▲Kim Hak-yong, Director of the IoT Strategy Research Institute



"Rather than focusing on innovation awards, the government and local governments should create opportunities to meet with overseas buyers."
It is necessary to approach the exhibition from a business perspective for corporate survival rather than a technology exhibition.

Kim Hak-yong, director of the IoT Strategy Research Institute, suggested that companies participating in CES should approach the event from a business perspective rather than a technology introduction, and that the government and local governments should focus on leading buyer meetings rather than being obsessed with innovation awards.

At the webinar “A Look Around CES 2024 with Director Kim Hak-yong” held by e4ds news on the 25th, Director Kim Hak-yong expressed regret that 772 government agencies, regions, universities, and companies participated in CES 2024 to achieve business results, but it was a strategy that was difficult to achieve results.

This year's CES 2024 was recorded as the largest since the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 4,300 participating companies and over 135,000 attendees.

A total of 772 Korean companies participated in this year's CES, a 29% increase over the previous year. The trend of increasing participation was centered around joint pavilions by local governments, universities, and government organizations.

Eureka Park, which focuses on startup companies, is comprised of 40% Korean companies, including KOTRA, the Korea Institute of Startups and Entrepreneurship Development, the Seoul Economic Promotion Agency, KAIST, and Seoul National University. They operated their own individual communal halls.

Local governments such as Gwangju, Seongnam, Daejeon, and South Jeolla Province, as well as public institutions such as KOTRA and the Seoul Economic Promotion Agency, invest tax money to participate in the exhibition.

Director Kim Hak-yong expressed his critical stance, saying, “While excellent companies participate in CES, there are also cases where it has the character of a so-called ‘performance filler’ by public institutions,” and “Although the innovation award does not unconditionally guarantee success, there are institutions that provide consulting services related to the innovation award, and too much effort is being put into the innovation award.”

While receiving innovation awards can have a positive impact on companies, it is my opinion that using that budget and human resources to create opportunities for Korean companies to meet domestic and international buyers at CES and promote future growth would be truly effective.

Additionally, many regions, universities, and government organizations have jointly set up exhibition halls, and the fact that exhibitions with the same theme are scattered across several locations creates a feeling of disarray, which causes inconvenience to visitors.

▲Korean exhibition hall marked in lime green (Image source: Presentation materials by Director Kim Hak-yong)

Director Kim said, “Foreign investors have to tour the entire Eureka Park and then go to another exhibition hall to look at Korean AI companies,” and added, “We need to divide the park into sectors and arrange them so that visitors can easily find the technology they are looking for.” It was reported.

143 Korean companies won CES Innovation Awards, accounting for approximately 43% of all innovation awards, and 118 of the Korean award winners were small and medium-sized venture companies.

Regarding the above results, Director Kim Hak-yong commented, “Despite the competition ratio for the Innovation Award being 3:1, only 143 out of 772 Korean companies received the Innovation Award, and the participation of about 200 companies raises questions about the significance of the event.”

He also warned that simply participating in CES to promote technology risks exposing the technology to competitors.

Last year, Samsung Electronics set up both an exhibition hall and a meeting room at CES 2023, but only held key presentations in the meeting room.

At this year's CES 2024, 20% of participating companies did not set up an exhibition hall, but instead responded to a limited number of attendees in meeting rooms.

Director Kim Hak-yong emphasized, “Rather than simply serving as an exhibition to promote technology, we need to approach it from a business perspective to ensure corporate survival.” He added, “Government support is helpful, but companies also need to establish a foundation for themselves to thrive.”