KOFST Marks 60th Anniversary, Unveils 'People-Centered Science and Technology' Vision and Launches Future Forum

[Financial News] The Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies marked its 60th anniversary by announcing the future vision, 'A People-Centered Future Opened Together Through Science and Technology,' and launching the 'Warm Future Forum.'
KOFST held a ceremony at the international conference room of the Korea Science and Technology Center on the 30th to mark its 60th anniversary and announce its future vision. The vision calls for broadly connecting science and technology professionals with the public, the government with industry, and local communities with the world. It also aims to ensure that advances in science and technology ultimately benefit people and society.
Grounded in public interest, openness, and trust, KOFST has established three key strategies: strengthening its role in policymaking to realize a science and technology powerhouse; building an open platform that resonates with stakeholders; and enhancing the value of science and technology in ways that earn the public's trust and engagement. It will pursue a total of nine initiatives, with three under each strategy.
Founded in 1966, KOFST is South Korea's largest science and technology alliance, bringing together 604 member organizations, 13 regional federations, and 20 overseas Korean scientists and engineers associations across 22 countries. Over the past 60 years, it has served as a central hub for the science and technology community by consolidating the voices of researchers and reflecting them in national science and technology policies, while supporting academic activities and exchanges among scientists and engineers at home and abroad.
KOFST will also launch the 'Warm Future Forum' as a first step toward turning its future vision into concrete discussions and policies. The forum will serve as an ongoing platform for examining the changes and social challenges brought about by rapidly advancing science and technology, gathering voices from the field and the wisdom of experts, and developing them into policy alternatives.
In particular, KOFST plans to give concrete form to the 'people-centered' value presented in its 60th-anniversary vision through discussions on science and technology issues and policies. The forum will operate separately from the 'Science and Technology 60-Year Future Forum,' which KOFST is organizing with the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) through April 2027.
The first special dialogue marking the launch will be moderated by Yoon Ji-woong, president of the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI). Participants will include Lim Woo-hyung, president of LG AI Research; Tae-Young Yoon, a professor in the Department of Life Sciences at Seoul National University; and Lee Seong-bin, a professor in the Department of Physics at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). They will discuss future prospects for AI, biotechnology, and quantum technology, convergence among these fields, and the challenges ahead in talent, infrastructure, institutions, and research culture.
Oh Nam Kwon, president of KOFST and a professor at Seoul National University, said, "If the past 60 years were a time for bringing together the strength of science and technology professionals, the next step is to turn that strength into change. We will connect the voices of researchers in the field to policy, the achievements of science and technology to people's lives, and the experience and wisdom of previous generations to the challenges and opportunities of the next generation."
[email protected] Yeon Ji-an Reporter