Seoul City Opens People-Centered Advanced Technology Exhibition 'Smart Life Week'

ICT Expo with Participation from 72 Countries and 115 Cities
Preparing a 'Showroom' to Experience People-Centered Future Cities
"A Global Platform for Sharing Companionship and Attractive Values"

A new type of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) expo featuring human-centered experiential exhibitions will be held in Seoul. It is a gathering where city and corporate representatives from around the world share the latest trends and ideas.

On the 7th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will hold the international platform 'Smart Life Week (SLW)' from the 10th to the 12th at COEX, Seoul, to promote domestic innovative companies globally and lead future technology trends.

Smart Life Week, under the slogan "Human-Centric Tech, Connect to a Better Life," is planned with various events including ▲exhibition halls ▲international forums and conferences ▲Seoul Smart City Awards ceremony ▲autonomous vehicle test drives, among others. Especially, at the opening ceremony scheduled for 9:30 AM on the 10th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon will deliver the keynote speech titled "Smile in Smart Life," presenting "Seoul’s vision and philosophy toward the future of smart cities."

The 'Showroom' for experiencing future cities and the 'Corporate Exhibition Hall' focused on innovative companies participated in by a total of 147 domestic and international innovative companies were created under the theme "The Future of Urban Life Changed by Advanced Technology." A total of 49 companies participated in the showroom, creating concept spaces to experience advanced technologies in future urban life under 12 themes including ▲robots in daily life ▲changes in housing ▲road innovation ▲future mobility ▲visiting welfare ▲safe environment. To this end, leading domestic conglomerates such as Hyundai Motor Company, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SKT, Shinhan Bank, and Seoul SH Corporation participated to create high-quality experiential spaces in mobility and smart home sectors.

In the Assistive Technology Zone, a total of 41 companies and institutions leading assistive technologies domestically and internationally participate. POSCO Steelion exhibits artworks for the visually impaired, and the National Rehabilitation Center showcases various rehabilitation technologies including bed robots and meal robots. Additionally, overseas companies with unique assistive technologies such as J58 (Netherlands) and Cynteract (Germany) also participate.

In the Tourism Zone, eight travel tech companies participate, including 'Flitto,' which provides real-time multilingual tourist information, and 'The Capsule,' which offers an experience of capsule hotels linked with IoT. Furthermore, 29 companies participate in the Mobility Zone to exhibit various future transportation fields such as UAM, autonomous driving, AI, and subways. Korea Aerospace University, Korea Airports Corporation, and SKT exhibit UAM aircraft and control systems, while Kia Motors displays a multipurpose PBV concept car following CES 2024.

Eight major international forums leading the trends of advanced technologies and sharing achievements of global smart cities will also be held. On the first day, the 'Mayors Forum,' where mayors from cities worldwide share their smart city visions and experiences, and the 'Smart City Performance Sharing Conference,' which shares excellent cases of the Seoul Smart City Awards, will be held. On the 10th, the 'Seoul Smart City Awards' ceremony will take place with 150 participants including domestic and international city mayors, awarding 21 categories such as human-centered and technological innovation. This year’s 'Seoul Smart City Awards' attracted significant interest and response from smart cities at home and abroad, receiving 216 applications from 123 cities in 58 countries.

Park Jin-young, Director of the Digital City Bureau of Seoul, said, "As this is the first year of the event, we are focusing on establishing the identity of Smart Life Week as human-centered and laying the foundation as an international event." He added, "Through this, we hope it will be an opportunity for citizens, domestic and international companies, and cities to share the values of companionship and attraction that Seoul aims for."