Gwangju City to Hold Vision and Strategy Declaration Ceremony for 'AI-Centered City Gwangju' on the 29th

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 14th that it will hold the AI-Centered City Gwangju Vision Proclamation Ceremony and the Launch Ceremony of the AI Industry Convergence Project Group at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center on the 29th.

Gwangju City applied for the "AI Industry Convergence Complex Development Project" as an exemption target for the preliminary feasibility study in January last year, securing it as a national project. This year, it secured a national budget of 62.6 billion KRW, an increase of 20 billion KRW from the government's initial proposal of 42.6 billion KRW.

The "AI Industry Convergence Complex Development Project" is a project that will invest about 400 billion KRW over the next five years to build AI-based core infrastructure including an AI data center on a 46,200㎡ site in the Advanced 3 District, and innovate the industrial ecosystem through AI startup support and industrial convergence technology development.

Accordingly, Gwangju announced the "Vision and Promotion Strategy for AI-Centered City Gwangju," which opens the era of AI in Gwangju, and launched the "AI Industry Convergence Project Group," which will serve as the control tower for the AI complex development project in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and ICT, to begin full-scale promotion.

Since last year, Gwangju has been meticulously preparing by promoting the AI-Centered City Gwangju project to create an AI-centered innovation ecosystem.

The promotion details include ▲appointing about 20 renowned domestic and international AI experts to launch the AI-Centered City Gwangju Promotion Committee ▲selecting the AI Graduate School (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) and promoting the establishment of an AI Academy for AI talent cultivation ▲building an expert network for technical cooperation with excellent research institutes and companies in Silicon Valley, USA ▲holding Korea’s first AI Cluster Forum ▲lifting the Greenbelt (GB) to secure the Advanced 3 District project site.

Additionally, to prepare for the autonomous vehicle era, seven zones including Jingok Industrial Complex and Advanced Industrial Complex, totaling 16.79㎢, were designated as the "Unmanned Low-Speed Special Vehicle Demonstration Regulatory Free Zone," and to promote innovative growth and attract domestic and foreign investment, four districts including the Advanced 3 District (4.371㎢) were preliminarily designated as economic free zones by the government.

Gwangju City has prepared a vision and strategy to open a new era centered on AI by combining the AI-centered industrial convergence complex development included in the national AI strategy with its policy efforts to foster the AI industry.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, "Over the past year, we have steadily laid the foundation such as talent, budget, and complex establishment," and added, "With the launch of the 'AI Industry Convergence Project Group' and the announcement of the 'Vision and Strategy to Open the AI Era in Gwangju,' we will become Gwangju, the AI-centered city supporting Korea as one of the four major AI powers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.