute of Convergence Technology. The keyword of the new education is convergence. The Global Convergence Engineering Department is determined to increase project-directed courses and offer TIF (Technology + Imagination + Future) courses which deal with wide ranges of fields such as technology, art, humanities, social science, and design. These courses are intended to enhance the abilities of creative problem solution and the perception of future conflicts. The Institute of Convergence Technology is aimed to conduct research studies in the following main IT convergence areas related to life quality of the future—Smart Living (u-health, environment-friendly energy, nano-bio, nano sensing network), Smart City (green energy, smart construction, high-efficient city planning), and Smart Interface Technology (intelligence vehicle, environmental perception sensor).