DAEJEON ― The Daejeon Global Innovation Forum, a global conference for innovation, kicked off Wednesday in Daejeon.

The two-day global conference is expected to serve as a venue for 1,000 scholars, government officials and company executives to discuss innovation in the technology and science fields, and sustainable economic growth.

“The forum will present practical solutions for a range of issues in pursuing innovation from how to establish better government policies through collaboration and communication, to how to facilitate cooperation between academia and corporates,” Seong Myeong-ki, chairman of Innobiz Association, a local organization to promote small and medium-sized firms and co-organizer of the forum, said in a press statement. 

Prominent participants from around the world delivered speeches on a wide range of subjects, such as the creative economy, technology convergence and support measures for start-ups to foster innovation.

Among the keynote speakers at the event was Richard A. Levao, president of Bloomfield College in the U.S.

Levao talked about social, philosophical and technological challenges in translating economic developments to the general public’s well-being.

Applauding South Korea for its economic development at a press meeting held prior to the forum on Tuesday, he said, “Korea is an example for the world that a nation with limited natural resources, geographical challenge because of the location of some very large and extremely prominent neighbors, and difficult historical problems to confront, can still end up being a shining example all over the world.”

The forum is coorganized by the Innobiz Association, UNESCO and World Technopolis Association, a nongovernmental organization to promote the exchange of technology and science among cities around the world.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)