From 29 September to 7 October, the Government Chief Scientific
Adviser (GCSA) Professor Dame
visited Japan and Korea
where she met with representatives from various ministries,
institutions and companies, and took part in discussions on
AI and research to
gain a greater understanding of the science and tech landscape in
both countries.
In Japan, the GCSA attended the
Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum in Kyoto.
She highlighted the importance of an international approach to
AI governance and
the UK’s leading role.
Speaking at the STS Forum, she said:
I am very excited by frontier AI: by the prospect of cures for
diseases that have confounded medical researchers for years; the
opportunities to deliver better public services more cheaply; its
role in the invention of greener products and more sustainable
farming methods; how it could allow humans to abandon menial
tasks in favour of more creative and stimulating work.
Among other engagements during her visit to Japan, the Government
Chief Scientific Adviser also had the opportunity to meet
representatives from ministries and research and development
institutions, take part in a round-table discussion with some of
her international counterparts, visit Tokyo’s Ochanomizu
University Girls’ Senior High School, and discuss her role in a
conversation with Dr Kazuhito Hashimoto, President of the Japan
Science and Technology Agency and Science and Technology Advisor
to the Cabinet of Japan.
During her visit to the Republic of Korea, the GCSA met with
representatives of the country’s Ministries of Science and
ICT, Trade,
Industry and Energy, and Foreign Affairs, with whom she spoke
about the wide-ranging UK-ROKcooperation, including on digital,
and the preparations for the upcoming state visit to the UK of
Korea’s President, Yoon Suk Yeol.
Dame Angela also discussed the potential for UK-ROK cooperation with ROKinstitutions, hosted a round-table
discussion with a group of Korean experts and representatives of
the country’s technology companies, spoke with the
representatives of two of the largest UK companies in South Korea
– GSK and AstraZeneca – and toured Samsung’s Pyeongtaek Campus,
to see the company’s work.
