The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the role of women, KOWIN opens the way to the future

- Opening of the 17th KOWIN in Gunsan City, Jellabuk-do Province

▪ Expectation to derive policy vision to cultivate women jobs and to foster women resources in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF, Minister Chung Hyun-back) establishes the 17th Korean Women’s International Network (KOWIN) from August 30 (Wed) to September 1 (Fri) at Gunsan Saemangeum Convention Center (GSCO) in joint cooperation of Jellabuk-do Province (Governor Song Ha Jin) and Gunsan City (Mayor Moon Dong-shin).

KOWIN is attended by 620 Korean women at home and overseas acting in diverse spheres of business, education, culture, science, etc. With the theme of “the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Role of Women,” wide range of measures will be discussed on the ways to increase women’s participation in labor market in the future and to articulate women’s competitiveness with national competitiveness.

* The 17th KOWIN: about 620 Korean women leaders (overseas 220, domestic 400) are expected to attend.

KOWIN started in 2001 with the initiation of the Ministry of Gender Equality as a networking place for Korean women leaders worldwide. It has now positioned as a space for Korean women as main activators to seek for the future vision of Korea and the Korean people. 

“Global Women Leader Forum (August 30),” which is a core program of KOWIN, is composed of 4 sessions of ▴Job ▴Future Economy ▴Gender Equality ▴Social Value in order to prospect the role of women in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Women’s entrance into labor market and implementation of gender perspective policies in overall national policies will be discussed.

△ (Session 1: Job) New labor environment, creation of new jobs △ (Session 2: Future Economy) Appearance of big data and paradigm shift in consumption △ (Session 3: Gender Equality) The 4th Industrial Revolution and gender △ (Session 4: Social Value) Inclusive growth, a new leap forward

At the opening ceremony on August 30 (Wed) Choe Jae Chun, a professor at Ewha Womans University, will deliver a keynote address on the topic of “Meeting of the humanities and science, consilient life living the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.”

From this year, the existing “Networking by activity group” program was reorganized to a special forum (August 31) in that renowned experts participate to examine the trend in each area.

△ (Economy) Women startup and use of viral marketing △ (Society) Future design for happy life Act II △ (Culture) Pansori (Korean musical storytelling) and MSG (Making Sense of Gender) △ (Education) Education of creative leaders in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution
Overseas and domestic participants of diverse backgrounds and representatives of Korean professional groups will scrutinize international trends in various fields and share professional knowledge.

- From US, Ms Jung Myung-soon, who is working at a global security company Northrop as a senior researcher, Ms Seo Jin-hwa, who served the president of professional women association of Chicago and Ms Park Lee Hye-ryun who is operating a non-profit publishing house and acts as mentor for the Korean companies that wish to enter into US market participate in the Network.

- From Australia, Ms Park Eun-deuk who is acting as the representative of the Peace Monument Establishing Committee in Sydney attends KOWIN.
- From Russia, Ms Elvira Lim, professor of Korean Department at Sakhalin State University who won the presidential award as “2016 Person of Merit to Develop Korean Alphabet,” and Kim Evgenia, a dancer who was awarded “Russian Supreme Professor” will share their expertise and experience with other participants.

KOWIN provides more before-ceremony events and special sessions this year.

At “Next Generation Women Leader Idea-thon” which will be implemented as a previous event for two days from August 28(Mon) to 29(Tue), 9 teams of 22 women college students nationwide will attend and compete for creative idea.

△ Improvement in women job creation system in the era of 4th Industrial Revolution △ Program planning for youths and women career development and employment support △ Development and idea for Young KOWIN o2o (Online to Offline) service △ Way to activate network for overseas Korean women utilizing IT △ Way to overcome low birth and aging society in the era of 4th Industrial Revolution

* Idea-thon: combination of the words “idea + marathon” meaning a competitive contest in that the participants discuss for a long time and present creative idea or business model

- The grand prize team will receive awards by the Minister of MOGEF and have the opportunity to visit the secretariat of KoWinner (Washington, USA).

By backtracking the history and culture of Gunsan, a special session is prepared on August 30 to retrospect the lives, joys and sorrows of the women in Gunsan who have plowed through the tough modern and contemporary history of Korea. 

As ancillary events, in order to promote the exportation of SMEs, products exhibition for family friendly and women friendly corporations (participated by 22 corporations) and award exhibition of gender equality design competition will be held.