We were unable to hold this ICAT last year due to COVID-19 pandemic, but we are very pleased to be able to hold the 2021 ICAT this year despite the prolonged this pandemic.

ICAT was founded in 2015 to become a forum for sharing automobile-related technology and policy trends in cooperation with Gwangju local industries, universities, research institutes, and metropolitan governments, centering on the Automobile Research Center at Chonnam National University. In particular, as KIA and Gwangju Global Motors (GGM) are located in Gwangju, our region, and the Gwangju city has established the eco-friendly automobile industry as the city's core industry, it is very meaningful to hold such international conferences consistently.

Recently, the flow of global mobility technology is changing very rapidly. Korea declared the “Carbon Neutrality in 2050” in December last year to lead the global environmental problems. From the following policy, not only the automobile industry, but also the other mobility industry, such as ships and off-roads, is changing into smart eco-friendly mobility. Therefore, we have prepared a forum to discuss future smart mobility research by inviting future eco-friendly smart mobility experts here.

The theme of the 2021 ICAT is 『Smart Mobility Technology Trend for Carbon Neutrality』. We have invited 11 experts in smart mobility technology and policy trends of carbon neutrality from major institutes, university and corporations in domestic and abroad.

There are three speakers, who will give a valuable presentations, from overseas, Dr. Rousseau from Argonne National Laboratory in US, Mr. Dolan from Methanol Institute in US, Mr. Nakamura from JARI in Japan. From Korea, Dr. Sung Jin Choi and Dr. Jae-Kwan Lee from Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH), Dr. Yunsung Lim from the National Institute of Environment Research (NIER), Dr. Kyung Wan Roh from Korea Energy Agency (KEA), Dr. Gunpil Moon from Korea Register (KR), Dr. Hyunwoo Lee from Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute (KATRI), Dr. Kyu Ok Kim from the Korea Transport Institute, and Professor Ocktaek Lim from University of Ulsan. Thanks to all the distinguished speakers.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the speakers in domestic and abroad and all the on- and off-line attendees who gave their precious time for the 2021 ICAT.

Thank you.

Chairman of 2021 ICAT
Prof. Byungchul Choi
Chonnam national University in Korea