Gwangju Metropolitan City and 5 Autonomous Districts Sign Joint Agreement to Promote AI and Carbon Neutrality Projects

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "Establishing a Foundation for Citizen Participation and Action Toward AI and a Carbon-Neutral Society"

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, is attending the 'AI-Based Citizen Experience Project District Office Business Agreement Ceremony' held at the City Hall Business Room on the morning of the 17th and is taking a commemorative photo. From left to right in the photo are Im Taek, Dong-gu District Mayor; Seo Dae-seok, Seo-gu District Mayor; Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City; Kim Byeong-nae, Nam-gu District Mayor; Moon In, Buk-gu District Mayor; and Kim Sam-ho, Gwangsan-gu District Mayor. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City is joining hands with its five autonomous districts to realize an AI-centered city era and a carbon-neutral city in the daily lives of its citizens.

On the morning of the 17th, Gwangju City held a business agreement ceremony in the City Hall Business Room attended by Mayor Lee Yong-seop, the heads of the five autonomous districts, and the head of the Gwangju Technopark AI Comprehensive Support Center, pledging joint cooperation on a total of 31 projects, including common projects where citizens can experience AI and carbon neutrality in daily life, as well as specialized projects by district.

This agreement was prepared to overcome the limitation that, despite many achievements such as infrastructure construction including the groundbreaking of the national data center, technology development, attracting companies, and launching the Gwangju community carbon neutrality promotion system, Gwangju City has not yet been able to approach citizens in a friendly manner while focusing on ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Carbon Neutrality’ as the two major pillars of future strategic projects.

First, the city and the five autonomous districts will join forces on six common projects, including the ‘AI Health Center Operation’ to strengthen the AI-based social safety net and promote and expand citizen-led renewable energy.

The first project, the AI Health Center, is the nation’s first project to build an ‘AI Medical Support Platform’ equipped with advanced medical services by linking the regional health care information system and X-ray equipment of more than 2,200 local hospitals and clinics in the five autonomous districts with specialized hospitals to enable online collaborative diagnosis, improving accuracy and shortening reading time.

Additionally, the ‘AI Healthcare Demonstration Center’ will provide AI-based health management monitoring for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, and the ‘Citizen Medical App’ will allow individuals to manage their own medical information, contributing to the establishment of a social safety net.

Along with this, the city explained that it will actively cooperate on 25 specialized projects selected according to the characteristics of each autonomous district to increase citizen acceptance.

By district, the projects include ▲ Dong-gu: 4 projects in medical infrastructure and AI data-based healthcare ▲ Seo-gu: 4 specialized projects in citizen-friendly energy parks and hydrogen fuel cells ▲ Nam-gu: 4 specialized projects in energy industry convergence complex comprehensive support center and elderly-friendly medical fields ▲ Buk-gu: 5 projects including the creation of an AI convergence complex and expansion of drone use in the public sector ▲ Gwangsan-gu: 8 specialized projects in AI-based eco-friendly vehicles and autonomous driving.

In particular, the city’s strategy is to focus its capabilities on enabling citizens to quickly adapt to the paradigm shift of AI and carbon neutrality across all areas this year, use AI without resistance, and achieve the 2045 carbon-neutral city goal?five years ahead of the EU and other international communities?through a citizen-led energy practice movement under the slogan ‘The electricity I use is the electricity I produce.’

The autonomous districts will actively discover projects necessary for citizens’ lives in areas such as healthcare, eco-friendly vehicles, and energy, promote policies and projects in progress to encourage more citizen participation and benefits, and serve as a bridge between the city and its citizens.

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, said, “Artificial Intelligence (AI), carbon neutrality, and energy transition are no longer options but necessities.” He added, “This year, we will actively support citizens to experience and utilize AI in their daily lives and lay the foundation for voluntary citizen participation and practice toward a carbon-neutral society, which is a task of our times.”

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