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2020 CAETS Convocation held online and offline

  • Published: Oct 16, 2020
  • Source: CAE
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The National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK) hosted the 2020 annual meeting of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS) in Seoul from October 12 to 15, 2020. International participation was virtual due to travel restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

On October 12, the CAETS board held the video meeting that Li Xiaohong, President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), attended in Beijing as a board member. The current board also includes presidents or heads of 12 national engineering academies including those from Canada, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, India, Mexico, Argentina and Australia. The meeting discussed and voted on issues related to CAETS’ audit report, the financial situation in 2020, the operational budget for 2021, the rotation sequence and membership fee arrangements in 2021, the strategic plan for the next five years and related revisions of bylaws as well as working procedures for the committee and working group, a proposal for a CAETS Communication Prize and other issues.

 

On October 15, Zhong Zhihua, Vice President of the CAE, attended the CAETS Council Meeting virtually on behalf of Li Xiaohong. Representatives of CAETS member academies from nearly 30 countries attended. In addition to deliberations on administrative affairs, the session included a report on the preparation for CAETS 2021 from Argentina’s Academia Nacional de Ingenieria (ANI), a report on preparations for CAETS 2022 from the National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF), and reports from the CAETS Energy Committee, Publicity Committee, COVID-19 Committee, and SDGs Working Group, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and Engineering Education Working Group. Members of the board of directors for 2021-2022 were elected, and the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE) was included as a new member of CAETS.

 

At the ‘Education for Smart Society’ session on October 14, Wang Jian, member of CAE and Chairman of the Alibaba Group Technology Committee, shared best practices and his personal experiences under the theme of ‘Education and Innovation in a Smart Society’.

 

Before the Council Meeting, other meetings included those by the COVID-19 Committee, SDGs Working Group and Energy Committee. Professor Cao Bin and researcher Jiang Kejun attended the meetings on behalf of the CAE respectively.

 

CAETS is an international organization of national engineering and technological sciences academies and one of the important international organizations in the engineering science and technology community. It aims to discuss and communicate engineering and technological issues of common concern, advise governments and international organizations on technical and policy issues, and provide an international platform to communicate innovative policies, best practices and ways of cooperation. This is the first time that CAETS has held its annual meeting both online and offline.