South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) will unveil a new AI-centred research and development vision and a national AI innovation strategy as it marks its 50th anniversary.

ETRI said on Aug. 26 it will hold 'ETRI Conference 2026' on Sept. 1 at the Grace Hall of the EL Tower in Seoul's Yangjae. This year's event, themed 'A warm world where we live together, led by AI and DX innovation', will look back on ICT research achievements over the past 50 years and present R&D directions to prepare for an era of sweeping AI transformation.

Since its founding in 1976, ETRI has led development of core technologies in South Korea's ICT progress, including the TDX electronic switching system, CDMA, terrestrial DMB, 4G and 5G mobile communications, broadband internet and the AI Exobrain. It plans to concentrate its capabilities on research into future national strategic technologies, centred on AI and digital transformation (DX), as it marks its 50th anniversary.

At the event, ETRI President Se-woong Park (박세웅) will present the institute's new vision and innovation strategy. He will also propose a '4E Combination' strategy to respond to changes in the research environment, including competition for technological dominance, the AI transformation and the post-PBS era.

The 4E framework comprises Essential, Embracing, Exciting and Excellent. Based on this, ETRI will pursue technology innovation and research vitality centred on core missions and open collaboration, along with management innovation focused on research vitality and qualitative growth.

To shift to a national mission-oriented strategic research system, ETRI will focus R&D capabilities on five priority areas: AI, physical AI, stereoscopic communications, spatial media and ADX convergence. It will also move to secure related technologies, including AI full stack and real-world understanding AI, an AI highway, AI hyper-immersive services and ADX.

The event will also include strategic technology presentations under the themes 'AI scientist for everyone' and 'The heart of AI-AIDC'. Oh-uk Kwon (권오욱), head of ETRI's Intelligent Information Research Division, will introduce R&D directions to realise an 'AI scientist', including a shared multimodal foundation model that can be used for scientific research and an AI research colleague. Yong-gyun Yoo (유용균), head of the National Science AI Research Center at the National Research Council of Science and Technology, will present a national mission for AI scientists and plans to build a research ecosystem.

Kwang-won Ko (고광원), head of ETRI's AI Data Center (DC) Research Division, will present a technology development strategy to build national AI infrastructure, including AIDC and ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-latency networks. Il-jun Lee (이일준), a director at NHN Cloud, will explain the role of AI computing infrastructure and data centres as seen from industrial sites.

Park said, "It is time to combine the ICT capabilities accumulated over the past 50 years with AI to create new growth engines for South Korea." He added, "We will concentrate R&D capabilities around AI and expand openness and cooperation with industry, academia and research institutions to create strategic technologies the nation needs and world-class research成果."