2020 ICHEON FORUM: Designing Deep Change

On August 18, the “2020 Icheon Forum: Designing Deep Change (hereinafter referred to as the Icheon Forum)” opened. Live-streamed online, the Forum aimed to find practical solutions that will address issues related to implementing Deep Change based on the key discussions from the Sub-forums as well as mini-forums of the last three months. Intense discussions and exchange of knowledge continued until August 20 on the agenda themes of ▲Happiness Map ▲SV Account ▲ Work Style Innovation ▲Environment and ▲Financial Story. Here is an overview of the programs of the 2020 Icheon Forum for designing action plans to implement Deep Change in the business field.

 

 

DAY 1: Opening & Presentations on “Post-Coronavirus Innovation” & Theme of Environment

The morning program of the first day of the Icheon Forum adopted a TV news format. The event opened with a video that looked back on the last four years of SK Group’s journey of understanding and implementing Deep Change. It was followed by an opening speech by Chairman Cho Dae-sik of SUPEX Council. Chairman Cho explained the purpose and background of this year’s Icheon Forum, its key themes, and the overall direction of the programs, encouraging SK People to actively participate in the Forum.

 

 

After the opening speech, themes of the agenda for the next three days were announced. Five leaders in charge of each agenda theme explained key issues for discussion as well as the goals of each agenda theme and how the sessions are going to be run to make sure that individual participants could enjoy the Forum based on their interests and preference.

 

 

Presentations and discussions followed under the theme of “the Path for Innovation Post-Coronavirus.” Global scholars were connected via video calls for presentations and follow-up discussions. Speakers included Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who famously predicted the subprime mortgage crisis with the “Black Swan” theory in his 2007 book, The Black Swan, and Chris Anderson, who caught the attention of the world by introducing the concept of “freeconomics.”

 

 

In his presentation, titled “Covid-19 and the Misunderstanding of Risks,” Nassim Nicholas Taleb concluded that “the Covid-19 pandemic is not a Black Swan event (an event that seems unlikely to occur, but brings a severe impact if it does happen), but the result of a vulnerable global system.” He then suggested “measures to improve the fundamentals of a company in order to build its resilience to risks that are difficult to predict.” Chris Anderson took over the virtual stage to give a presentation titled “’How the Pandemic Affects Business Innovation and the Future of AI & DT,” where he gave projections on new business opportunities that may arise during the post-Coronavirus era as the world order is reshaped. He also discussed the potential of social value and the role of AI and DT for sustainable growth and innovation. The presentations were followed by a Q&A segment with members of SK Group.

 

 

During the afternoon, two panel discussion sessions were prepared centering around the agenda theme of Environment, each titled “CO₂: Unanswered Question” and “Please Take Care of Plastic.” Under the theme of “Effective Solutions to Reduce CO₂ Emissions,” the first panel discussion, “CO2: Unanswered Question,” explored “strategies to reduce CO₂ emissions and the latest tech trends” and “ways to reduce CO₂ emissions from the policy, business, and technology perspective” as an effort to explore methods of implementation of eco-friendly action plans in everyday life.

 

During the second panel discussion session, “Please Take Care of Plastic,” participants discussed “strategies to create a circular economy for plastic.” They also explored the future directions to implement eco-friendly action plans by sharing “global companies’ cases,” “the current status of chemical recycling technologies and plans of SK Group,” and “ways to build an eco-system of a circular economy for plastic.”

 

 

DAY 2: Agenda Theme of Work Style Innovation and AI•DT
The morning segment of Day 2 opened with “sharing the outcomes of the Work Style Innovation Project,” which was carried out as part of the Sub-forums. Various affiliates shared the results of their projects and discussed how to make improvements, including “creating a work environment that caters to everyone’s happiness starting from working moms” from SK Hynix; “application of SV of internal customers to the work style of the R&D unit” from SK Telecom; and “the project to build an agile organizational culture” from SK Networks. Co-authors of Innovation Capital, Prof. Jeff Dyer of Brigham Young University and Prof. Nathan Furr of INSEAD, France, continued the rest of the morning program with their online presentations. The two speakers provided advice on SK Group’s pursuit of Deep Change under the theme of “Building Innovation Capital and Capabilities.”

 

 

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion on “Innovation of Rule & Policy for Creation of SV and Happiness.” Participants reviewed the meaning and purpose of Work Style Innovation for creating economic and social value as well as happiness and the progress made so far on implementing Work Style Innovation, shared real-life cases of re-designing Work Style Innovation and had the opportunity to try re-designing SK Group’s rule & policy.

 

 

The afternoon program began with a session under the theme of “Innovation of the Platform BM based on DT,” where SK Group’s progress on DT initiatives was shared and participants had discussions to find concrete ways to “innovate a DT-based BM.” In the session that followed under the theme of “AI Transformation at the Workplace,” results of the online mini-forum that was held before the main Forum were shared, followed by sharing of AI application cases in business and their limitations to identify future challenges and considerations.

 

 

DAY 3: Happiness Map & SV Account
Day 3 of the Icheon Forum opened with a presentation by psychologist Tal Ben Shahar on “the Importance of Pursuit of Happiness and its Measurement.” Tal Ben Shahar shared his insights and global case studies on measuring happiness and pursuit of happiness at an organizational level, expressing his excitement for SK Group’s building of the Happiness Map.

 

 

A discussion session followed, where “cases of building a Happiness Map” were shared by affiliates. Cases of building a Happiness Map from SK Telecom, SK Innovation, SK C&C, and SK mySUNI were shared and participants from the affiliates exchanged their opinions on the genuine efforts made at the company level and anticipated benefits of building a Happiness Map. For the last segment of the morning program, members of the department in charge of happiness and those who have experience and practical knowledge in pursuing and measuring happiness were gathered to discuss the value of a Happiness Map from the perspective of members of the company and ways to build a Happiness Map before the morning sessions came to an end.

 

The afternoon program consisted of a presentation by an external expert and a panel discussion under the theme of “ESG Risk and SV Account: Why SV Account?” A presentation was given by the external expert on SK Group’s ESG risk and the urgency to manage the risk. It was followed by a discussion session between the external expert and a panel consisting of members of SK Group on measures to manage ESG risk through SV Account.

 

 

Then came a sub-forum under the theme of “Declaration of Full-Fledged SV Account Implementation: How to SV Account!” where unresolved issues and ways to address the challenges were discussed. In addition, practical measures were explored to innovate the BM through SV Account, enhance awareness of SK people on SV Account and promote their voluntary participation.

 

Finally, the event was wrapped up jointly by Chairman Chey Tae-won and panelists. Before closing the event, Chairman Chey and the panelists shared their opinions on the 2020 Icheon Forum, reviewed the key takeaways from this year’s program, and briefly exchanged ideas on the direction for the Forum for the coming years.