Experts have discussed how Industry 4.0 changes business in Russia and Korea

The meeting was opened by the co-supervisors of the working group: Valery Golubev, Chairman of the Board of the National Gas Vehicle Association of the Public Joint Stock Company Gazprom; and Chae Wook , Professor of Kyung Hee University and former Director of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).

The former product-oriented business model becomes a thing of the past. Production reaches a new level after the introduction of cutting-edge technologies.

Valery Golubev, Co-Supervisor of the Working Group, Chairman of the Board of the National Gas Vehicle Association of the Public Joint Stock Company Gazprom

Nikolay Lukichev is the Ministry Counsellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in St Petersburg. He noted that diplomatic representatives have done effective work mending relations between the two countries. ‘Really friendly, partnership, and mutually beneficial relations begin when official democracy is supported by people. I am grateful that we have reached this stage,’ he said. Song Il Seok is Vice Consul of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in St Petersburg. He stressed the importance of discussing the results of the fourth industrial revolution and the necessity to consider issues related to its progress at an international level.

Technology is a driving force for developing business and state

Lee Sang Joon, Professor of Kookmin University, spoke about the situation with technological cooperation between Russia and South Korea. He said that Russia already has all the necessary conditions for a technological leap.

Lee Sung Woo, Head of the Research Department of the Korea Maritime Institute, answered the question of how new technologies would change the Far North and help to discover the potential of the Northern Sea Route. Reduction of transport costs for cargos between Asia and Europe depends to a large extent on the future of logistics in the Arctic region. The speaker expressed his belief that blockchain, artificial intelligence, and unmanned technologies will be very much in demand in Arctic Logistics.

Within the joint project on modernisation of the infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route, Russian fundamental knowledge in technology could find application in Korean developments.

Lee Sung Woo , Head of the Research Department of Korea Maritime Institute

The report of Aleksandr Ishkov, Deputy Head of the Department Head of Directorate of the PJSC Gazprom, was devoted to the future of hydrogen energy. Results of the tests carried out by Gazprom and European centres for research demonstrated that today hydrogen energy is the cleanest type of energy as there is no emission of carbon dioxide. Gazprom implements joint projects with the Korean Gas Company Kogas to: improve the efficiency of energy and heat production from hydrogen; and to develop safe production and transportation of hydrogen.

It is the second time that the representatives of the major companies of Russia and the Republic of Korea have met for joint work. Last year the event was held in the Gazprom Space Systems Centre.

Ruslan Khusniyarov, Manager of the Digital Transformation Programmes in Capital Construction of Gazprom Neft Science and Technology Centre, spoke about the use of technology in capital construction. He mentioned the areas for cooperation between Gasprom Neft and Samsung Engineering and the challenges the industry is facing.

Kim Il Koo, expert from the South Korea technological giant Samsung, described the main priorities of the company in the sphere of artificial intelligence. Last year the company opened the Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Moscow. It is already the seventh centre in the world. Similar centres work in Seoul, New York, Cambridge, Montreal, Toronto and in the Silicon Valley. In 2018 the company opened IoT Samsung Internet of Things Academy at St Petersburg University.

Stanislav Tkachenko, Professor of St Petersburg University, raised the topic of information security of the state in the context of developing 5G networks. He pointed out that the development of a new generation mobile networks has already become a stumbling block in international relations. New technologies have generated not only opportunities, but also cyber threats. ‘The Republic of Korea is an ideal partner for Russia,’ said Professor. ‘Our countries could work together to include cyber security issues into the interstate legal agenda.’

Applied solutions – from medicine to finance

Evgeny Shlyakhto is Director General of Almazov National Medical Research Centre and Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He presented a detailed report on the use of advanced technology in the diagnosis and treatment of circulatory system disorders at a leading cardiology institute. He added that medicine is being transformed from an evidentiary to a value-driven science based on an individualised approach. Kim Min Sung, expert from the telecommunication corporation KT, spoke about Russian–Korean cooperation in the sphere of medical technology and, in particular, about the joint project between KT Corporation and the clinics of Russian Railways. He also demonstrated how intellectual intelligence and 5G networks can be applied in healthcare.

Professor Andrei Terekhov, Head of System Programming from St Petersburg University, presented some of the design team’s new developments: from Software Defined Networking (SDN) to machine perception technologies. He also spoke about already implemented projects: from cost-effective video-sensors to animal recognition tools. Andrei Terekhov mentioned that the design team is open for cooperation, and is ready to solve applied tasks of any degree of complexity.

Sung Ho Hak is Head of the strategic department MECA (Mobility Electrification Connectivity Autonomous) of the Hyundai Corporation. He spoke about the future for unmanned vehicles, and described the main stages in developing unmanned technologies and the situation on the modern market for automobiles. He also added that the automobile corporation Hyundai and Yandex NV have joined forces to develop robotaxis.

FinTech is an industry where companies apply technologies and innovations to provide financial services.

Elena Sokolovskaia is Leading Research Associate from the Laboratory of Asian Economic Research, and Professor Sergei Belozerov is Head of the Department of Risk Management and Insurance of St Petersburg University. They described the perspectives for cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea in the sphere of FinTech & InsurTech. The researchers recalled the history of FinTech from the appearance of automated teller machines (ATMs) to bitcoin, and outlined the ecosystem of a new financial industry and the course for cooperation.