Gwangju City-Gyeonggi Province-Busan City Join Hands to Build a 'Hyperconnected AI Healthcare Platform'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City, Gyeonggi Province, and Busan Metropolitan City have joined hands to establish a ‘Hyperconnected Artificial Intelligence Healthcare Platform.’

On the 29th, Gwangju City announced that it held a founding ceremony for the ‘Hyperconnected Artificial Intelligence Healthcare Platform Establishment’ together with Gyeonggi Province and Busan City.

The ceremony was attended by Kim Sa-yeol, Chairman of the National Balanced Development Committee, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju City, Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Kim Yoon-il, Director of Busan City’s Job and Economy Office, and research institutions.

This project aims to create a global-level AI healthcare industry ecosystem by providing a one-stop solution from data sharing, product development, to market entry through an AI healthcare platform connecting super-regions, and jointly nurturing AI healthcare unicorn companies.

Gwangju City will play the role of a data hub for building the world’s largest AI healthcare data dam by linking supercomputing and data centers in the AI cluster, Busan will serve as a demonstration hub centered on the abundant medical industry infrastructure and the Western Busan Smart Healthcare Cluster, and Gyeonggi Province will act as a research and development hub utilizing the successful model of Pangyo Techno Valley, forming a triangular structure.

The individual projects include ▲ development of healthcare data collection and integration systems ▲ development of healthcare data analysis models ▲ development of big data-based prediction services for major diseases and infectious diseases ▲ demonstration of AI healthcare services ▲ discovery of new AI healthcare businesses ▲ support for startup creation and growth of global services based on hyperconnectivity.

A total of 180 billion KRW will be invested by 2025 from national funds, local government funds, and private capital.

It is expected to lead a balanced development model through cooperation between the metropolitan area and regions, contribute to the smartization of national public health care by performing a regional hub function in the digital healthcare field linked to regional strengths.

Additionally, hyper-regional cooperation is expected to promote regional innovation growth that was difficult to achieve by regions alone.

At the founding ceremony, participating local governments signed a memorandum of understanding for policy support and successful project implementation.

In the agreement, the participating local governments agreed to cooperate on ▲ project planning including healthcare data collection, investigation, and analysis ▲ support for healthcare data collection, research and development, and demonstration ▲ nurturing AI companies through startup support and investment fund creation ▲ AI industry development including AI model development and new business discovery ▲ public promotion to secure data from individuals and medical institutions.

Also, the Gwangju-Jeonnam Research Institute, which oversees project planning, signed an agreement with the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the project implementation agency, and formed and operates a project planning committee with participation from Gwangju Technopark, Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency, and Gyeonggi Economic Science Promotion Agency.

The project plan, with a total budget of 180 billion KRW, is scheduled to be finalized by May.

Afterward, if selected as a final national balanced development project through review by the National Balanced Development Committee, the first phase will build platforms in each regional hub by 2022, the second phase will develop AI application services centered on the platform by 2024, and the third phase will pursue new business creation using the platform and application services over the next five years.

Kim Sa-yeol, Chairman of the National Balanced Development Committee, said, “For balanced national development, hyper-regional economic and living zones that provide economic opportunities and convenience of life similar to the metropolitan area must be formed in regions,” adding, “I hope the project jointly promoted by Gwangju, Gyeonggi, and Busan will become a successful case of hyper-regional cooperation that solves the problem of excessive concentration in the metropolitan area and enhances regional competitiveness.”

Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, said, “I believe that collaboration on AI industry development tasks with Gwangju and Busan will close the gap with global AI-leading countries and lead South Korea to become a strong AI nation,” and added, “Gyeonggi Province will strive to establish a model of balanced development in line with digital transformation.”

Kim Yoon-il, Director of Busan City’s Job and Economy Office, said, “I think building a hyper-regional platform is necessary to proactively respond to changes in the internal and external environment such as the 4th Industrial Revolution, digital transformation, and the Korean New Deal,” and added, “Busan expects to create synergy effects in the medical industry along with regional innovation growth by promoting demonstration and applied research based on the Western Busan Smart Healthcare Cluster and abundant medical industry infrastructure.”

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju City, emphasized, “Today’s founding ceremony is a big step for local governments participating in the hyper-regional AI healthcare platform project to maximize the use of each region’s infrastructure and characteristics to create a global-level AI healthcare industry ecosystem,” and added, “Together with Gyeonggi and Busan, we will focus all our capabilities on making this hyper-regional cooperation the best success model among the 13 hyper-regional projects nationwide.”

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