The 2014 Smart Geospatial Expo held, taking leadership role in the geospatial information industry's development and its convergence

Taking place at Coex, Seoul, during August 25-27, as an avenue of experiencing geospatial information

first-hand for the public

Mr. A recalls being lost at the exhibition hall of the Smart Geospatial Expo last year, owing to the complex and vast expanse of the hall area in spite of the fact that he had confirmed the name of the company he was looking for and the location of its exhibition booth number at the entrance and at the information desk of the hall. This year's Smart Geospatial Expo, however, will present no such inconvenience; an indoor navigation service will be provided to all visitors as long as they install the applicable app in their smartphones through which anyone can easily find their destinations inside the exhibition hall, regardless of where one's position is.

Unveiled to exhibition visitors for the first time in Korea, this indoor navigation service is based on the indoor positioning technology and indoor spatial information. This technology is now being expected to become available, going forward, at a variety of public multi-use spaces, such as at metros, airports, and megamalls.

□ The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea (Minister: H.E. Minister Suh Seoung-hwan) announced that for three days during August 25-27, the 2014 Smart Geospatial Expo will be held at Coex, Seoul, as a way to promote the importance of the geospatial information industry to the public, providing support to domestic geospatial information corporations as well.

ㅇ Marking its seventh year, the Smart Geospatial Expo this year will be held under the theme of "Geospatial Information in Everyday Life, Valuable Asset for the Future" and will present a number of exhibitions and conferences, chief among them being the High Level Forum, industrial exhibition, and talent recruitment pavilion.

□ The main highlight of the Expo would be the industrial exhibition. It has been designed in a way that made it easy for the general public to have access to various technologies in the geospatial information field converged with ICT, providing opportunities to experience those technologies first-hand, participated by approximately 100 companies, including Naver, SKT, and KT.

 ㅇ Main attractions of the exhibition are:

▶The indoor navigation services provided for the first time in Korea at an exhibition venue

▶The big data special pavilion where new values of geospatial information and other information will be presented through their merging and convergence

▶Smart coffee vending machine applied with IoT technologies

▶Geospatial-information-related experience devices, including wearable smart glasses based on augmented reality

≪ Indoor navigation of exhibition halls ≫

ㅇ Any visitors who install an indoor navigation map application on his/her smartphone can have access to this service, through which the current location of the smartphone holder will be confirmed based on a 3D indoor map. He/she can also be guided toward a particular booth of one's choice, using this service.

≪ Big data special exhibition pavilion ≫

ㅇ Once there, one can see for oneself all the resources that showcase a wide variety of cases utilizing geospatial big data analysis in both the private sector and public administrative services. In particular, SKT plans to provide market environment analysis consulting services to the visitors free-of-charge, utilizing geospatial big data, so for those who are planning to open up their own businesses, this will prove to be quite a wonderful opportunity.

≪ First-hand experience devices ≫

ㅇ Based on the IoT technology, ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) will present a smart coffee vending machine it developed, through which one can have one's coffee produced exactly as he/she has ordered it as by tagging all the information regarding coffee type, cream, and sugar.

ㅇ Diverse geospatial information experience devices will be on display. Attractions utilizing augmented reality await the visitors. The Kingdome Rider is such an attraction where one can experience virtual reality through 3D images and wearable smart glasses installed with augmented reality processors. Also, there is a fire safety training device utilizing motion recognition sensors.

□ The High Level (Ministerial) Forum will be participated by 22 countries (12 countries in 2012 and 21 countries in 2013) and this year, the Forum will build upon the last year's 2013 Declaration on Nurturing Geospatial Information Experts by establishing detailed implementation plans of this vision.

ㅇ Also there will be technology presentations by Korean companies targeted on foreign government delegations as well as business meetings also targeted on foreign government delegations. These activities will contribute to strengthening Korea's international cooperation. An MOU on geospatial information will be signed with Uzbekistan, through which Korean companies' making inroads into that country will be much facilitated.

□ The IC-GIS (International Conference on Geospatial Information Sciences) will be held under the theme of spatial big data. World class scholars will conduct theme presentations and paper presentations.

□ A number of side events have been planned as well. A talent recruiting event where job interviews will take place real time on the site between job seekers and geospatial information companies has been prepared. Mentoring sessions provided to prospective entrepreneurs who are eager to know more about soliciting investment will take place as well.

ㅇ The talent recruitment pavilion will be taken part in by eight geospatial companies to recruit a total of 31 employees. Pre-consultations with job seekers will take place ahead of the actual job interview stage so as to better facilitate the interview process.

ㅇ Training programs for prospective entrepreneurs will take place as well, carried out by Mr. Kim Chang Seok who is Korean representative of the Access America Investment & Fund on the theme of angel investment and investment solicitation methods. Mr. Go Young Ha, Chairman of the Korea Angel Investment Association, will carry out a company startup lecture, providing a much needed guidance to prospective entrepreneurs.

□ Mr. Park Moo Ik, Director General for National Spatial Data Infrastructure Policy at MOLIT, stated, "It is MOLIT's greatest hopes that the Smart Geospatial Expo will provide the public with optimal opportunities to better understand geospatial information and will effectively support Korean companies that are willing to make inroads into foreign geospatial information markets."

For more information, please contact:

 MOLIT, Territorial Information and Policy Division/ Kim Hyun-jin

Tel : 82-44-201- 3460

Email : hjkim80@molit.go.kr

International Cooperation & Trade Division / HWANG Ji-sun(Interpreter)

Tel : 82-44-201-3299

Email  : hjscello@hotmail.com