Gwangju City Selected for Life Care Robot Demonstration Project for Elderly and Vulnerable

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 15th that it has been selected for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 2020 Industrial Technology Infrastructure Innovation Project new task, the "Elderly and Vulnerable-Friendly Life Care Robot Demonstration Infrastructure Establishment Project."

The Elderly and Vulnerable-Friendly Life Care Robot Demonstration Infrastructure Establishment Project involves establishing 25 types of demonstration and analysis equipment to support the demonstration of safety, efficacy, and performance of life care robots, and to support the commercialization and advancement of products.

The collected and managed demonstration data will be built into a big data platform and used to discover analysis-based business models.

Accordingly, a total project cost of 13.6 billion KRW (8 billion KRW national funds, 2.1 billion KRW local funds, 3.5 billion KRW private funds) will be invested by 2023, with Gwangju Technopark Foundation, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, and Chosun University Hospital carrying out the project.

Gwangju City has been striving to foster the local robot industry centered on the Healthcare Robot Demonstration Center to specialize in the medical and healthcare robot field in the region.

The Healthcare Robot Demonstration Center, which opened in November last year, is equipped with 48 types of performance evaluation equipment such as safety testing for healthcare robots and a similar environment demonstration testbed for clinical and demonstration support. It supports testing and evaluation of performance, safety, and reliability of products developed by companies, and provides a one-stop support system necessary for commercialization, including product certification and regulatory approval support, thereby assisting companies.

Gwangju City plans to maximize the use of the Healthcare Robot Demonstration Center infrastructure for this "Elderly and Vulnerable-Friendly Life Care Robot Demonstration Infrastructure Establishment Project" and link it with the AI industry, which the city is focusing on promoting.

In particular, the inconvenience that local related companies had to visit hospitals and other medical institutions in other regions to verify and certify safety and effectiveness after developing products will be resolved, and various supports necessary for technology development and commercialization will be available, reducing costs and increasing reliability. This is expected to enhance corporate competitiveness and revitalize the local economy by creating high-quality jobs.

Additionally, with the diversification of life care robot and medical device products mainly targeting elderly and vulnerable people, healthcare-related medical institutions such as Bitgoeul Senior Health Town, Bitgoeul Jeonnam National University Hospital, various nursing and rehabilitation hospitals, and Gwangju Elderly-Friendly Industry Support Center are expected to benefit directly or indirectly.

Son Kyung-jong, Director of the AI Industry Bureau of the city, said, "With this project selection, we have established a demonstration infrastructure for the actual usage environment of life care robot products developed by local companies, enabling the creation of new business models and market preemption. We will strive to help related local SMEs grow and create many high-quality jobs."

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