Several parallel sessions were prepared to solidify the relationship between academia and industry in the IT field and to introduce the state of the art of information technology in Korea.
ICU is the only participating Korean university in this eminent forum. Even though ICU doesn't have a long history and high name value in Korea, the university's distinguished systems .
such as its efficient three-semester system, early graduation system and English-only lectures . attract the attention of many other countries. There are 146 other members of this forum, representatives from ITrelated organizations in education, research, and industry. Notable were universities from 25 different countries, including the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, Stevens Institute of Technology, Queen Mary University of London, the International Institute of IT - Delhi.
During the second forum 150 participants from all around the world discussed efficient ways to improve the quality of IT education and presented their university's advanced IT education system. Especially, ICU introduced Korea's state of the art WiBro and Mobile technologies which have been steadily developing with an average rate of 19% over the last 10 years.
IFUP-ICT 2006 started with a notable opening ceremony. Prominent IT leaders delivered their addresses at this forum. Not only did Microsoft founder and Chairman Bill Gates and Google's Vice President Allan Eustace speak but also Kim Shin-bae, CEO of SK Telecom and D.P. Kothari, ex-president of IIT gave their key note speeches at this forum.
Especially interesting was MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte, a scholar who wrote the famous bestseller Being Digital. This book has been translated into 40 languages and published around the world.
Actually, he was scheduled to speak at the opening ceremony but due to his heavy schedule he could not attend. However, in the late afternoon he delivered an impressive address for participants who waited for his lecture.
He commented on company growth by saying: "Google was born at a small laboratory in Stanford University as a small fry, but it has been developing towards world-class global Internet company.
Universities are an important consumer and producer of high quality information. They also fill a critical role in educating tomorrow's technology and business leaders. Additionally Google will select outstanding students and elite people through Internship and Coop programs in the amicable relationship with Korean universities."
Remarkable foreign speakers who participated in this forum included the ex- President of IIT Kothari, President of Deutsche Telekom Fachhochschule Leipzig Volkmar Bruckner and President of St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunication Alexander Gogol. On the other hand, domestic speakers included the President of POSTECH Park Chan-mo, the Head of International Cooperation Agency for Korea IT (ICA) Kim Sun-bae, and the President of IBM Korea Lee Hwisung. Visitors were especially impressed by the advanced technologies of ETRI and Nano Fab.
During the forum, President of ICU Huh Un-na commented: "We hold this forum to strength relationship between IT leader industry and university all over the world. And we'll put more significant on the role of university and institute where educating 21 century's IT leaders. And also we expect that through this forum we could find effective ways to promote and advance global IT industry."
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