On July 22, President Hyun-min Park held a video conference with Dr. Takashi Usuda, Director of NMIJ(National Metrology Institute of Japan), and discussed the new missions of the two institutions and their responses to COVID-19.

The teleconference was held in substitute of the 18th Korea-Japan National Metrology Institute Summit, which had been postponed due to COVID-19. In addition to the directors of both institutions, some other key figures attended this meeting, including Dr. Tokihiko Kobata (head of Metrology Quality Control Center of NMIJ), Mr. Jin-hwan Lee (director of Division of Policy and Strategy), and the heads of the international cooperation office of the two institutions.

 

(Left) NMIJ (Right) KRISS

Dr. Usuda, Director of NMIJ began the meeting by congratulating the inauguration of President Park and expressed regret that the summit scheduled to be held in Japan was postponed due to COVID-19.

 

President Park also congratulated Dr. Usuda’s inauguration as the vice president of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and promised to visit NMIJ when the COVID-19 situation improves.

During the meeting, President Park introduced some new initiatives of the institution including team-based organization and establishment of the Safety Measurement Institute, as well as key research projects covering quantum research and AI metrology. In addition, he shared KRISS’s various activities related to COVID-19, such as the development of reference materials to increase the reliability of the COVID-19 diagnostic kit and supporting efforts for the industries struggling with pandemic.

Both parties agreed to continue cooperating with each other in step with the new trends of the post-COVID-19 era.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, many activities in the international organization and NMI’s global cooperation are restricted. As this situation may persist for a longer period, institutions must prepare for a new form of international cooperation in the non-contact era.

The NMIJ-KRISS online summit 2020 was the opportunity for the directors of both organizations to interact with each other and to look into the new initiatives and cooperation.

We hope that COVID-19 pandemic will end soon so that the international cooperation can be achieved as actively as before.