In order to showcase Seoul’s vision, Seoul Business Agency will simultaneously operate “Seoul Tech Pavilion” and “K      STARTUP Pavilion” in Eureka Park in CES 2023′s main exhibition hall (LVCC) to present Seoul’s vision and support excellent startups’ overseas expansion at the same time.

Seoul Business Agency will create a ‘Seoul Tech Pavilion’ at the CES Main Hall (LVCC). The LVCC Pavilion is the main exhibition hall where exhibitions of companies representing global tech industries such as Samsung and Microsoft are held every year, and Seoul Tech Pavilion is the first country (urban) to secure a technology-oriented exhibition space.

The main themes of CES 2023 Seoul Pavilion, Mobility and ESG, are key areas for achieving the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s policy vision, and were presented as strategic goals of “Smart Transportation City Seoul, Eco-friendly Blue City Seoul” in “Seoul Vision 2030″. To this end, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is showing active steps such as establishing a new urban air transportation (UAM) system and preparing measures to implement Net Zero.

The Seoul Business Agency plans to introduce innovative technologies in the field of ‘mobility and ESG’ of the Seoul Technology Center in an open innovation method linked to large companies. To this end, it is conducting an open innovation program (6th Seoul Innovation Challenge) with four large domestic companies to jointly discover six startups with innovative technologies in related fields, support technology cooperation and commercialization, and support entry into the global market through CES joint exhibition.

For the selected companies of the K  STARTUP Integrated Center, the business areas are five areas: ▲ Mobility ▲ Bio/Healthcare ▲ ESG ▲ Manufacturing ▲ Data. It is expected to raise attention in Eureka with an integrated and expanded scale compared to the previous year.

Selected companies will receive one-stop integrated services from pre-consulting for CES, on-site exhibition and interpretation, IR presentation, and follow-up. In particular, 17 companies achieved the CES 2023 Innovation Award by conducting consulting training for the Innovation Award awarded to companies with innovative technologies and aesthetic designs in CES.

Hyun-woo Kim, CEO of the Seoul Business Agency (SBA), said, “We plan to present Seoul’s future vision of changing into technology at CES, the world’s largest IT exhibition, while actively supporting innovative startups representing Seoul’s startup ecosystem.”

We listened to the planning purpose, concept, and components of Seoul Pavilion through an interview with Kim Hyun-woo, CEO of Seoul Business Agency, who planned the operation of Seoul Pavilion at CES2023 in January 2023.

(Seoul Business Agency is responsible for supporting the overall field of startups and small and medium-sized enterprises in Seoul. Their main tasks include fostering companies as global companies, supporting companies’ investment, supporting companies’ sales growth, strengthening companies’ technological competitiveness, fostering companies’ human resources, supporting companies’ employment, fostering the content industry, and revitalizing industrial bases.)

CEO Kim Hyun-woo explained Seoul Pavilion as follows.

Seoul Business Agency is planning to present a ‘technology-changing vision of Seoul’ through CES (Consumer Electronics Show), the world’s largest tech exhibition. In addition, Seoul Business Agency is planning to introduce promising companies in Seoul to the global market and support their growth. Seoul Business Agency has made various efforts and attempts every year, but the reason why it supports promising companies in Seoul through CES 2023 is to secure Seoul’s global competitiveness.

Seoul Business Agency decided to run Seoul Pavilion at CES 2023, the world’s largest tech exhibition, to establish Seoul’s status as a global brand and foster unicorn companies in new industries by exhibiting promising innovative technologies and promoting policies such as Seoul’s Vision 2030.

Seoul Pavilion planned to operate 2 exhibition halls simultaneously, consisting of “Seoul Tech Pavilion (Main Hall : LVCC)” that displays Seoul’s future vision and innovative technologies, and “K-STARTUP Pavilion (Eureka Park)” that displays startup technologies representing Seoul’s startup ecosystem.

I think it is very meaningful not only for Seoul Business Agency but also for various Korean companies and cities preparing for CES 2023.

Seoul Business Agency is planning to form Seoul Tech Pavilion at LVCC (North Hall), the main exhibition hall of CES, and to present Seoul’s vision as a tech hub and Seoul’s image as a Smart Transportation/Green City through open innovation between major companies and SMEs.

Seoul Tech Pavilion is an exhibition hall that shows ‘Mobility & ESG’ technology that represents Seoul’s future lifestyle. Major companies such as “Korea Aerospace Research Institute, HANCOM InSpace, Lotte Chemical, and S-Oil,” which have core technologies of “Mobility & ESG,” participated, and SMEs that conducted open innovation with major companies participated.

Another exhibition hall, K-STARTUP Pavilion, will be operated by Seoul Business Agency, Seoul Digital Foundation under Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development under Ministry of SMEs and Startups.  These 3 public institutions create and operate 50 promising SMEs’ exhibition halls, jointly selecting companies that apply for participation and coordinating with companies that will participate in the CES2023 exhibition hall in advance. In addition, each of the 3 public institutions divides the budget to efficiently utilize resources, and integrally promote administration such as the operation of the exhibition hall through role sharing. 17 of the 50 companies participating in the K       STARTUP Pavilion have already won the Innovation Awards organized by CES and will showcase Seoul’s excellent technologies.

The K-STARTUP Pavilion consists of 2 spaces,Theme Zone and Tech Zone. Theme Zone will be equipped with a large stereoscopic screen (8m*4m) to showcase anamorphic and 3D images that can realistically realize the future vision of Seoul. UAM,drones, and autonomous vehicles will be presented dynamically through media
art (anamorphic) technology, and the city’s future mobility vision will be delivered through storytelling.

Tech Zone will display innovative technologies from major companies and SMEs in the field of “Smart Mobility” and “Clean Energy” linked to Seoul’s future vision.

“Smart Mobility” space will display urban aviation mobility (UAM) to implement “Smart Transportation City, Seoul,” solar drone technology, low-orbit communication satellites to build infrastructure for smart mobility, and information processing technology of video data through the satellites.

“Clean Energy” space will introduce eco-friendly solutions applicable to future mobility vehicles and infrastructure by creating videos related to hydrogen energy, carbon capture, next-generation batteries, clean energy supply technology in downtown Seoul, and eco-friendly high-tech materials.

It is worth looking forward to the move of Seoul Business Agency, which is doing various things for promising startups and SMEs in Seoul.

SOPHIA KIM

ASIA JOURNAL