Conversion, are we headed in the right direction?

To put it simply, conversion is the synergy among two or more integrated areas. However, we cannot expect this synergistic effect of interdisciplinary activities to arise through just technicians and scholars in specific fields. Convergence without well-prepared goals and vision, rather, often leads to confusion. Dean Lee said that the core in convergence is the intersection of mutual knowledge, the common denominator where two circles overlap.



“In the past, an expert in a field learned new fields as needed, integrated them, and then created new things. This is what we called “convergence.” Recently, as two or more different fields cooperate and convergence research becomes active, it is hard to communicate if their knowledge systems don’t overlap with each other. The language used in each field is different, and also there is a huge gap between their respective cognitive processes and problem-solving methods. Therefore, it can be said that the common denominator that understands and applies such differences is a watershed for the success of convergence. The same applies to education. When it comes to convergence education, in the past, students needed to find and take courses in different majors and also synthesize these on their own. In this regard, the fusion of students in the humanities and science track became more difficult. The biggest problem was that it was hard for each to understand the other due to their different ways of expression.”

We should start right now before it gets too late, rather than blaming others.

According to Lee, the key to convergence is making the common denominator of each larger, understanding accurately, and communicating actively. But most of all, the necessary convergence in this day is a different perspective of convergence rather than the one of mutual understanding.

“For now, no convergence in all industries is complete without information technology (IT). ‘The age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution' is leading the transition from automated manufacturing to the hyper-connected world through IT. The keyword here is 'software.' Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and big data are not confined to specific disciplines. Regardless of field, we need to know how to handle the information and data to cope with changes. The concept of convergent talent we are talking about is now based on problem-solving skills with IT. We need talented individuals who have not only expertise in a certain field, but capabilities to express and communicate through IT and familiarity with software convergence.”

Lee said that countries around the world have already started a silent war for nurturing software talents. “Although Korea is an IT powerhouse, we are not providing IT education at all. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace; however, many colleges still remain in the 19th-century in terms of education. It's not limited to college. Alvin Toffler said ‘Korean students spend more than 10 hours a day in schools and hagwons to learn knowledge that won’t be necessary for the future or for jobs that won’t even exist. They are wasting precious time.’ We still have not changed at all. It is IT and information processing literacy that can make people read, write, and calculate in this age.