Bixpo Exhibition: Energy transition and digital transformation

The Korea Joongang Daily carried an interesting article today on the Bitgaram International Expo of Electric Power Technology (Bixpo), a forum organized by Kepco, in Gwangju on Wednesday. “Power companies around the world are facing an enormous historic change called an ‘energy paradigm shift,’” said Kepco CEO Kim Jong-kap during the opening of Bixpo. “The first major paradigm shift is the digital transformation, which will mean that our children will experience a world that is completely different from the one we have been living in.
“Big data, artificial intelligence [AI], the Internet of Things and other core technologies of the fourth industrial revolution are rapidly tearing down industrial boarders,” Kim said.
He said that such changes are forcing the electric power sector to be interconnected and fuse with other industries that it previously hadn’t thought of, such as the automotive, finance, construction and communications industries.
I'm teaching a graduate seminar this semester on "Digital technologies for disaster risk reduction," and we are discussing all of the technologies mentioned in the Joongang Daily article.   Personally I would argue that the industrial convergence noted by CEO Kim is part of the continuing third industrial revolution, driven by digital technologies, rather than a fourth such revolution as promoted by the World Economic Forum.