Gwangju Leads the Drive to Become a Top 4 AI Powerhouse

Ajoo Industry and Kakao Enterprise Sign 100th Partnership Agreement

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City is taking the lead in driving the "Artificial Intelligence 4 Major Powers Republic of Korea."

The city announced on the 20th that it signed the 100th business agreement for Gwangju-type artificial intelligence business with nationwide promising AI companies, Aju Industry and Kakao Enterprise.

This agreement is significant as it marks the surpassing of 100 AI cooperative companies and institutions through business agreements with anchor companies, about 1 year and 9 months after Gwangju first signed an agreement with Incord P&P Co., Ltd. in October 2019 to establish an AI business foundation.

Aju Industry started in 1960 focusing on building materials and has grown into a company with business areas including hotels, venture capital, automobile distribution, and IT. Recently, through its affiliate Cognet9 Co., Ltd., it is taking on new challenges in various AI-based service businesses.

Kakao Enterprise, spun off from Kakao's AI technology organization AI Lab in December 2019, is a specialized company developing AI-based enterprise services and solutions.

Its main business models include ▲Kakao i Connect (AI-based business platform) ▲Kakao i Cloud (enterprise cloud platform) ▲Kakao Work (comprehensive work platform) ▲Kakao i Engine (core AI element technology-based solutions) ▲Kakao i Insight (data-driven decision-making platform), continuing innovation through these key services.

Through the business agreement, Aju Industry Co., Ltd. will ▲lead the establishment of an AI-based smart healthcare center and the creation of a healthcare service industry ecosystem ▲build an AI healthcare data platform and collaborate on discovering data-driven business ▲foster talent and promote projects in the AI healthcare service field ▲plan and implement AI experiential service projects for citizens.

Kakao Enterprise will ▲provide a collaborative environment for AI smart healthcare center services based on Kakao Work and Kakao i Connect Talk ▲discover projects such as AI civil complaint chatbot services based on KakaoTalk channels, cooperating to foster Gwangju's AI industry.

Earlier, on the 25th of last month, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop personally visited Aju Industry and Kakao Enterprise to discuss citizen-experienced service projects.

Since then, the city has formed a dedicated collaboration team, providing public data from 39 operational systems across various sectors in Gwangju, focusing on expanding citizen-experienced administrative services.

Yoo Jae-hyung, CEO of Aju Industry's holding division, stated, "We plan to provide AI-based public services that Gwangju citizens can experience and establish an AI-based smart healthcare center to create an ecosystem for the healthcare service industry," adding, "We also plan to contribute to local job creation and employment stability."

Choi Jin-min, Senior Vice President of Kakao Enterprise, said, "We will strive to activate regional home nursing services and build an AI smart healthcare center platform based on advanced IT services," adding, "By providing Kakao Work, we will contribute to building a digital workplace and improving communication environments, and through Kakao i Connect Talk, we will offer easier consultation infrastructure."

Mayor Lee Yong-seop emphasized, "Today's 100th business agreement will be a new turning point for AI-centered city Gwangju," and added, "We will develop AI projects that citizens can directly experience in daily life, from creating an AI-based healthcare industry ecosystem and building data platforms to talent development and public services, in partnership with 100 promising AI companies."

He continued, "We will do our best to ensure that the seeds of innovation sown so far bear valuable fruit, including sustainable measures for AI companies settled in Gwangju to remain, attracting new AI companies to Gwangju, and enabling citizens to directly experience AI services and lead change."

Meanwhile, themed promotional halls were operated on the day to promote AI projects that Gwangju has been pursuing.

The promotional halls showcased ▲the K-Healthcare project, the "citizen-experienced No. 1" project, demonstrating the "AI Citizen Medical App" and genome data-based health monitoring service project ▲results of AI startup prototype projects promoted by the AI Industry Convergence Project Group ▲progress and future plans of the Gwangju AI Academy for talent development, highlighting Gwangju as a leading AI city.

Meanwhile, with the 100th business agreement including Aju Industry and Kakao Enterprise, Gwangju achieved a significant outcome in fostering a Gwangju-type AI-based ecosystem with excellent AI institutions and companies.

Among the 100 companies, 92 are enterprises and 8 are related institutions and associations. By sector, there are 32 in big data, 18 in healthcare, 12 in nurturing support, 8 in security, 7 in automobiles, 5 in robots and drones, 3 in voice recognition and natural language processing, 2 in energy, and 13 in AI convergence and others.

Among them, eight companies including Miso Information Technology, SpringCloud, ESTsoft, Acryl, Saltlux, AgileSoda, CrowdWorks, and Clobot are included in the top 100 promising AI companies announced by the Korea Intelligent Information Industry Association.

A total of 61 companies, including 30 newly established corporations (9 relocated headquarters), have opened offices in Gwangju, employing 242 people.

Office locations include 19 at Gwangju AI Startup Camp, 9 at iPlex, 7 at Gwangju TP, 7 in Sangmu District, 6 at GIST, 2 at Jeonil Building, 2 at Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Southwest Regional Headquarters, 2 at Gwangju CGI Center, 1 at ETRI Honam Research Center, 1 at the Science and Technology Promotion Agency, 1 at the Green Car Promotion Agency, and 4 at other locations.

AI companies that signed agreements with Gwangju actively participate in projects such as ▲AI (prototype) production support contest and AI integrated support service platform construction project led by the AI Industry Convergence Project Group ▲AI learning data construction and operation project led by the National Information Society Agency (NIA) ▲Data voucher support project led by Korea Data Industry Promotion Agency (K-data) ▲AI-based bio-healthcare convergence product demonstration center construction led by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, as well as central government contest projects, concentrating all efforts to foster Gwangju's AI ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Gwangju plans to attract a total of 310 leading AI companies in automobiles, energy, health, culture, etc., by 2024, the designated AI business ecosystem formation period, creating 1,000 related jobs.

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