| Kim Sung-min, right, chief human resources officer at LG Chem, poses with Yoon Sung-roh, associate dean of the College of Engineering at Seoul National University after signing a partnership for digital transformation at the latter's headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of LG Chem |
By Baek Byung-yeul
LG Chem has forged a partnership with Seoul National University (SNU) to speed up its digital transformation, the company said Wednesday.
"To become a leader in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, LG Chem signed an agreement with Seoul National University on Wednesday to jointly conduct research and development activities in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)," the company said.
Under the agreement, the two sides will establish the LG Chem-SNU DX Industry-University Coordination Center at the school's College of Engineering.
At the center, the company will offer a digital transformation education program for LG Chem employees. It will begin operations next month.
"We are aiming to enhance our digital transformation capability by nurturing talented individuals who can develop products using core Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI and big data," an LG Chem official said.
The two entities will also jointly discuss where they will apply the latest technologies such as deep learning and data mining to business operations of LG Chem. In addition, they will operate a scholarship program for graduate and doctoral students at the school to nurture talented individuals in the digital technology sector.
"LG Chem has been focusing on improving its digital capability to keep in line with global tech trends," Kim Sung-min, chief human resources officer at LG Chem, said. "With this partnership, we will establish a digital ecosystem."
Park Jin-yong, head of LG Chem's digital transformation division, said the company is increasingly applying these emerging technologies to its product development processes and the LG Chem-SNU partnership will solidify that effort further.
"Ranging from material informatics process and optimization of manufacturing process to new drug development, LG Chem has been expanding the use of machine learning technology-based analytics and optimization technology in our business," Park said. "The partnership will be meaningful as the two will co-develop problem-solving methods using the latest technologies."
"Achieving digital transformation has become essential for not only manufacturing business but also other industry sectors," said Char Kook-heon, dean of the College of Engineering at Seoul National University.
"The partnership between Seoul National University and LG Chem is meaningful as they paved the way for the development of digital technology and can contribute to the development of the country's economy."