Jeonju City's Drone Industry Faces 'Double Windfall'

Simultaneous Selection for Drone Demonstration City Construction Project and Drone Regulation Sandbox Contest

[Jeonju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Han-ho] Jeonju City announced on the 17th that it has been selected for both the ‘Drone Demonstration City Construction Project’ and the ‘Drone Regulatory Sandbox’ contest hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Aviation Safety Technology Institute this year, securing 3.3 billion KRW in national funding over two years.

Among 33 local governments nationwide that submitted applications for the ‘Drone Demonstration City Contest Project,’ which aims to discover and commercialize drone services tailored to regional characteristics, nine local governments including Jeonju City were selected as final project operators after document and presentation evaluations.

Jeonju City formed a consortium with Camtec Comprehensive Technology Institute, Jeonbuk National University, VIA, DClass, WooriIO, and ANH Systems to carry out the drone demonstration project over two years with the goal of ‘realizing a smart safety city through the establishment of an AI drone data sharing platform.’

In particular, having secured 2.6 billion KRW in national funding, the city will address urban issues such as cracking down on various illegal activities in rivers and parks, as well as setting maintenance and management cycles for facilities, through real-time flight demonstrations using mission AI drones.

Jeonju City also plans to build an AI/aerial data sharing platform accessible to anyone, aiming to reduce costs and manpower for drone companies and elevate the competitiveness of South Korea’s drone industry to the next level.

Additionally, Jeonju City won the ‘Drone Regulatory Sandbox’ project to support the commercialization and demonstration of excellent drone technologies, enabling the advancement and commercialization of drone soccer technology.

To enhance the competitiveness of drone soccer, which was first developed in the world by Jeonju in 2016, the city will receive 700 million KRW in national funding over two years to advance the game management and operation system and promote the localization of core components.

Jeonju City expects that upon completion of these projects, it will not only protect citizens’ safety with cutting-edge drone technology but also foster Jeonju-style drone industry as South Korea’s future growth engine, including the global leap of drone soccer as a leisure sport.

Jeonju=Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Han-ho stonepeak@asiae.co.kr

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