International Conference: Knowledge Expansion and Exchange
Conference Overview
From the 5th - 13th June, 10 members of the GDSL comprising both staff and PhD students (listed below) flew out to South Korea to take part in a research exchange entitled Geospatial Data Science for Future Cities and Society: Focusing on Analysis of Digital Footprint Data. This visit formed the second and final part of the grant entitled “Supporting Post Pandemic Recovery and Resilience through New Forms of Data”.
Meet the Team
Conference Programme
Our hosts at KRIHS kindly put together a full programme detailing the activities that occured during the two days of research presentations. This programme contains a detailed list of speakers (and presentations).
The full programme can be viewed here
Day 1 - Seoul City
On the first day of the visit, members from KRIHS treated the (very jet-lagged) team of GDSL researchers to an exciting tour of the beautiful city of Seoul. Yohan, Jae Soen, Youngmin and Stella were excellent hosts throughout the day. We first visited the Korean Territorial Development Museum, and were given a guided tour comprising an overview of the urban history of Korea, and insights into the Smart City programmes that have been rolled out across the country over the past century.
Following lunch with KRIHS, we were then taken on a guided tour of the historic districts of Seoul, comprising a visit to a traditional Korean palace and a guided tour of Bukchon Hanok Village, which is well known for its traditional Korean housing. On this tour we learned more about the history of Korea, particularly its Royal Family and traditions that remain in place in modern Korean society today. The day finished with a lovely Bibimbap dinner, which was shared between GDSL and KRIHS colleagues.
Day 2 - KRIHS HQ, Sejong City
GDSL members boarded a train to O-Song station, and were greeted by KRIHS members in official KRIHS cars to take us to their HQ in Sejong. Sejong is a relatively new city, which was constructed to encourage investment in the country’s central region. On the way to the KRIHS HQ, we got an exciting tour of Sejong, showing how rapidly development is occurring here, and the particular emphasis on Smart City programmes.
We arrived at the HQ of KRIHS, which was something to behold, comprising incredible conferencing, co-working and meeting room facilities, rooftop views of Sejong, and even an indoor tennis court and gym for employees. We were given a full tour of the facilities, and reunited with members of KRIHS such as Myung-Hwa and Eunsun who had visited us in Liverpool the last year.
Following an introduction from KRIHS director Sangkeon Lee, we were treated to a lovely Korean lunchbox, and enjoyed conversations and discussions with KRIHS.
The research exchange then commenced, with talks from GDSL members Francisco, Dani, Carmen, Cillian and Dan, as well as a series of talks from KRIHS members, and other invited talks with speakers from Inha University and the Korean National University of Transportation. The day ended with a traditional Korean dinner and GDSL members returned to Seoul.
Slides for these talks can be found here.
Day 3 - University of Seoul
The final day of the research exchange took place at the Urban Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Institute at the University of Seoul.
Following an opening address and tour of UBAI high performance computing infrastructure, two keynote addresses took place with one from Alex Singleton (GDSL), and another from Sangshin Park (University of Seoul).
The rest of the day saw lightning talks from GDSL members Mark, Patrick, Ruth and Olivia, as well as KRIHS members and other invited talks with speakers from from Inha University, University of Seoul and Kyungpook National University. The day closed with a meal between GDSL and KRIHS delegates, and we bid farewell, thanking our excellent hosts for a very enjoyable week.
Slides for these talks can be found here.
Day 6 - Busan, Eco Delta Smart City
After the weekend, the GDSL team headed to Busan with our excellent hosts Paul Jung and his wife. We visited the Eco Delta Smart City project, where we got insights into how the project was unfolding, the different ‘smart’ elements to it and even got a tour of a smart village, where we got to see first hand what it would be like to live in one of these communities. The day finished with a dinner between the GDSL team, Paul Jung and his wife.
