Page 5 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2020

Foreword

Chaesub Lee

Director
ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau

The ITU Kaleidoscope academic conference has gained a reputation for providing an in-depth
discussion on matters relevant to the ITU membership. This year, Kaleidoscope 2020: Industry-driven
digital transformation provided a forward-looking perspective on the future developments of digital
transformation in the manufacturing sector.
Kaleidoscope is ITU’s flagship academic event. Now in its twelfth edition, the conference supports
productive dialogue between academics and standardization experts. This year, for the first time,
Kaleidoscope was held as a fully online conference welcoming participants from around the world
from 7 to 11 December 2020.
The research presented at this conference highlighted innovations in fields such as cyber-physical
systems, digital twins, virtual simulation, augmented reality, immersive technologies, artificial
intelligence and machine learning, and 5G/6G telecommunication, uncovering how these innovations
all contribute to digital transformation of industrial processes, and also analysing their social and
economic impacts. The adoption of new technologies in the manufacturing industry ushers in endless
possibilities for the automotive, retail, agriculture, tourism, energy and healthcare sectors. With the
reality of COVID-19 and its global impact, the special panel on The role of ICT for future pandemics
highlighted how we can harness future technologies and interoperability to strengthen healthcare
systems and provide people-centred care going forward.
The engaging discussions during the conference also aided in the understanding of how ITU’s work
on standardization can advance the digitization of industry.

I would like to express my great appreciation to the Kaleidoscope community and the larger ITU
Academia membership for their enduring support to this series of conferences. With over 160
academic and research institutes now members of ITU, the Kaleidoscope series is certain to continue
growing in strength.
My sincerest thanks go to our technical co-sponsors, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE), the IEEE Communications Society (IEEE ComSoc) and to our supporter, the IEEE
Technology and Engineering Management Society (IEEE TEMS). I would also like to thank our
academic partners and longstanding ITU members, Waseda University, the Institute of Image
Electronics Engineers of Japan (I.I.E.E.J.), the Institute of Electronics, Information and
Communication Engineers (IEICE) of Japan, the Chair of Communication and Distributed Systems
at RWTH Aachen University, the European Academy for Standardization (EURAS), as well as the
University of the Basque Country and the Liverpool John Moores University.

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