Jungwon Kim

Advisor

Jungwon Kim is the co-founder of Spread-i, a UK-based research collective that aims to disseminate ideas, innovation, and inspiration among social sectors in Asia and Europe. Spread-i identifies social innovators and innovation cases in the UK and Europe, introducing them primarily to Korean public sectors, researchers, civil society, and practitioners. The principal outcomes of these efforts include policy case studies, strategy reports, exchange training programs, digital video content (including a documentary on cooperative schools and an interview series on mutual economy), and an online storytelling platform focused on the solidarity economy. Before establishing Spread-i, Jungwon worked as a visiting research fellow for the Hope Institute from 2010 to 2012, organizing the ASIA Social Innovation Summit and conducting the ASIA Social Innovation Landscape research.

With 14 years of social innovation experience, Jungwon has maintained robust interests and experience in the digital realm. She completed her Ph.D. in computer science at University College London in 2002 and worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at UCL between 2004 and 2006. She also served as a research associate in the Department of Computer Science at King’s College London. During this period, her primary research focus was on bio-inspired AI algorithms such as computer immune systems and evolutionary algorithms. She also briefly worked at corporations, including LG CNS Entrue Consulting as an IT strategy consultant from 2006 to 2008, and Esteem Group recently from 2022 to 2023 as the head of a strategy team. In her most recent role, she assessed potential NFT and metaverse strategies for a fashion PR company. She also closely examined various digital social innovation cases mainly in Europe and facilitating connections between certain players and cases with their Korean counterparts, particularly developers of human-centered smart city strategies.