■Date: December 1 (Thursday) 09:30～17:20

■Venue: Online live broadcast (http://www.futureforecast.net/main.php)

On December 1 (Thursday), KISDI held an online conference titled the ‘2023 South Korea Future Forecast Conference’ to discuss the ‘National Future Strategy as Revealed by Data’, which was broadcast live.

This forecast conference was organized by the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities, and Social Sciences (NRC). Top experts from the research institute affiliated with the NRC and outside organizations were invited to contribute their views on the current situation faced by South Korea and to explore - using actual data - the best short- and long-term national strategies for the future.

Composed of five parts, the conference opened with a keynote speech given by Chairperson Jung Hae-gu of NRC, and was followed by a congratulatory speech delivered by Secretary General Lee Kwang-jae of the National Assembly, and a welcoming address given by President Kwon Ho-yeol of KISDI, thus concluding Part 1. Part 2 followed with a special session on digital platform government, while Part 3 dealt with the research output of the NRC's research institute and Part 4 focused on future issues and outlooks. The conference ended with Part 5, which included a final debate by experts invited from various fields.

The keynote speech in Part 1 also included a presentation titled ‘Post Covid-19 Future Prospects’ by CEO Jacques Attali of Attali & Amp, and an enlightening lecture on the subject of ‘Future Strategy for South Korea in the Age of Techno-politics’ by President Lee Kwang-hyung of KAIST.

CEO Jacques Attali presented his analysis of global issues such as climate change, education, food supply, public health, and diplomacy, and supplemented them with his recommendations for the future of South Korea. President Lee Kwang-hyung discussed the kinds of future strategies that South Korea will need to adopt in the age of techno-politics.

In the special session of Part 2, the invited experts gave lectures on the subject of digital platform government, which is one of the government's main items of agenda. They discussed the government’s efforts to set up a digital platform government and ways in which public and private enterprises can create new values together.

In the Part 3 session on the research achievements of the NRC's research institute, KISDI, the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, and the Korea Transport Institute shared the results of their joint study on the development of a future forecasting model that utilizes the NRC Data Information System.

In the Part 4 session on future issues and outlooks, the experts presented their forecasts for various pending issues, starting with their predictions for the global economy in 2023, then moved on to a variety of important topics including defense, digital cooperation, climate change, digital talents, and the need to promote the adoption of data platforms, and explained how the country should respond to these issues.

During the final debate session, based on a comprehensive reexamination of the aforementioned issues, the experts explored the future strategy options that South Korea could or must pursue in order to advance towards a better future.

Chairperson Jung Hae-gu of NRC emphasized, "Future outlooks must be based on real data as much as possible and derived through scientific methods to ensure they do not become arbitrary in nature." He then added, "At a transitional time of massive and rapid changes, we at the NRC aim to provide as much support as possible in preparing measures for effectively dealing with the complex problems we will encounter both domestically and internationally."

President Kwon said, "This conference is a precious opportunity for experts from South Korea and abroad to examine the current situation in our country and predict the future based on real data. With these predictions, we will be able to discuss what kinds of strategies are needed for a better future.”