‘Fourth Industrial Revolution has already begun, bringing fundamental changes’

Ambassador Mohamed Alharthy of Oman in Seoul said, “Fourth Industrial Revolution has already begun bringing fundamental changes in existing industries and lifestyles due to so-called disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and the Cloud and Big Data.”

Speaking at the ICT Briefing Meeting hosted by the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on Dec. 7-8, 2017, Ambassador Alharthy, who is concurrently Dean of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps, stated that “in response to these changes, many countries are competing to take the lead in the revolution by creating such new industries as the Internet of Things, unmanned vehicles and wellness care as well as innovation in the manufacturing industry through the convergence with information and communications technology.”
Then he noted that Korea innovatively has been responding to such changes and trends through various means and plans, including the Presidential Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee which was officially launched in October by President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea. Excerpts from the speech of Ambassador Alharthy follow:

Excerpts from the speech of Ambassadsor Alharthy:
On behalf of the diplomatic corps in Korea, It is my great pleasure to address this gathering with few remarks. Firstly, we would like to express our thanks and appreciation to the ministry of science and technology and Pyoengchang Olympic committee for organizing this tour. It’s a pleasure for all of us to join this policy briefing on the 4th industrial revolution and ICT diplomacy.

It’s also great opportunity to visit Pyeongchang and experience PyeongChang Olympics facilities – especially for those who visit Pyeongchang for the first time. In fact some of us had the chance to visit Pyeongchang last month on a tour organized by MOFA through which we’ve seen impressive facilities of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Today we look forward to experience the Korean policies of the 4th industrial revolution and ICT.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, A technological revolution which is coming soon that will fundamentally change the way we live. The scale and scope of this change will be deep and broad enough that it will be incomparable to what humanity has yet experienced.
Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum said that we are at the beginning of a revolution that is fundamentally changing the way we live, work and relate to one another,
In fact, the Fourth Industrial Revolution had already begun bringing fundamental changes in existing industries and lifestyles due to the so-called disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, the Cloud and Big Data.
In response to these changes, many countries are competing to take the lead in the revolution by creating such new industries as the Internet of Things, unmanned vehicles and wellness care as well as innovation in the manufacturing industry through the convergence with information and communications technology (ICT).
As we have seen that Korea innovatively has been responding to such changes and trends through varies means and plans including the Presidential Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee which was officially launched on Oct by president Moon Jae in
We believe that with the wide experience of Korea in technology, supported by large companies such as Samsung, LG, KT, SK and others, besides the contribution of the R&D, the government plans and policies, in addition to the financial support and incentives, these will contribute to make Korea among the leading countries in the world in the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as self-driving cars, smart factories, drone-related industries and smart cities, based on intelligent infrastructure and green energy.
The Korean achievements in ICT achievements already visible which can be realized by visitors to Korea from first glance starting from smart and fast services in Inchon airport, driving through Seoul cities and top of the range services and by visiting Songdu, which is considered one of the top smart cities in the world and by visiting many places and museums that showcases the state of the art technology.
Today in our tour we were very impressed, enjoyed and had exiting time to experience many ICT and 5G technologies. To name few, the ICT pavilion including the AI robot, the VR snowboarding, the VR rollercoaster, the UHWD theatrea, the UHD and others. PyoengChang Olympic will showcase Koreas technological powers and products and cutting age technology. I believe the Athletes and visitors to various Olympic venues will be able to experience a wide range of advanced technologies and products including the 5G power game, the AI powered services, the VR sport experience, the IoT and UHD.
With no doubt that the applied advanced technologies and facilities beside the newly constructed roads, expressways and high-speed railway lines and KTX to PyeongChang from Seoul, Incheon and Gimpo will contribute to successful hosting of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic.
We assure you our continued support and cooperation of your government efforts for successful hosting of the games and to make PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic “Games of peace” and games of ICT.
We are confident that with Korean wide experiences, the PyeongChang Olympics and Paralympics will be a very successful world sport with wide participation. We also believe it will be great opportunity to attract tourism to PyeongChang and promote the Korean experience in ICT.
Once again, congratulation for hosting PyeongChang Olympic, thank you for this great initiative for organizing this presentation and for your hospitality, wish you Successful hosting, Olympics of ICT, peaceful Olympics which contribute to peace within the Korean peninsula and the world as a whole.
May peace be upon you all.
Thank you!