Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) recruited external experts to strengthen its research and development (R&D) competitiveness in future core technologies.

ETRI said on Nov. 11 it appointed KAIST professor Seong-hyun Choi (최성현) of the School of Electrical Engineering and Song Jung (정송), head of KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, as special advisers for 3D communications and AI, respectively, at the institute's international conference room.

The institute said the special adviser programme was created to respond to a rapidly changing technology environment and strengthen strategic R&D. It aims to review research directions through external experts and identify promising future technologies and new research tasks.

About 60 people attended the appointment ceremony, including ETRI President Se-woong Park (박세웅), the special advisers and key officials from relevant research institutes. Presentations by the special advisers followed the presentation of appointment certificates.

Choi, the special adviser in 3D communications, presented a topic titled "AI-RAN: An AI Highway for Physical AI" and suggested directions for the development of communications technology through the convergence of AI and next-generation mobile communications networks. Choi is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is researching AI-native networks, 6G and AI-RAN. He previously served as a professor at Seoul National University and as a vice president at Samsung Electronics.

Jung, appointed as special adviser in AI, presented on "From Answers to Actions: How Will AI Change the World?" Jung is a KAIST ICT endowed chair professor and serves as head of the Edge AI Research Center. He has researched AI, network optimization and data science and previously served as head of the KAIST AI Institute.

The special advisers will advise on key technologies and R&D strategy formulation and participate in identifying promising future technologies and key research tasks. ETRI plans to appoint special advisers across 5 key focus areas including AI, 3D communications, physical AI, spatial media and ADX convergence to establish a standing advisory system.

ETRI President Park said, "For advanced technologies including AI, close cooperation with top external experts is crucial, not only internal capabilities at research institutes." He added, "We will closely integrate the expertise and experience of special advisers into ETRI's research field to proactively identify promising future technologies and create world-class research outcomes."