The Seoul Digital Forum (SDF) is a major international conference addressing innovation in the digital world. Held in Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, the event each year attracts many of the world's most influential people from industry, government and academia to explore the progress of the digital revolution and collaborate in shaping our future. Participants include executives from global companies, opinion leaders, artists, as well as policy makers. Established in 2004, SDF is organized by Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), a leading national broadcasting network in Korea.
The objectives of the Seoul Digital Forum are:

• to gather the most influential minds from industry, government and academia and explore the current progress of the digital revolution and seek ways to optimize new possibilities for the future.
• to enhance knowledge and understanding of political, economic, social, and cultural implications arising from the rapid development of digital technologies.
• to strengthen inter-regional cooperation through joint effort in discovering opportunities and confronting challenges.

The Organizer

SDF is organized by the SBS Future & Vision Desk, a department in the SBS news bureau.
SDF 2011 Connected: Into a Shared Future

Afforded by ubiquitous mobile technology and social network services, the evolving digital civilization is bringing together the whole world at our fingertips. SDF2011 canvassed a blue print of the hyper-connected world and explored how we could materialize a digitally-induced interconnectedness compatible with our ecosystem.
2011 Key Speakers:

• Larry King
  Larry King
  Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
  
  , Former Host, Larry King Live
• Nicholas Carr, Author, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains
• Gloria Steinem
  Gloria Steinem
  Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
  
  , Feminist Writer and Organizer
• Naveen Selvadurai
  Naveen Selvadurai
  Naveen Selvadurai is an internet entrepreneur and co-founder of location-based social networking site Foursquare.com. He was born in Tamil Nadu, India.-Career:...
  
  , Co-founder, Foursquare
• Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
  Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
  Albert-László Barabási is a physicist, best known for his work in the research of network theory. He is the former Emil T...
  
  , Professor & Director, Center for Complex Network Research, Northeastern University
• Robert Bakish, President & CEO, Viacom International
  Viacom International
  Viacom International, Inc. is a current subsidiary of Viacom .It is the holding company for copyrights associated with Viacom's corporate website and its cable networks, specifically MTV Networks, and is the division which licenses the product rights for their various properties...
  
   Media Networks
• Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, President & National CTO, Office of Strategic R&D Planning, Ministry of Knowledge Economy
• Chin Daeje
  Chin Dae-je
  Chin Dae-je is a South-Korean businessman and an ex-politician. He was born on January 20, 1952 in Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province.He attended Gyeonggi High School and then studied Electronic Engineering at Seoul National University , the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Stanford...
  
  , President & CEO, Skylake Incuvest / Former Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication
• Ferdinando Nani Beccalli-Falco, President & CEO, GE Europe & North Asia
• Eric Whitacre
  Eric Whitacre
  Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination...
  
  , Composer & Conductor, The Virtual Choir
• Vikas Swarup
  Vikas Swarup
  Vikas Swarup is an Indian novelist and diplomat who has served in Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Japan, best known for his novels Q & A and Six Suspects.-Early life:...
  
  , Diplomat / Author, Q&A

SDF 2010 Renaissance Now: Shaping Another Breakthrough

Wrapping up the first decade of the new millennium, SDF2010 discussed how we could craft and propel a new millennium Renaissance. The Forum contemplated on the precious Renaissance legacy of encouraging a daring and creative spirit and explored who will be the Renaissance men and women to shape the coming breakthroughs.
2010 Key Speakers:

• James Cameron
  James Cameron
  James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
  
  , Film Director / Chairman & CEO, Lightstorm Entertainment
  Lightstorm Entertainment
  Lightstorm Entertainment is an American film production company. The company was founded by Canadian filmmaker James Cameron and film producer Larry Kasanoff in 1990 and is best known for producing the films Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic and Cameron's latest film Avatar...
  
  *Ken Auletta, Columnist, The New Yorker / Author, Googled
• Andy Bird
  Andy Bird
  - Early life :Bird grew up in Warrington, England and was schooled at King's School, Macclesfield. In 1985 Bird gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature at Newcastle University.- Career :...
  
  , Chairman, Walt Disney International
• James Nachtwey
  James Nachtwey
  James Nachtwey is an American photojournalist and war photographer.He grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Dartmouth College, where he studied Art History and Political Science ....
  
  , Photojournalist & Special Contributor for the Time Magazine
• David Wertheimer, CEO & Executive Director, Entertainment Technology Center@USC
• John Underkoffler, Chief Scientist & Co-founder, Oblong Industries
• Eli Noam
  Eli Noam
  Eli M. Noam is a professor of Finance and Economics at the Columbia Business School. He has written over 400 articles and has authored, edited, and co-edited about 25 books. Noam is married to Nadine Strossen, the former National President of ACLU.-Education:Noam attended Harvard University, where...
  
  , Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia University
• Bart Decrem, Founder & CEO, Tapulous
  Tapulous
  Tapulous, Inc. is an American software and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company as part of the Disney Interactive Media Group...
  
  
• Shi Zhengrong
  Shi Zhengrong
  Zhengrong Shi is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Suntech Power.-Biography:Dr. Shi was born in Yangzhong, Jiangsu province, China. He finished his undergraduate study at Changchun University of Science and Technology in Changchun, and obtained his Master's degree from Shanghai...
  
  , Founder, CEO & Chairman, Suntech Power
  Suntech Power
  Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is the world's largest producer of solar panels, with 1,800MW of annual production capacity by the end of 2010. With offices or production facilities in every major market, Suntech has delivered more than 13,000,000 solar panels to thousands of companies in more...
  
  

SDF 2009 Story : A New Chapter

The Forum explored the innovative and inspiring ‘stories’ of the digital age from the T.I.M.E. + industries, also reflecting on how the global financial crisis handed the world a major opportunity to rethink conventional paradigms
2009 Key Speakers:

• H. E. Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad
  Mahathir bin Mohamad
  Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad . is a Malaysian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years.Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir...
  
  , Former Prime Minister, Malaysia
• Dan Ariely
  Dan Ariely
  Dan Ariely is an Israeli American professor of psychology and behavioral economics. He teaches at Duke University and is the founder of The Center for Advanced Hindsight.-Biography:...
  
  , Author, Predictably Irrational
  Predictably Irrational
  Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions is a 2008 book by Dan Ariely, in which he challenges readers' assumptions about making decisions based on rational thought. Ariely explains, "My goal, by the end of this book, is to help you fundamentally rethink what makes you and...
  
  / James B. Duke Professor, Duke University
• Nouriel Roubini
  Nouriel Roubini
  Nouriel Roubini is an American economist. He claims to have predicted both the collapse of the United States housing market and the worldwide recession which started in 2008. He teaches at New York University's Stern School of Business and is the chairman of Roubini Global Economics, an economic...
  
  , Chairman, RGE Monitor
  RGE Monitor
  Roubini Global Economics or RGE , is a global economic and financial analysis firm based in New York City. The company also has offices in Asia and Europe.-History:...
  
   / Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University
• Myung-Whun Chung
  Myung-Whun Chung
  Myung-whun Chung is a South Korean pianist and conductor.His sisters, violinist Kyung-wha Chung, and cellist Myung-wha Chung, and he at one time performed together as the Chung Trio. He was a joined second-prize winner in the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. Chung studied conducting at...
  
  , Music Director, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
  Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
  The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1948, is one of the oldest and most famous orchestras in South Korea. Its first foreign tour came on a 1965 trip to Japan, followed by performances in Southeast Asia in 1977, the United States in 1982, 1986 and 1996, a 1988 tour of Europe before the...
  
  
• Eric S. Rollman, President, Marvel Animation
  Marvel Animation
  Marvel Animation, LLC is an American animation production company. The Marvel Entertainment subsidiary was incorporated on January 25, 2008 to direct Marvel's efforts in animation and home entertainment markets...
  
  
• T.J. Pempel
  T. J. Pempel
  T. J. Pempel is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He joined the faculty in July 2001 and was also the director of the Institute of East Asian Studies from January 2002 until 2007. He held the Il Han New Chair in Asian Studiesfrom 2001-2007.Pempel was born on...
  
  , Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley
• Takashi Inoguchi
  Takashi Inoguchi
  is a Japanese academic researcher of foreign affairs and international and global relationships of states. He is also a professor emeritus of University of Tokyo. He is the president of University of Niigata Prefecture since April 2009 .- History :Inoguchi is from Niigata, Niigata. He was born...
  
  , President, University of Nigata Prefecture

SDF 2008 Overview

In its fifth year, under the main theme, IMAGINATION: Explore T.I.M.E., Space, and Beyond, the Seoul Digital Forum 2008 will explore the power of imagination inspiring change and evolution in areas such as technology, information, media, entertainment and space to push the human race beyond.
SDF 2008 Program

This year's program looks to address some of the major challenges facing the world today; SDF 2008 Key Sessions Include:

• Unleashing Media Content
• Communication
• Biotechnology
• Sustainable Living and Energy
• Cinema
• Interface
• Urban Design
• Space Exploration and Privatization
• Gaming
• Investor Insights

2008 Key Speakers:

• Nolan Bushnell
  Nolan Bushnell
  Nolan K. Bushnell is an American engineer and entrepreneur who founded both Atari, Inc and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theaters chain...
  
  , Atari, Inc
  Atari, Inc
  Atari, Inc. was an American video game and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Primarily responsible for the formation of the video arcade and modern video game industries, the company was closed and its assets split in 1984 as a direct result of the North...
  
   Founder & CEO
• Eugene Cernan, Former NASA Astronaut and "The Last Man on the Moon"
• Aubrey de Grey
  Aubrey de Grey
  Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author...
  
  ,British biomedical gerontologist and CEO of Methuselah Foundation
  Methuselah Foundation
  The Methuselah Foundation studies methods of extending lifespan. It is a non-profit 501 volunteer organization, co-founded by Aubrey de Grey and David Gobel, which is based in Springfield, Virginia, United States...
  
  
• Timothy C. Draper
  Timothy C. Draper
  Timothy Cook Draper is the founder of the global venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.Draper is third in a line of venture capitalists. His father, William Henry Draper III , founded Draper & Johnson Investment Company in 1962, Sutter Hill Ventures in 1968, Draper International India in...
  
  , Founder & Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
  Draper Fisher Jurvetson
  Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California with affiliate offices in more than 30 cities around the world and over $7 billion in capital commitments....
  
  
• Ann Druyan
  Ann Druyan
  Ann Druyan is an American author and producer specializing in productions about cosmology and popular science. She made substantial contributions to the PBS documentary series, Cosmos, and was the wife of late scientist and educator, Carl Sagan.-Film career:Along with Carl Sagan and Steven Soter,...
  
  , CEO, Cosmos Studios and Co-author of the Emmy-Award Winning Series, "Cosmos"
• David Eun, Vice President, Content Partnerships, Google
• Dale Herigstad, CCO, Schematic
• Leroy Hood
  Leroy Hood
  Leroy Hood is an American biologist. He won the 2011 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize “for automating DNA sequencing that revolutionized biomedicine and forensic science” and the 2003 Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventing "four instruments that have unlocked much of the mystery of human biology" by...
  
  , President, Institute for Systems Biology
• Kaname Ikeda
  Kaname Ikeda
  is a Japanese civil servant.Ikeda graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1968, and joined the Atomic Energy Bureau of the Japanese Science and Technology Agency . In 1984 he became Director of the Nuclear Fuels Division of the STA...
  
  , CEO, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Organization
• Shintaro Kubo, President, Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)
• Scott Matlock, Chairman of Asia M&A, Morgan Stanley
• Gordon Orr, Director, Global Leader of Strategy Practice, Asia Leader of ICT Climate Change Initiative, McKinsey&Company
• James Powderly
  James Powderly
  James Powderly is an artist and engineer whose work has focused on creating tools for graffiti artists and political activists, designing robots and promoting open source culture.- Biography :...
  
  , co-founder of Graffiti Research Lab
  Graffiti Research Lab
  Graffiti Research Lab, founded by Evan Roth and James Powderly during their fellowships at the Eyebeam OpenLab, is an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. The members of the group experiment in a lab and in...
  
  
• Joshua Prince-Ramus
  Joshua Prince-Ramus
  Joshua Prince-Ramus is an American architect. Prince-Ramus is Principal of REX, an internationally acclaimed architecture and design firm based in New York City. REX recently completed the AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas, Texas and the Vakko Fashion Center and...
  
  , Co-founder & President, REX / Architect, Seattle Central Library
• Sumner Redstone
  Sumner Redstone
  Sumner Murray Redstone is an American media magnate. He is the majority owner and Chairman of the Board of the National Amusements theater chain...
  
  , Chairman, Viacom and CBS Corporation,
• Craig Walker
  Craig Walker (businessman)
  Craig Walker is currently the first entrepreneur in residence to join the Google Ventures team. Walker was previously the Group Product Manager for Real-Time Communications at Google, where he oversaw all of Google’s voice communications products, including Google Voice, Google Talk, and Google...
  
  , Sr. Product Manager, Voice Products Google
  Google
  Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
  
  /CEO & Founder of Grandcentral Communications
  GrandCentral
  Google Voice is a telecommunications service by Google launched on March 11, 2009. Google Voice had some 1.4 million users in October 2009, 570,000 of whom used the service 7 days a week...
  
  
• Will.i.am
  Will.i.am
  William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
  
  ,American hip hop musician, dancer, songwriter and founding member and frontman of Black Eyed Peas
• Pete Worden
  Pete Worden
  Simon P. Worden, Ph.D. is Director of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. Before joining NASA, he held several positions in the United States Air Force and was research professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is a recognized expert on space issues...
  
  , Director, NASA Ames Research Center
• Yi So-Yeon
  Yi So-yeon
  Yi So-yeon is a South Korean scientist and Ph.D. graduate of KAIST . On April 8, 2008, she became the first Korean and the second Asian woman to fly in space, after Chiaki Mukai.-Biography:Yi So-yeon was born to father Yi Gil-soo...
  
  , First Korean Astronaut and Researcher, Korea Aerospace Research Institute
  Korea Aerospace Research Institute
  The Korea Aerospace Research Institute is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. Current projects include the KSLV launcher. Past projects include the 1999 Arirang-1 satellite. The agency was founded in 1989...
  
  

2008 Symposiarch

Ken Rutkowski

Ken Rutkowski

Ken Rutkowski is the Founder, President and Host of KenRadio Broadcasting which is syndicated on CBS Radio, the Founder of the Media, Entertainment and Technology Alliance known as METal and he is also the Local Partner of Founder Institute Chapter Los Angeles.- Career :In March 1990, Rutkowski...

, CEO, KenRadio

KenRadio

KenRadio Broadcasting is an online talk radio station with its main focus on the latest technology news. Produced in Los Angeles and occasionally on location at big trade shows and other important events, Ken Rutkowski and Andy Abramson's audio and video shows cover media, technology, and...

 Broadcasting
SDF 2007

Theme: Media Big Bang! Impact on Business & Society

Key Speakers:

• Chris Anderson
  Chris Anderson
  Chris Anderson may refer to:* Chris Anderson , founder of Future Publishing and curator of the TED Conference* Chris Anderson , author, journalist, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, popularized "The Long Tail"* Chris Anderson , football player, educator, former Vice-Chairman of Aberdeen F.C.*...
  
  , Author of 'The Long Tail', Editor in chief of 'Wired' magazine
• Tom Curley
  Tom Curley
  Thomas "Tom" Curley is the President of the Associated Press, the world's largest news organization.-Biography:Curley was born in Easton, Pennsylvania. At age 15, he started writing for the Easton Express...
  
  , President & CEO, The Associated Press, Former President & Publisher, USA Today
• Eric Schmidt, Chairman & CEO, Google
• Anne Sweeney
  Anne Sweeney
  Anne Marie Sweeney is the Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks and President of Disney-ABC Television Group.-Life and career:...
  
  , Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks; President, Disney-ABC Television Group
• Ken Rutkowski
  Ken Rutkowski
  Ken Rutkowski is the Founder, President and Host of KenRadio Broadcasting which is syndicated on CBS Radio, the Founder of the Media, Entertainment and Technology Alliance known as METal and he is also the Local Partner of Founder Institute Chapter Los Angeles.- Career :In March 1990, Rutkowski...
  
  , Founder of KenRadio Broadcasting, President of the L.A. chapter of the Media, Founder of METal.

SDF 2006

Theme: Intelligent Technologies

Key Speakers:

• Steve Ballmer
  Steve Ballmer
  Steven Anthony "Steve" Ballmer is an American business magnate. He is the chief executive officer of Microsoft, having held that post since January 2000. , his personal wealth is estimated at US$13.9 billion, ranking number 19 on the Forbes 400.-Early life:Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigan to...
  
  , CEO, Microsoft Corporation
• Paul Jacobs, President & CEO, Qualcomm
  Qualcomm
  Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
  
  
• Lawrence Lessig
  Lawrence Lessig
  Lawrence "Larry" Lessig is an American academic and political activist. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark, and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications, and he has called for state-based activism to promote substantive...
  
  , Founder of Creative Commons, Professor of Stanford Law School
• Jeffrey Rothfeder, former Business Week Editor, National News Editor at Bloomberg News

SDF 2005

Theme: Vadis Ubiquitous: Charting a New Digital Society

Key Speakers:

• Daeje Chin, Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication, Republic of Korea
• Al Gore
  Al Gore
  Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
  
  , former Vice President of the United States
• Irwin M. Jacobs
  Irwin M. Jacobs
  Irwin Mark Jacobs , is an electrical engineer and the co-founder and former chairman of Qualcomm, and chair of the board of trustees of the Salk Institute. In 2010, Jacobs was listed as number 828 on Forbes's annual list of the World's Top Billionaires.-Education:Jacobs earned his B.S...
  
  , Chairman & CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated U.S.
• John Naisbitt
  John Naisbitt
  John Naisbitt is an American author and public speaker in the area of futures studies. His first book Megatrends was published in 1982. It was the result of almost ten years of research. It was on the New York Times bestseller list for two years, mostly as #1...
  
  , Futurist, Author of "Megatrends"
• Michael Powell
  Michael Powell (politician)
  Michael Kevin Powell is an American Republican politician and lobbyist. He is the incoming president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association . He was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by President Bill Clinton on 3 November 1997. President George W. Bush designated...
  
  , Former Chairman, Federal Communications Commissions, U.S.
• Jong Yong Yun, Vice Chairman & CEO, Samsung Electronics

SDF 2004

Theme: Digital Convergence

Key Speakers:

• George Gilder
  George Gilder
  George F. Gilder is an American writer, techno-utopian intellectual, Republican Party activist, and co-founder of the Discovery Institute...
  
  , Chairman, Gilder Group, Author of 'Telecosm'
• Shin Bae Kim, President & CEO, SK Telecom
• Nicholas Negroponte
  Nicholas Negroponte
  Nicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
  
  , Professor, MIT Media Lab
• Gail Whipple, Vice President, Digital Media, IBM Global Services

External links

• SEOUL DIGITAL FORUM, official website
• SBS Global, official website