Gwangyang-si Selected for Community-Based Living SOC Smartization Project Competition

Introduction of 'Smart Aikiwoom Platform' Benefits Over 500 Children at Local Child Centers in 3 Years

Ministry of Science and ICT Secures 920 Million KRW in National Direct Support Project Funding

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gwangyang City, Jeollanam-do announced on the 4th that it has been selected for the 2022 Regional Community-Based Living SOC Smartization National Direct Support Contest Project.

This project, promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT, targets community-based social infrastructure to discover ICT-based welfare services that benefit local residents. Three institutions, including Gwangyang City, Seongnam City, and Asan City, were selected and each will receive 920 million KRW in national funding.

Gwangyang City will invest a total of 1.1 billion KRW to establish the ‘Smart I-Kium Platform,’ providing benefits to about 500 children across 18 local children's centers over three years until 2025 through △ online educational content services △ online reading & book learning services △ experiential edu-sportainment services*.

The city plans to apply this living SOC smartization project to 18 local children's centers to address educational disparities between social classes caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and remote classes.

For lower grades (1st to 3rd grade), customized online library services and immersive sports media environment-based experiential edu-sportainment services will be supported, while for upper grades (4th to 6th grade), various learning and educational counseling tailored to learners' environments will be intensively provided.

Lee Joo-ok, Director of the Information and Communication Division, said, “Through this project, we hope children at local children's centers will nurture bigger dreams in a smart care environment,” adding, “We will continue to actively discover ICT-based leading services to improve citizens' quality of life and accelerate the creation of the nation's number one ‘child-rearing friendly city.’”

Meanwhile, Gwangyang City has secured over 10 billion KRW in national and provincial funds by being selected for more than 10 regional informatization contest projects over the past three years, including the ICT Innovation Square establishment and Smart Town Challenge projects, and last year was the only institution in the province to receive an award in the regional informatization field.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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