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| Hana Financial Group Chairman and CEO Ham Young-joo, center, poses with Google employees during his visit to Google's futuristic green complex in Silicon Valley, the Bay View campus, Jan. 6. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
By Yi Whan-woo
Hana Financial Group said Thursday Chairman and CEO Ham Young-joo visited Google and Nvidia ― the two Silicon Valley companies the Korean banking group wants to emulate on its path to digital innovation.
The trip came after the chairman, joined by the Korean banking group's young employees, toured the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas to get a better glimpse of the latest digital technology and future of digital finance. The CES 2023 took place from Jan. 5 to 8.
"The Silicon Valley trip gave us the chance to learn about the corporate culture of Google as a global tech giant and also to experience the pioneering digital technology of Nvidia as a leader in artificial intelligence-based computing systems," Hana Financial Group said.
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| Hana Financial Group Chairman and CEO Ham Young-joo, left, experiences a four-dimensional space visualized on a screen during his visit to Nvidia's headquarters in Silicon Valley, Jan. 6. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
Concerning Google, Ham toured its Bay View campus, a futuristic green complex that the American tech giant opened in May 2022.
The campus is designed to offer new, flexible ways for Google employees to work and interact in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has transformed in-person work and prompted the rise of remote work driven by digital technology.
Situated on 42 acres (169,967 square meters) of land in Silicon Valley, Calif., the campus consists of 20 acres of open space along with two office buildings, an event center, and short-term employee accommodation units.
The campus operates on carbon-free energy 90 percent of the time, through the "dragonscale" solar-powered roof that can generate 40 percent of its electricity, as well as nearby wind farms.
To heat and cool the buildings, the campus also houses the largest geothermal pile system in North America, which is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by almost 50 percent and water used for cooling by 90 percent.
"The chairman met Google employees in person and underscored that Google and Hana have a shared vision in a way that the former is committed to systemizing every bit of information around the world for everyone's convenience, while the latter is committed to digitally-connected financial services for everyone," the Korean company said.
Ham paid special attention to Google's code of conduct ― "Respect the user, respect the opportunity, respect each other" ― and discussed with Google employees how such a code can help them built trust, work as a team and achieve their goal.
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| Hana Financial Group Chairman and CEO Ham Young-joo, right rear, listens to an Nvidia executive explaining Nvidia's digital technology during his visit to the U.S. graphics chipmaker's headquarters in Silicon Valley, Jan. 6. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group |
The chairman visited the headquarters of Nvidia afterward to get acquainted with how the U.S. graphics chipmaker capitalized on its technological prowess in graphic processing unit (GPU) to develop a data management system and visualize a four-dimensional space on a screen.
He met with Nvidia executives responsible for technology development, talking about how a range of digital technologies can be used in finance.
"The chairman found his visits to Google and Nvidia meaningful moments to think about the future of Hana Financial Group," the banking group said. "He urged employees to make bold challenges by working as one and fulfill our vision."
