"Digital Civilization and Network Society: Cultivating Professional Talent"

Oct 12, 2023 I Keynote Speech Summary at Herald Business Forum 2023 in South Korea

The 21st century’s digital revolution is reshaping our civilization. The social system of the 20th century, which was based on a manufacturing-centered mass production system, has changed rapidly, and we are now facing the emergence of a new social economic system. As all aspects of human life become digitized, we are seeing many things change dramatically, from production to distribution and the various ways we work. The industrial structure has changed from a traditional manufacturing-oriented industry to one that is based on IT and technologies like AI. In response, entirely new business models such as platform businesses, subscription businesses, and remote online businesses are becoming mainstream. 

In this context, the emergence of a new industrial system is fundamentally changing the nature of existing manufacturing-based labor. In the 20th century, the division of labor became specialized, and due to our new digital civilization, it became possible to handle work more efficiently through automation using computers or robots. Seen in this way, it’s clear that tacit knowledge has become more important than explicit knowledge. Collaboration is more necessary than individual-centered work processing, and problem-solving and creative work becomes more important than simple, repetitive, and elaborate work. 

Given the changing nature of our work and industrial structure, we also need a new way to educate. In particular, higher education needs to be restructured to meet the needs of our new digital civilization, nurturing professionals with excellent problem-solving skills rather than specialists with expertise that only exists in their own silo. For businesses, it’s now more effective to outsource using experts that are connected by our fast, low-latency digital highways, working on collaborative projects in ways that emphasize problem solving skills rather than the past model where each person did one specific job. We’re going to see entirely new ways of working come to the fore, such as telecommuting and the rise of SOHOs, or small office home office, where individuals can achieve all their objectives without ever having to step foot inside the company. Indeed, offices will become more of a public space without assigned seats, and various types of work using smart offices will appear. 

As this happens, we’ll see a shift away from time management evaluations to systems that prize performance management evaluations. As we look at the way our various forms of work, and indeed our entire industrial structure, are changing, doesn’t it make sense that we also reevaluate and restructure the way we educate? 

In particular, undergraduate education should be separated from graduate education and transformed in a way that fosters competencies and problem-solving skills. It is meaningless to simply teach a major that should be learned in graduate school in an introductory way to undergraduate students. The days of treating undergraduate majors as having expertise are over. Undergraduate education should focus on developing competencies, giving students the wisdom and ability to think analytically and creatively, while graduate education should focus on in-depth learning of one’s major. 

This is why we believe so strongly in the program we have developed at Taejae University. We see it as a model for future university innovation. Our content and our unique methodology are what 21st century professionals need to get ahead. Establishing a new paradigm for fostering professional talent that fits the changed industrial structure and new characteristics of the workplace should be the top priority for higher education, because that is what will determine competitiveness in the 21st century.