Once again, the annual Swiss-Korean Innovation Week 2025, organized by the Embassy of Switzerland in South Korea, made a remarkable impact, bringing together Swiss and Korean experts for various events held from May 19 to 23, 2025, in Seoul. This year’s main theme was Human Augmentation.
During Innovation Week, engaging workshops, insightful panel discussions, and hands-on activities explored groundbreaking advancements in human augmentation, aiming to discover the latest in biomedical and cognitive enhancement, health span extension, and beyond. The week kicked off on May 19, 2025, with the Anticipatory Leadership & Science Diplomacy training workshop, organized by Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) and the Swiss Embassy, introducing anticipatory science diplomacy as an essential leadership dimension for current and future diplomats, the business community, scientists, and academia. During an official opening event, experts discussed Navigating Breakthrough Technologies in addressing the ethical considerations and cultural dimensions of these technologies, offering a comprehensive perspective on their impact.
In her welcoming remarks, Her Excellency Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Korea, highlighted that since its launch in 2018, the Swiss-Korean Innovation Week has grown into a lighthouse event of the Swiss Embassy in Seoul, driven by the dedication of the entire team. This annual initiative serves as a key platform for fostering collaboration between Switzerland and Korea across science, technology, research, creative industries, and business.
“Each year, the Innovation Week highlights a theme of shared interest. Now in its 8th edition, this year’s theme is Human Augmentation. Since Monday, experts from Switzerland, Korea, and beyond have gathered to explore how emerging technologies can enhance human capabilities while also addressing the ethical and cultural dimensions they entail. As global leaders in innovation, both Switzerland and Korea provide a unique foundation for these conversations, which aim to offer a holistic view of human augmentation and its implications.” This she said during the Promise and Perils of Augmented Communication public dialogue, on 21 May 2025, at Stage Black in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The event was co-organized by the Embassy and the NC Cultural Foundation.
“We are especially delighted that, in this year’s edition, we have established a strong partnership with the NC Cultural Foundation. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Chairperson Dr. Myungjin Park for the excellent cooperation and gracious hospitality.” The ambassador added.
The dialogue brought together scientists, researchers, ethicists, social workers, and advocates to discuss human-centered innovation for a more inclusive future in examining the progress of assistive technologies, their ethical and societal impacts, and their influence on the future of human interaction. Experts discussed that communication is at the core of human connection, and transformative technologies are revolutionizing how we interact, especially for individuals with communication disorders or limited physical abilities.
To mark the conclusion of the 2025 Swiss-Korean Innovation Week, the Embassy hosted its traditional PechaKucha Storytelling Night on May 23, 2025, at its iconic Swiss-Hanok in Seoul, inviting an exciting audience of around 250 participants. The evening celebrated creativity, innovation, and meaningful connections through storytelling.
PechaKucha, which means “chit-chat” in Japanese, is a dynamic presentation format developed in 2003 by architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in Japan. It challenges speakers to convey their ideas using 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds, resulting in a fast-paced, 400-second narrative that keeps audiences engaged and inspired.
During the event, fascinating speakers from diverse backgrounds took the stage to share their personal journeys across the fields of innovation, creativity, and passion, each presentation, guided solely by visuals, offered a glimpse into unique passions, creative processes, and transformative ideas, demonstrating just how much can be said in under seven minutes.
The setting itself added to the evening’s event a much relaxing festivity and celebration atmosphere with delicious food and Swiss refreshments. It is said that the Swiss-Hanok, a three-story low-rise building, stood in striking contrast to the surrounding high-rise urban landscape. Designed with sustainability in mind, the building features ecological green technologies such as geothermal heating and cooling, solar panels for energy self-production, and a rainwater harvesting system for cleaning and gardening.
For more information: https://swissinnovation.kr/index.htmlswissinnovation.kr
Photo credits: Laura Acosta and Bereket Alemayehu
