The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS), affiliated under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), co-hosted the 2nd Korea-U.S. Standards Forum (hereinafter “Standards Forum”) with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on August 9 in Washington, D.C.

Held subsequent to the Northeast Asia Standards Cooperation Forum held in June earlier this year, the Standards Forum concentrated on discussions covering quantum technology, next-generation semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), among various other cooperation issues for future technologies standardization.

Prior to the Standards Forum, the 2nd Korea-U.S. “S-Dialogue” was also held on August 8, dealing with measures for joint efforts of standardization institutions of the two countries.

Both the S-Dialogue and Standards Forum were launched in December of 2021 with aim to deepen bilateral cooperation in high-tech future technologies, and this year's event is hosted in the U.S. this year according to the rule that the two countries take turns hosting the two events on an annual basis.

During the S-Dialogue held on the 8th, Korea and the U.S. shared national standardization policies, bilateral cooperation projects and joint measures for contributing to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Special attention was given to Korea’s standard academic courses, with the U.S. referring to the International Standards Olympiad, which was created by and operated only in Korea, as a model program deserving wider application throughout the international community.

During the Standards Forum held on the 9th, numerous industries' experts of both countries partook in the high-tech policies standardization strategy sharing sessions.

In these sessions, Korean speakers like Choa Sung-hoon (Seoul National University of Science and Technology) and Park Sung-soo (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) each presented ideas on semiconductor standardization trends and quantum technology standardization, respectively.

From the U.S., David Miller (ANSI) and Pat Baird (Philips) and three others, shared standardization ideas on AI, green buildings, clean energy and future transportation.

KATS President Lee Sang-hoon assessed that “cooperation for strategic standardization with the U.S. will be immensely helpful in leading the industrial innovation of future high-tech areas,” and added that Korea will continue to bolster its standardization cooperation with the U.S. in these fields.