SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- Hyperconnectivity between people, devices and networks holds the key to the development of safe, cost-effective infrastructure in a future dominated by the “fourth industrial revolution,” experts said at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s annual meeting Friday.

In a seminar titled “The Era of 4th Industrial Revolution and Infrastructure” at ICC Jeju for the AIIB’s second annual meeting of the board of governors, business leaders and researchers presented their visions for the infrastructure of the future based on advancements in big data, connectivity and artificial intelligence.

KT’s Network Group President Oh Seong-mok spoke about the need for a new digital infrastructure consisting of the next-generation 5G network that would create “entirely new ways to do business, create new industries, and drive unprecedented economic and social growth.”

Describing hyperconnectivity permitted by 5G networks as the “digital oxygen of the fourth industrial revolution,” Oh said that “5G is not a mere upgrade from 4G, but rather a new infrastructure of a connected, intelligent world. What 5G really means is zero distance connectivity between people and connected devices.”

Wang Fei-Yue, vice president and secretary-general of the Chinese Association of Automation, said that hyperconnectivity and the development of artificial intelligence would evolve past the current system of networks to create a fifth set of industries consisting of parallel worlds that are physical and software-defined.

Through a digital infrastructure that allows these parallel worlds, Wang said the definition of IT will be able to move from information technology to what he called “intelligent technology.”

Lee Sang-keon, senior research fellow at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, focused on the impact of the advancement of technology on decision-making processes regarding infrastructure in Korea. 

Saying that it was time to move “from an opinion-based to an evidence-based” decision-making system, Lee noted the advantages of being able to instantaneously and continuously collect data from huge sample populations, and to share that data.

Moon Young-jun, the chief director of the Database Center of the Korea Transport Institute, emphasized the need to reduce the costs of infrastructure development and the role of the fourth industrial revolution in realizing cost effectiveness.

By using sensors and vehicle connectivity to create digital infrastructure for transport systems, he said road effectiveness and energy efficiency could be improved at much lower costs than what the public and private sectors in Korea had spent over the past 20 years to create the current system.

President Moon Jae-in noted in his congratulatory address to the AIIB board of governors that increased access and construction of these new, effective types of infrastructure would be the foundation for continued economic growth in Asia.

“To respond to the fourth industrial revolution, we will need to increase access to wireless internet networks, and build new information communication technology infrastructure including the Internet of Things and smart expressways. That is how Asia will be able to sustain more growth,” he said. 

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)