Academia IMID / IDMC 2006 Since currently in the information display field, competition is intensifying with cost reduction and technology innovation as topic of conversation, IMID/IDMC 2006 (The 6th International Meeting on Information Display & The 5th International Display Manufacturing Conference) will provide a good opportunity to reflect on national long-term plans and support in order for Korea to maintain technology superiority. As Taiwanese LCD manufacturers and Japanese PDP companies advance by leaps and bounds, Korean companies' phase in these fields is being shaken, according to Prof. Whang Ki-Woong, Seoul Nat'l University, who concurrently serves as Chairman of IMID/IDMC 2006, in an interview with the Korea IT Times. Concerning display industry's environment at home and abroad as well as Korea's position in comparison with neighboring competing countries, the chairman notes that technology power and price competitiveness are pivotal, introducing that in the case of Taiwan, Taiwanese LCD manufacturers have received unprecedented support from the government plus carrying out all sorts of joint R&D projects with the goal of global No. 1 position in LCD last year and Japan also is striving to recover its withered phase through development projects the government and business circles have invested jointly. Prof. Whang who notes that researches to develop large-sized next-generation display which is thin, light and whose consumption power is low, are under way all over the world, underscores: "Ultimately, how to convey information swiftly is most important in an information society like flexible display", mentioning his opinion regarding new display industry environment to materialize Ubiquitous Society. In regard to associated industry circles' technology development and market outlook, Whang stresses the importance of the core technology, pointing out that without the core technology, to maintain competition is difficult. In that respect, he urges the government to concentrate its efforts on securing the core technology, recognizing that the core technology is not built in a day and now also is never too late to accelerate our efforts to secure the core technology. In particular, Whang said that the government must strive to improve the point at issue, recognizing that Korea's dependence degree on foreign countries is considerably high in such fields as process equipment and major parts and thus there are not value-added anymore for us. Regarding expectation effect by IMID/IDMC 2006 which will be held from Aug. 22~Aug. 25, 2006 in Daegu EXCO as well as its utilization plan, the chairman expects that it will contribute to consolidating Korea's phase even more as a global power of portable mobile industry, new DMB industry, next-generation PC terminal and large-sized display industry etc. He further expected that Korea would be able to secure its position as an opinion leader of world display industry through a variety of programs such as particularly standardization conference, environment conference, and roadmap conference, adding that pan-national dimension's ripple effect is expected to be huge by assuming the leadership of initial growth. Referring to the globalization contribution of IMID/IDMC, Whang summarized it by saying, "As one index to show its globalization, IMID/IDMC has grown from 230 papers presentation of 7 countries in 2001 to 450 papers presentation of 20 countries this year and in terms of academic conference for paper announcement and information exchange or exhibition, IMID/IDMC has grown to be on a par with the American SID (Society for Information Display), Japan's IDW (International Display Workshop), and Europe's Euro Display both qualitatively and quantitatively.