GHANA-KOREA INFORMATION ACCESS CENTER 한-가나 정보 접근 센터 UNIVERSITY OF GHANA REPORT ON THE 2ND GENERAL MEETING OF GLOBAL IACNET HELD AT MARRIOTT COURTYARD HOTEL SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF KOREA 24TH - 27TH OCTOBER 2017 Submitted by Barfi-Adomako Owusu Head, Academic Computing Unit University of Ghana Computing Systems DECEMBER 2017 REPORT ON THE 2ND GENERAL MEETING OF GLOBAL IACNET HELD AT MARRIOTT COURTYARD HOTEL, SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF KOREA 24TH - 27TH OCTOBER 2017 1. Introduction The 2nd General Meeting of Global IACNet was held at Marriott Courtyard Hotel, Seoul, Republic of Korea from 24th to 27th October 2017. The meeting was organized by National Information Society Agency (NIA) of Korea under the auspices of Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea. It was attended by 36 Information Access Center (IAC) Managers from 50 centers worldwide including seven (7) countries in Africa - Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, Rwanda, Madagascar and Uganda. In attendance were representatives of four newly established centers in Peru, Guatemala, Jordan and Serbia. IACNet (Global Information Access Centers' Network) is a joint council where National Information Society Agency (NIA) and the IACs around the world gather together to discuss IAC's future directions and strategies for bridging the digital divide and strengthening cooperation in the ICT field. The first IACNet meeting was held in Busan, South Korea, in October 2014 with the aim of increasing efficiency in bridging the digital divide of the centers operations and social networking of the global area. The theme for this year’s meeting was on Digital Transformation - innovation and transition from hardware-based infrastructure to software-based platform centers in reinforcing the capacity of human resources. The meeting was opened by Mr. Byung-jo Suh, President of NIA, who expressed his deepest gratitude to all IAC mangers for their participation in the 2nd General Meeting of Global IACNET in Seoul, Korea. The first day was also graced by Mr. Drazen Maravic, Assistant Minister of Public Administration and Local Self Government of Serbia, Ms. Peria Garcia Cristaldo, Minister of Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay, Mr. Adel Adaileh, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Jordan and Mr. Choi Won-ho, Director General of Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea. Presentations were delivered on various ICT topics by seasoned experts in the field. Topics covered include Mid to Long-Term Visions and Development Strategy for IAC, Consulting for Center-Oriented Needs and Interest, IACNet Management and IAC Project Management, Assistive Device for Disabled and its Operation, Operation Strategy for Start-up Education Center, Development and Operation of ICT Curriculum. There were visits to ICT Centers, Technology Parks, Royal Palaces, Seoul Metropolitan Library, Seoul Sky Observatory and National Museum Contemporary Arts of Korea during the period. On Operational Strategy of Start-up Education, Prof. Jae Young Lee of Catholic University of Korea gave six criteria of the University’s Start-up Center and stressed the need for education to be more practical and include onsite experiences in the 21st century for students to create business start-ups. 1 The best IAC for 2017 was awarded to Kyrgyzstan out of the four IACs selected for the award. The three other IAC recipients for 2017 were Bangladesh, Belarus and Guatemala. They all received citations and tablet PC each for their performance. The Closing Ceremony and Farewell Dinner were held on 27th October 2017 under the chairmanship of Mr. SUH Byung-jo, President of NIA. The president congratulated the participants for attending the meeting and exhorted them to apply the things learnt when they return home. He believed that there has been a good amount of experience sharing, exchange of views and lively discussions of strategy for future IACs. Two participants also expressed positive impressions about the meeting, the Korean society, understanding more about Korean ICT industries, the great transformation of Korea as an example of how technology and education can change the lives of millions of people. All participants departed to their respective countries on 28th October 2017, satisfied with the meeting and ready to share knowledge acquired with their counterparts to move IACs to from hardware-based to software-based centers in line with the objectives of the meeting and NIA. 2. Day 1 – Tuesday, 24th October 2017 The meeting started with introduction of dignitaries, invited guests and participants by Ms. Hyejeong Lim, Senior Manager, National Information Society Agency (NIA). She also doubled as one of the facilitators for the meeting. The dignitaries were Mr. SUH Byung-jo, President of NIA, Mr. Drazen Maravic, Assistant Minister of Public Administration and Local Self Government of Serbia, Ms. Peria Garcia Cristaldo, Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay, Mr. Adel Adaileh, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Jordan and Mr. Choi Won-ho, Director General of Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea. a) Opening Remarks by SUH Byung-jo, President of NIA – He first expressed his deepest gratitude to all IAC mangers present for their participation in the 2nd General Meeting of Global IACNET. IAC Managers who had worked so hard for the successful operation of Information Access Centers (IACs) in their respective countries and making the long journey to Korea for this meeting were recognized. He also acknowledged the presence of the dignitaries mentioned above. He said, three years ago, the first IACNet was held in Busan, Korea, in October 2014 with the aim of increasing efficiency in bridging the digital divide of the Center’s operations and social networking of the global area. He pointed out that, the general meeting takes place once every 3 years and this is the second in the series to be held in Seoul, Korea. He expressed his greatest honor to host this second meeting. The president indicated that within a decade, we have witnessed profound influence and importance of ICTs, particularly internet connectivity which was indispensable and a driving force in the economic development of nations. However, more than 4 billion people live without internet access globally. 2 Figure 1: Group Photography of Participants and Dignitaries Figure 2: President of NIA Delivering his Opening Remarks 3 The government of Korea’s initiative to bridging the digital divide has resulted in the establishment of fifty (50) Information Access Centers since 2002 in developing countries through NIA projects. This provides better access to internet and opportunity to use ICT by the public in partner countries. The IAC has enabled local people to communicate freely with the world through the internet and significantly fostering digital literacy in the region. Now we live in the era of fundamental technological change with the advancement of ICTs. The role of ICT is changing very fast. New transformation will bring a new paradigm shift in the economy and societies, he said. The G20 statement made on Digital Transformation in July 2017 in Hamburg, German; the high levels of each represented country have strong emphasis on digital transformation. Digital transformation is not just connected machines and systems, but its impact and scope are much wider. Digital transformation requires promotion of digital literacy and a digital skill in all forms of education including lifelong learning. In this context according to the president of NIA, IACs should catch up fully in the speed of digital transformation and take a paradigm shift. In this regards IAC is charting a new course in digital transformation. Managers should therefore embark on this journey all together with greater responsibilities. NIA will support in the production of online electronic contents by linking up with local universities to expand cooperation with domestic institutions and international organizations as well as bring high level lectures and educational content to IAC users. NIA will also distribute Korean software applicable to each IAC for sustainable operation and development. Training of IAC instructors in the use of the software and the best IAC courses will also be implemented to undergo an innovation and transition from hardware-based infrastructure to software-based platform center in reinforcing the capacity of human resources. In addition, he said NIA also sees how the culture of a nation is no longer confined to the country alone. It is being increasingly shared beyond the borders along with ICTs. When the culture value of each IAC is brought together with a new model, the possibilities with accelerated greater value become without limit. Shared understanding is very important to reshape the IAC model to reflect common objectives and values of each IAC in each country. In this context brighter ideals and creative strategies of IACs managers will be highly appreciated. He informed the participants that, while the four-day program may seem short for this task, it has been organized to be more interactive with real world lessons of Korean ICT experts to better facilitate the sharing of technical experiences. He concluded with the hope that, the meeting will be helpful in finding solutions to the challenges IAC faces and gaining valuable insight of the strategies of future IAC operations. He said that NIA is committed to keeping the partnership based cooperation and channels open at all times to assist all IACs. He hoped the meeting will serve as a valuable opportunity to form a strong bond of cooperation among all IACs and NIA. He ended by expressing his gratitude to all present and their home country. 4 b) Appreciation Remarks by Mr. Drazen Maravic, Assistant Minister of Public Administration and Local Self Government of Serbia – He conveyed a goodwill message from the Serbian Government to the participants, NIA and Government of Korea. He mentioned his sixteen years’ experience in public administration and witnessing the growth of digitization in government services and how it can help in transformation of the society. He also said one of the provisions of the Serbian government is digitization and support of digital industries in Serbia. He mentioned that ICT is a successful business in the country now. To reach a high ground in this regard, the government of Serbia needs to help those industries that are yielding tangible results and bringing changes in the society. He mentioned that, there are many IT companies operating in Serbia but at the same time there are digital gaps in the society. In order to be successful in their digital strategies, they need to focus on strengths and opportunities. He said, strengths lie in the political will of the government support in the digitization and bringing as many as employable services to the citizenry and opportunities in networking with similar and friendly nations and people like IAC managers present. According to the minister, the Serbian government has had a good cooperation with Korea in terms of e- government and generally in political relationship. Recently, a discussion was held between the government and NIA to explore opportunities in opening an IAC Center in Serbia to enable this change in digital transformations happen better and faster to reach more people. This was successful, and the Center is going to be hosted within the government premises at the Ministry of Public Administration. The Minister said, the decision to host it in the ministry will enable the training of all sorts of civil servants to build on their digital skills as they work on a competency framework for people employed by the government of Serbia to have digital skills embedded in the job descriptions to understand the needs of industry and commercial sectors to enable them to grow their businesses. He hopes the IAC Center to be established in Belgrade, Serbia, will be in full operation in December 2017 and that will be a wonderful opportunity for the government of Serbia and its people to bridge the digital gap. He concluded by thanking the participants and the host (NIA) for the opportunity. c) Congratulatory Remarks by Ms. Peria Garcia Cristaldo, Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay– She acknowledged all present and expressed a special welcome to participants from Paraguay attending the meeting. On behalf of the Paraguay Ambassador to Korea, she thanked NIA for the invitation to the 2nd IACNet meeting sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Korea and implemented by the National Information Society Agency (NIA) of Korea. She said Paraguay joined the global IAC in 2009 and Paraguay has been selected for the second time as a partner country and an MOU signed in June 2017 with NIA and National Secretariat of ICT in Paraguay to improve on access to ICT and capacity building with special emphasis on business startups. She said that the Paraguay government recognizes that access to ICT and use of ICT and efficient use of e-infrastructure, applications, and the protection of users, human talent and technologies are fundamental for the consolidation of information and knowledge societies. In that context, this project for the establishment of the IACs will contribute to decreasing the digital gap within our societies and offer the opportunities to raise IT literacy 5 and provide the space for new forms of cooperation among our countries. On behalf of the Paraguay people and the Ambassador, she mentioned the recognition to the Korean government for sharing experiences, knowledge, resources and bringing together our countries. She wished success for the ongoing development of the IACNet in all the participating countries. d) Congratulatory Remarks by Mr. Adel Adaileh, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Jordan – He expressed his sincere appreciation to NIA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea for the invitation to the 2nd IACNet meeting. He mentioned that, it was quite a privilege for him to address the participants from all around the world. He said, as Korea has become one of the advanced ICT countries in the world; the NIA has taken the initiative to establish IAC centers worldwide to bridge the digital divide not only domestically but globally to improve on ICT to bring cooperation in the field of ICT. He also said, Jordan was selected as global partner of IAC project and became a beneficiary in 2010. As the Ambassador of Jordan to Korea, he expressed his appreciation to both NIA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea for their concerted and ceaseless efforts for the past 15 years since the establishment of the first IAC in Cambodia. He applauded the IAC project for bringing eminent changes to countries around the world in supporting educational institutions and government infrastructures with the cutting- edge ICT centers. By providing more invaluable training and education opportunities for individuals with the potentials to learn and develop themselves while bringing the members of the communities closer with no digital divide and boosting the economies of each region. He said however, with the development of the internet and ICT we are now entering a new era of globalization that links the entire world together even more so than before. The era of the 4th industrial revolution is here now. According to him, as much as the ability of the individual, businesses, government systems and public authorities to adapt to these changes will determine their survival; the close connectivity and interaction in this age of globalization ensures that one cannot stand alone. In this context, he believes this year’s meeting of global IAC managers has significance in many ways. He sincerely hopes the meeting will be successful in setting a new vision and mission for the IAC project for many years to come. He concluded his remarks by entreating participants to enjoy the autumn weather and Korean hospitality during their stay in Seoul. e) Congratulatory Remarks by Mr. Choi Won-ho, Director General of Ministry of Science and ICT Republic of Korea – He welcomed the dignitaries and extended his warm welcome to the distinguished representatives of Information Access Centers from 36 countries. He also expressed his gratitude to the President and staff of NIA for organizing the event. He went on to say that in line with international communities’ efforts in bridging the digital divide, the Korean government has built 50 centers in 47 countries across the world and plans to open four more centers this year in Paraguay, Peru, Serbia and Jordan. He believes that IACs have been making great contributions to improving the accessibility to information of the developing countries across the world. To be more specific, more than 760,000 people used the IACs in 2017 alone. Thanks to the international communities’ efforts including IACs, situations have improved 6 remarkably. As at 2017 the number of internet users worldwide has reached 3.8 billion which was only 1.6 billion in 2000 and the number of telecommunication users surpasses 7.3 billion according to Mr. Won-ho. He therefore thinks there is time for IACs to take on a new role as an ICT educational institution in the way that can contribute to the sustainable development of developing countries. He said starting with the newly established centers in 2018, the centers will no longer be just a place for using the internet but to receive practical ICT education as well. He said NIA will provide various ICT educational contents and educate instructors to improve on their capabilities. In addition, they will continuously monitor and support the centers to further improve on their outcomes. He hopes the gathering will be a venue where participants will exchange their thoughts and experiences to set a new role of the IAC as an ICT educational institution and pave the way for stronger cooperation with Korea. He concluded by entreating participants to enjoy Korea ICT, food and culture while they stay in Korea. f) Award Ceremony for the Best IAC for 2017 Figure 3: Group Photograph of 2017 Best IAC Recipients and NIA President A committee was tasked by NIA to select the Best IAC for 2017 based on the reports submitted by IACs to NIA. The criteria for the judges were overall performance ICT lectures and seminars held at the Centers. The best IAC for 2017 was awarded to Kyrgyzstan out of the four 7 IACs selected for the award. The award was presented by the president of NIA and received by Mr. Rysbek Akmatbekov, the IAC manager for Kyrgyzstan-Korea Information Access Center. They received citations and laptop. The three other IACs recipients for 2017 were Bangladesh, Belarus and Guatemala. They all received tablet PC each for their performance. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Mahfuzul Islam, Bangladesh IAC Manager was invited to the stage once again to present to participants the performance and achievements of the Bangladesh IAC. He gave an overview of the Center which was established in 2008 and located in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh. The center was renovated in 2012 and received the Best IAC in 2013. The goal of the Center is to spread IT education among the people of Bangladesh to eliminate the digital divide, ensuring IT for all and continuously providing IT education to residents, students and government employees. Educational courses that are operating at the center are Mobile Application Development in Android, Web Design and Application Development using PHP and MySQL, Linux System Administration I (Red Hat), Database Management & Administration and Java Web Programming. He said publicity has been one of the priorities of the center, hence its presence on social media using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and national newspapers to promote its activities. The future of the center was mentioned as offering timely IT courses, expansion of facilities to accommodate more students and courses; and to facilitate video-conferencing to students. They will also continue to operate on sustainable model to ensure that the center breaks even. g) Mid to Long-Term Visions and Development Strategy for IAC (NIA) - by Ms. Hyejeong Lim, Senior Manager, National Information Society Agency (NIA) – Ms. Lim gave an overview of the current IACs and introduced the mid to long-term visions and development strategy for IAC to participants. She said as at now NIA provided hardware to partner countries and every year, four IACs are added to the existing ones and two are renovated. NIA also organizes training for the new IACs while IACNet meeting is held every three years. For this year, Peru, Jordan, Paraguay and Serbia have been selected for new construction while Guatemala and Sri Lanka have been marked for renovation. She took participants through the project selection procedure for the establishment of new IACs. This is based on the Project Concept Paper (PCP) submitted by the Ministry in charge of Korea Oversea Development Agency (ODA) in the partner countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Korea has the final decision on the selected beneficiary. NIA then initiates the process of dispatching officials to the selected country for site inspection. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed and construction starts. She reported that the initial concept of IAC was to bridge the digital divide and therefore centers were equipped with hardware and software to achieve that objective. But now, changes in the ICT landscape globally means new strategies should be adopted to achieve the realities of the 8 day. In line with the new vision, starting with the newly established IACs, NIA will be sending ICT professionals to IAC centers to provide IT training including advanced ICT courses. NIA will also provide standard courses and textbooks. It will also cooperate with Korean Universities to provide content to IAC and Cyber University of Korea was identified as one of such institutions. Invitations will be extended to IAC Managers and Instructors to stay longer in Korea to attend more advanced courses which they will offer to their users on their return to their respective countries. The morning session was concluded by presentations on Development Strategy and Plans of IAC in four Regional Centers – Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Indonesia and Uganda. h) Presentation on Consulting for Center-Oriented Needs and Interest There were two presentations in the afternoon session: LearningOn, Smart Learning Platform by SK’s Smart Education representative. He said LearningOn is a Smart learning solution, which is optimized in a on blended learning environment, and it provides seamless learning experience in PC and Mobile environment. It is an optimized solution for Blended Learning, Mobile Learning, and Virtual Learning, and provides customization service based on customers’ requests and environment. He highlighted some of the key benefits of LearningOn as: • Blended Learning Environment to reflect various Educational Operation Policies • Efficient Interface of E-Learning System with Legacy Systems and 3rd Party Services • Efficient production of Learning Resources and Development of Management Environment • Statistical and Monitoring function • Service Interoperability through International Standards After the presentation, two IT companies - Futurenuri Inc. and Tomato Systems were introduced to participants. Tomato System was established in 2000. It is a company specializing in university information systems with the best professional manpower and various self-solutions. The presentation was made by Mr. Lee Sang Don. The system is currently being used in several universities in Korea and overseas. Futurenuri Inc. specializes in Digital Library Systems, E-Learning, System Integration and Maintenance. The company was established in 1994 and has over 130 employees including 110 engineers. The company’s annual turnover is US$9.5 million dollars. As at October 2017, over 500 libraries had been provided with solutions by the company. The company’s market 9 shares in Korea are as follow; 120 universities including Korea University, Yonsei University and Ewha Womens University; 330 National and Public Libraries; Ministry of Statistics Korea, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Korea Education Research Information Service and about 20 companies which include Samsung Industrial and LG Chemicals. The company also provides services to 29 overseas libraries in 7 countries. 3. Day 2 – Wednesday, 25th October 2017 There were two presentations on the 2nd day of the meeting as follows: IACNet Management and IAC Project Management were presented by Mr. Hyeon-Soo Yang, Executive Principal of Department of Global ICT Cooperation. His presentation covered an Overview of IACnet, Management Guidelines and Educational Plans. He gave an overview of IACnet as Global Information Access Centers' Network with a joint council where National Information Society Agency (NIA) and the IACs around the world gather together to discuss IAC's future directions and strategies for bridging the digital divide and strengthening cooperation in the ICT field. IAC-NET facilitates communication among IAC managers, provides an efficient and open channel concerning efficient operation and management of IAC managers, and shares ICT trends in a rapidly changing ICT environment. Figure 4: IACNet Regional Networks Currently IACNet is divided into four regions, CIS/Europe, Asia/Pacific, Middle East/Africa, and Latin America as shown in figure 4. He went on to say that, IAC-NET has a Steering committee and a secretariat that operates the IAC-NET. The Steering Committee consists of the Chairman, Secretary and Representatives from four regions but unfortunately, there are no regional representatives at the moment. 10 The IAC-NET operating regulations consist of a total of 12 Articles. The regulation came into effect on 22nd October 2014 with the launch of the IACNet. The General meeting is held every three years. The 1st General Meeting was held in Busan, Korea in 2014 to launch IAC-NET to discuss and decide on agenda to promote the IACNet and efficient management of IAC by each of the members. In the year when there is no general meeting, regional fora are held. Such meetings were held in Panama in 2015 and Cambodia in 2016. On Management Guidelines he said it covers the entire project, including the process of finding candidate sites, building IACs, and operating and evaluating IACs. No guidelines have been designed to manage the IAC project since it was launched for the first time in 2002 so, the NIA enacted these guidelines on 10th October 2017. These guidelines consist of a total of 40 articles in nine chapters. He hopes this guide will help participants to manage the IAC efficiently. Articles 11 to 14 for example refer to the discovery of candidate sites. Exploration of the candidate site is an important matter since ODA projects in Korea require that, the site should be found two years before a new IAC project starts. This is followed by the submission of a Project Concept Paper (PCP) through the Korean Embassy by official letter from ODA- related ministry in the recipient country. He concluded his presentation using the diagram below to explain to participants one of the best ways to develop educational plans for IAC centers: Figure 5: Educational Operation Plans Demonstration of IAC Homepage and Tutorials was facilitated by Mr. Koo, Bon Jun, Manager, National Information Society Agency (NIA) to conclude the day’s session. 11 Day 3 – Thursday, 26th October 2017 Operational Strategy of Start-up Education Center was presented by Prof. Jae Young Lee of Catholic University of Korea. He gave six criteria of Catholic University Start-up Center as: 1) Start-up classes (credit) - Empowering students with entrepreneurial mind, recognition of credit while receiving various entrepreneurship education such as major and liberal arts courses. 2) Founding and support of Start-up - Support for 3 or more students interested in starting a business, mandatory participation in the program, start-up space, subsidy for activities. 3) Start-up Camp - Encouragement and activation of entrepreneurship, special lectures on business start-ups, real business start-up lectures, real start-up stories, networking and parties. 4) Support for preliminary start-up - Systematically support excellent ideas through startup contests, and link them to actual start-ups and support up to US$10,000. 5) Start-up Festival - Entrepreneurial Forum, Entrepreneurial Road Show, Young Entrepreneur Relay Lecture and Founding Golden Bell Competition. 6) Start-up Networking - Connect with other university start-up support programs and share information and best practices among clubs. Encourage activation, Metropolitan University Opening Festival and Metropolitan University Opening Networking Camp. He gave examples of successful businesses in Korea that started as start-ups at the Catholic University of Korea. In his closing remarks, he stressed the need for education to be more practical and include onsite experiences in the 21st century for students to create start-ups. Assistive Device for Disabled and its Operation The presentation was given by Christine S. Lim, Sales Manager of Human Information Management Services (HIMS) Inc. who described herself as a Korean-American who has been blind since birth. She said she was not only going to present on Assistive Technology but also how to use these devices from personal experience. She introduced HIMS Inc. - http://www.himsintl.com as a medical hardware company that has created assistive technology for the blind since 1999. HIMS complete line of braille products offers on-the-go braille access to mobile devices, braille productivity access to computers and tablets, and integrated braille solutions for entertainment, study and work. HIMS has expertise 12 in blindness software and produces mainstream apps as well as integrating Polaris software features. Polaris is an innovative collaboration of braille and mainstream technology, offering the blind and visually impaired unprecedented accessible and intuitive productivity in today’s tablet-based world. The presentation focused on devices produced by HIMS for the visually impaired and a little bit about other types of assistive technology. Some of the HIMS products that were on display at the meeting are shown below. Figure 6: HIMS Assistive Technology Devices on Display He described one of their flagship products BrailleSense Polaris (Notetaker) as her right-hand and one of the most powerful assistive technology devices available for anyone. It does so many things and brings braille access to everything we do. It also brings braille access to other devices like iPhone, computers, tablets, etc. She described it as a mix between a tablet and smartphone. The remarkable thing about HIMS Notetaker is its ability to access mainstream Android Apps. Figure 7: BrailleSense Polaris (Notetaker) 13 BrailleSense Polaris supports Google Apps, making it easy to utilize Google services like Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It has a camera for OCR that is used to read print materials. It also allows for electronic braille thereby reducing the cost of embossing braille books. She said the development of educational plans for assistive technology devices is important to produce the technique to use the products more effectively. In answering a question on availability of electronic braille, she introduced Bookshare - https://www.bookshare.org the world’s largest accessible online library for people with print disabilities. Bookshare has a collection of 590,953 titles in partnership with more 820 publishers who donating their digital files to the collection. She concluded by saying that, as a blind American in Korea she has been able to learn Korean, keep track of all her information, do her job, live in an apartment by herself because of the use of assistive technology devices. Interactive and Differentiated e-Learning using Emerging Technologies by Tami Im, Ph.D., Online Lifelong Education Institute, KOREATECH. KOREATECH is a hub of Online Vocational Training for Workers and funded by Korean Ministry of Employment & Labor. There are currently 386 free online courses in IT & Engineering developed in collaboration with 226 small & medium-size companies. The “e- koreatech” portal – http://portal.e-koreatech.ac.kr was launched in April 2015 and covers the following areas Mechanics, Electronics, Mechatronics, ICT, Design, Materials, Architecture, Chemistry and Job Basics. As at October 2017; 79,253 trainees have been registered; 195,103 course enrolment and 1,666,090 visits to the site. Figure 8: ADDIE Model The participants were taken through a systematic process of preparing e-learning curriculum. They were introduced to the general steps to go through to have effective curriculum. The participants were made to understand that teaching e-learning needs to have a curriculum. In arriving at the curriculum there must be an instructional design – a systematic process of 14 translating principles of learning and instruction into plans for instructional materials and activities. She recommended using the ADDIE model – Analyse, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate shown in figure 8 above. On Virtual Training (VT) at KOREATECH, she highlighted teaching in virtual learning environments for special training needs for practicing, managing special industrial equipment or hazardous work situations. The purpose is to build learning systems to replace expensive high-tech equipment and provide authentic training for fostering creative technicians. In 2017; 272 contents were disseminated to 74 institutes. 4. Day 4 – Friday, 27th October 2017 There were a number of visits to understand Present and Past of Korea. These included visits to Digital Pavilion in Sangam, KT Olleh Square in Kwanghwamun, Royal Palaces, Seoul Metropolitan Library, Seoul Sky Observatory and National Museum of Contemporary Arts of Korea. The Seoul Sky Observatory is one of world’s highest observation decks and South Korea’s tallest building. Some photographs of some of the sites visited are shown below: Figure 9: Visit to Royal Palaces in Seoul 15 Figure 10: Visit to Digital Pavilion in Sangam Figure 11: Visit to 120th Floor of Seoul Observatory Closing Ceremony and Farewell Dinner were under the chairmanship of Mr. SUH Byung- jo, President of NIA. The president congratulated the participants for attending the meeting and exhorted them to apply the things learnt when they return home. He indicated that the operational status and strategy of IACs in different countries have been shared. The 16 presentation on new IAC and systems applicable to future models and the possibility of transforming IACs into software-based platforms in future were discussed. He believed that there had been a good amount of experience sharing, exchange of views and lively discussions of strategy for future IACs. Again, the knowledge gained and shared will have a positive impact on the development of each IAC. The networking developed during the meeting can be used to exchange knowledge and lead to further cooperation in various areas. He finally expressed his sincere gratitude to all participants and wished them Bon Appetit and safe journey back home. Two participants also expressed positive impressions about the meeting, the Korean society, understanding more about Korean ICT industries, the great transformation of Korea as an example of how technology and education can change the lives of millions of people. 5. Conclusion The four-day meeting of IAC Managers at the 2nd IACNet General Meeting in Seoul had been a remarkable success in setting a new vision and strategy among the participants on transforming IACs from hardware-based to software-based centers through digital transformation. The highlights on IT Education and business start-up were well-noted by participants and it is believed that management support at each institution and country will go a long way to achieve these objectives. IAC Managers also have a duty to ensure that decisions taken at the meeting are implemented to improve on IAC operations. 17