KOTRA Silicon Valley Forum Presents Benefits and Risks of the Metaverse

Under the theme of "The Metaverse is Yours," the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Silicon Valley, a non-profit agency operated by the South Korean government that serves as one of the 127 overseas KOTRA branches worldwide, held its annual convention, K-Global @ Silicon Valley 2022, from Nov. 7th-8th in Santa Clara, Calif. The event started with an information and communications technology (ICT) forum focused on innovation which included discussions about the metaverse and its four key aspects of content, platforms, networks, and devices. After welcoming remarks from Korean dignitaries, the event featured the following keynote speakers:

• Shilpa Kolhatkar, who serves as Global Head of AI Nations Business Development at NVIDIA, talked about how the metaverse is the next evolution of the internet, the home to connected virtual worlds and digital twins, and a place for real work as well as play. She said NVIDIA's platforms provide enterprises the ability to develop physically accurate, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled, virtual simulations that are synchronized with the real world. Ms. Kolhatkar also noted that digital twins are transforming industries and scientific discovery, as well as enabling developers, researchers, and enterprises who use them to design, simulate, and optimize products, equipment, and processes in real-time, before ever going to production.
• Heesuk "Ricky" Kang, Head of Business at Naver Z, discussed how his company's ZEPETO Studio platform features 68 million Studio items sales created by over 2.3 million creators to 300 million users worldwide. Mr. Kang said ZEPETO, which is the fastest growing avatar platform in Asia, is popular among Gen Zs who express themselves while meeting, collaborating, and creating with others.
• Jason Mayes, Head of Business, Lead Web ML & AL Developer Advocate at Google, focused his presentation on TensorFlow.js, a library for machine learning (ML) in JavaScript. He explained how TensorFlow makes it easy for beginners and experts to create machine learning models for desktop, mobile, web, and cloud. Mr. Mayes added that data can be the most important factor in the success of a user's ML endeavors and TensorFlow offers multiple data tools to help consolidate, clean and preprocess data at scale. I appreciate his assertion that TensorFlow empowers "machine learning for everyone."

The next segment of the ICT Forum focused on a panel discussion. Shawn Flynn, Principal of Global Capital Markets and host of "The Silicon Valley Podcast," moderated an insightful discussion featuring Pouneh Kaufman, Group Project Manager at Microsoft, Ray Wu, Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures, and Sean Jun, Product Manager at XL8. Key points from the moderated session included:

• The metaverse is an evolution, not a revolution. And it is one that businesses should not ignore.
• The metaverse may profoundly change how businesses and consumers interact with products, services and each other (i.e., enriching the customer experience and introducing virtual products).
• The metaverse will help support sustainability efforts by saving both time and resources used to travel to attend meetings, lectures, and social gatherings (I expect the use of the metaverse will help companies achieve their environment, social, and governance goals).
• The metaverse allows the ability to collect new data on customers.
• The metaverse will have profound benefits in various sectors including education, healthcare, and e-commerce.

Image Credit: KOTRA Silicon Valley

The panel, however, presented a number of risks associated with the metaverse which will require new strategies and methods to build trust. What is more, as with Web 2.0 (the current internet), users of Web 3.0 will need to contend with cyberbullying and harassment issues, as well as identity theft, unauthorized data collection by corporations, and cybersecurity threats from malicious actors.

Lastly, the event featured an expo featuring metaverse and AI-related small- and medium-sized enterprises from Korea that showcased their products, services, and technology. While you can view a listing containing all of the exhibiting companies here, below are a few that I found of particular interest: 

• Corevalue Ltd. is developing a service that can help everyone manage their health conveniently and easily. Accordingly, a smart camera and telehealth app were developed and the Dr. Clobo brand was launched in August 2020. Its healthcare camera can take detailed pictures of the mouth, ears and nose, and based on this, non-face-to-face medical consultation and health management.
• Grebt developed a bloodless-based diabetes measurement sensor and diabetes measurement device that eliminates the fear of blood sampling and the pain of blood collection. Its urine glucose meter measures the concentration of glucose in urine and reacts blood glucose in urine. It consists of a strip, a disposable consumable that generates an electrochemical signal.
• NdotLight is the developer of NdotCAD, a 3D/AR/VR content design tool which allows any users including non-professionals to express and share their imagination in 3D with ease. The company has lowered the hurdle for 3D content creation by making intricate 3D design process easy with increased usability while maximizing output quality by applying advanced technologies. With their 3D engine, they serve enterprise clients also by providing customizable solution to meet any B2B needs.

As we transition into the post-pandemic era, the K-Global @ Silicon Valley event provided a good opportunity to explore the future of the metaverse, AI, and other ICTs. What benefits and risks do you think the metaverse will bring to consumers and businesses alike?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Korean Companies Demonstrate Their Innovative Tech Solutions at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022

TechCrunch Disrupt resumed its in-person event in San Francisco from Oct. 18th-20th, 2022. The conference's purpose is to bring together the global startup community to discover insights, collaborate, and celebrate achievements that have defined each founder's journey and for those yet to come in the future. At the invitation of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), a state-funded trade and investment promotion agency operated by the South Korean government, I had the opportunity to visit the conference's Korea Pavilion and meet with startup founders and their colleagues. Among the 20 great companies that demonstrated their innovative products and services at the pavilion, which was co-hosted by the Korea International Trade Research Institute (KITRI), there are a few are worth mentioning based on my professional and personal interests (the program book containing a description of all 20 companies may be viewed here).

Cochl created an artificial intelligence (AI) platform specializing in ambient sound recognition. Use cases include public safety (faster response to shooting incidents, vandalism detection for buildings, and violence prevention by scream/yell monitoring), traffic monitoring (automatic car accident report and illegal car honking noise monitoring), and autonomous driving (ambulance and police car siren detection for giving right-of-way action and car window break monitoring). Another valuable use case is in the defense sector by using smart glasses with gunshot analysis, submarine and torpedo type analysis, and surrounding environment monitoring with unmanned ground vehicles.

Dabeeo provides global geospatial information based on AI/ML (machine learning) technology by reading and interpreting the earth to help customers build or modify digital maps. Its STUDIO for maps is a SaaS platform that makes creating, editing, and managing map data convenient and intuitive to use. This website provides several examples of how retailers, showrooms, factories, stadiums, and exhibition centers are using the cloud-based platform.

TheWaveTalk developed a technology that uses laser multi-scattering and deep learning to measure foreign substances in water with great precision. Through the technology, they developed a home water quality meter called the WaTalk, which scatters light inside the water using a laser and analyzes small signals of fine particles such as bacteria, virus, organic pollutants, and microplastics to determine the degree of contamination. The company says its product is 20-50 times cheaper than professional measuring equipment.

Image: Willog

Willog is simplifying the complex cold chain industry. (A cold chain is a low temperature-controlled supply chain network.) The company's patent-based monitoring device collects various data during the entire logistics process, and displays it on a QR code. Willog's data monitoring device, the One Time QR (OTQ), which can be placed on vehicles, shipping containers or pallets, allows instant confirmation of temperature records by scanning the QR code with a smartphone camera and does not require other training or equipment. Effective field operation response is possible without extra time or procedures spent between the driver and the personnel to check the temperature. Where the device cannot be physically retrieved, Willog's OTQ-N uses near-field communication (NFC) to facilitate logistics monitoring within a flexible environment.

While KOTRA provides a useful service in the promotion of trade and investment with 128 Korea Business Centers located in 84 countries, the agency also facilitates global people-to-people exchange and technological exchange. I appreciate having the opportunity to meet with ambitious startup leaders who are building companies that improve the way we live, work, and play.

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Report Says the Rising Incidence of Cardiovascular Diseases Poses a Substantial Challenge to Asia-Pacific Markets

"Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), disorders of the heart and blood vessels, are the leading global cause of death annually," says a published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) and EIU Healthcare, its healthcare subsidiary. Commissioned by Amgen, an American biopharmaceutical company, Protecting the heart: Preventing cardiovascular disease in Asia further explains CVDs "levy a substantial financial toll on individuals, their households and the public finances. These include the costs of hospital treatment, long-term disease management and recurring incidence of heart attacks and stroke. They also include the costs of functional impairment and knock-on costs as families may lose breadwinners or have to withdraw other family members from the workforce to care for a CVD patient. Governments also lose tax revenue due to early retirement and mortality, and can be forced to reallocate public finances from other budgets to maintain an accessible healthcare system in the face of rising costs."

The report provides a study of the economic impact of CVD risk factors on the following Asian markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Below are its key takeaways:

"The rising incidence of CVD poses a substantial challenge to Asia-Pacific markets. The rising incidence and expected treatment costs of CVDs challenge the sustainability of many healthcare financing models in the region. Early retirement and functional disability from rising CVD incidence also erode the tax base and put pressure on social service budgets. This can lead to fiscal constraints that have a regressive impact on citizens. Reducing risk factor incidence, which could reduce and even prevent CVDs, is a more preferable strategy.

"The four main modifiable cardiovascular risk factors pose a communications challenge for governments and health agencies. Because the effects of the four risk factors on cardiovascular health—smoking, hypertension, obesity and high cholesterol— can accumulate over many years, individuals have little to no knowledge that they have increased their risk for CVD until symptoms occur. This makes preventing these risk factors all the more challenging.

"Hypertension is the risk factor that contributes the highest cost. Hypertension is exerting the greatest population attributable cost across the eight markets with an estimated total of US$18bn annually, according to Economist Intelligence Unit estimates. Across the other estimated annual risk factor costs, high cholesterol contributes US$15bn, smoking US$11bn, and obesity $8bn.

"The costs of CVDs are not fixed. Greater awareness and policymaker attention can substantially reduce CVD costs as many obstacles and corresponding solutions have been identified as effective. For example, the World Heart Federation provides a number of roadmaps to manage CVD risks brought on by hypertension, high cholesterol and smoking. For the two “silent” risk factors, the pathways are similar: improve patient and physician awareness of key risk factors, increase access to diagnostic testing, empower patients with knowledge, and provide professional support and affordable drug access to manage their risks.

"Policy options for primary prevention include choice 'nudges.' Policy options for primary prevention of all risk factors include 'nudges' to positively influence dietary choices, such as improved food labeling or partnerships with companies to encourage food reformulation to remove unhealthy ingredients. Investment in green spaces in urban areas and subsidized access to health facilities can also encourage physical activity.

"Effective secondary prevention can also significantly affect costs and outcomes. The recurrence rates for people suffering from a CVD event are high. For instance, in Australia, the risk of a subsequent stroke is 43% in the ten years following the first event, and the mortality rates for known sufferers of CVDs are substantially higher than those not at high risk. Across the span of a first CVD event and one’s death, the cost for disease management and the treatment of secondary events can be significant. Prioritizing at-risk groups can also drive positive impacts on CVD cost management."

Based on my experience, I agree that "[t]he Asia-Pacifc's CVD burden sits within the broader context of a rise in NCDs (noncommunicable diseases), due partly to ageing populations and partly to economic transition. It is a threat to the health and financial security of citizens and a burden on the public finances. Efforts to increase access to healthcare over recent decades will be undermined if cost-cutting measures are required to balance the books."

The report encouragingly concludes that "many risk factors for CVDs are modifiable through primary and secondary preventions, across behavior, lifestyle and medical domains. Looking forward, a powerful CVD action plan is one that targets multiple points along the 'continuum' from primary prevention to cost-effective treatment methods and secondary prevention. Innovation in service delivery and greater leveraging of data, digital technology and wearable devices can also help optimize CVD detection and management in cost-effective ways."

What solutions are you seeing that are reducing the incidence of CVDs?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

The Expected Benefits of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

After eight rounds of negotiations over a ten month period, the Republic of Korea and the United States signed the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) on June 30, 2007. Sponsored by The National Bureau of Asian Research, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that conducts advanced independent research on strategic, political, economic, globalization, health, and energy issues affecting U.S. relations with Asia, Jong-hyun Choi, Minister for Economic Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States, gave a presentation, "KORUS FTA: Action or Inaction?" in Seattle about the benefits of the free trade agreement with Asia's 4th largest economy. (Photo of Korea President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama courtesy of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)

Mr. Choi addressed the strong trade relationship between Korea and the United States. "Korea is already America's 7th largest trading partner and 6th largest importer of U.S. agriculture goods. Moreover, every U.S. state has a stake in the Korea-U.S. trade and investment relationship. A Free Trade Agreement with Korea will be America’s largest and commercially most significant FTA in more than a decade," explained Mr. Choi.

With respect to real economic benefits to both the United States and Korea, the United Sates International Trade Commission (USITC) issued a 2007 report, "U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economy-wide and Selected Sectoral Effects," saying if fully implemented, the KORUS FTA "is expected to affect the U.S.-Korea trade and investment relationship substantially, including bilateral trade in goods and services, procedures governing trade and investment, and the regulatory environment." Estimated benefits of the KORUS FTA include:

• U.S. GDP would likely increase by $10.1–11.9 billion as a result of tariff and tariff-rate quota (TRQ) provisions related to goods market access;
• Merchandise exports to Korea would likely increase by an estimated $9.7–10.9 billion as a result of tariff and TRQ provisions;
• Merchandise imports from Korea would likely increase by an estimated $6.4–6.9 billion as a result of tariff and TRQ provisions;
• U.S. services exports would likely increase as a result of the FTA, given the increase in levels of market access, national treatment, and regulatory transparency that would be afforded by the FTA in excess of the current General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) regime; and
• Aggregate U.S. output and employment changes would likely be negligible, primarily because of the size of the U.S. economy relative to that of the Korean economy.

Realizing many Americans are concerned the FTA with Korea will result in a negative impact on the U.S. automotive sector, Mr. Choi says the agreement will actually "eliminate Korea's eight percent automotive tariff, the United States will immediately eliminate its 2.5 percent passenger tariff for vehicles with engines up to 3,000 cc and over three years for larger vehicles, and U.S. pick-up truck tariffs, currently at 25 percent, will be phased out over ten years."

Furthermore, explained Mr. Choi, "Korea will provide special treatment of U.S. automakers with regard to emission standards and Korea will grant U.S. automakers a two-year grace period to apply new safety standards." Mr. Choi added that the agreement provides a special expedited dispute process with 'snap-back' reinstatement of the pre-FTA tariff mechanism and the formation of an Auto Working Group to address future regulatory issues.

Addressing the U.S. auto trade deficit, Mr. Choi notes that Korea is not the main source of this deficit. "According to the U.S. Department of Commerce 2006 statistics," said Mr. Choi, "the United States recorded an automotive trade deficit of $43.2 billion with Japan, $25.1 billion with Canada, and $22.9 billion with the European Union, compared to $8.5 billion with Korea. Korean manufacturers are opening state-of-the-art automobile manufacturing plants in the United States. The Hyundai plant in Alabama is a $1.1 billion investment and has created 3,000 new jobs. The Kia plan in Georgia is a $1.2 billion investment that will generate around 2,500 new jobs."

Regarding the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Choi said the KORUS FTA will eliminate tariffs on Washington state wine currently imposed by the Korean government. (Chile and Australia have significantly increased their exports of wine to Korea.) He also explained that in 2006, Korean companies invested over $615 million in Washington enterprises and Washington agriculture exports to Korea in 2007 were valued at $2.6 billion, which supported 27,710 jobs.

The United States Congress and South Korean National Assembly have to separately ratify the KORUS FTA before it can be enter into force. Neither legislative body has yet to execute this action. Given the crowded U.S. domestic agenda on health care and stimulating the economy, and mid-term elections coming in November 2010, it is highly unlikely Congress will make any progress in approving the KORUS FTA in 2010. When I asked Mr. Choi about his strategy for the coming year, he responded that he will continue to talk with business and civic leaders around the United States, work with the Korean-American community to promote the KORUS FTA's benefits, and continue building relationships with Congressional leaders. "I have already received equal bipartisan support from several members of Congress," said Mr. Choi.

"The Proposed U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA): Provisions and Implications," a report prepared by the Congressional Research Service, says, "The United States and South Korea entered into the KORUS FTA as a means to further solidify an already strong economic relationship by reducing barriers to trade and investment between them and to resolve long festering economic issues." For this and the reasons outlined above, I support the KORUS FTA and despite the pressing issues such as health care reform and international issues the U.S. faces in Afghanistan and Iraq, I encourage Congress to ratify this legislation, which will increase access of American goods and strengthen U.S.-Korean relations.

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.