Supporting Digital Transformation of Service Companies ... Busan City Opens 'Busan Service Convergence Research Center'

Busan Service Convergence Research Center.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan City will officially operate the Service Convergence Research Center starting from the 24th. The center will serve as a control tower to foster the local service industry and support the digital transformation of service companies.

Busan's service industry accounts for more than 70% of the entire Busan industry in terms of the number of businesses, employees, and added value, but due to the diversity, heterogeneity, and intangibility of services, it has been difficult to lead systematic development of the service industry.

Additionally, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to a non-face-to-face digital economy has rapidly progressed, increasing the importance of the service industry.

In this situation, Busan City established the "Busan Service Convergence Research Center" to nurture local service companies and build infrastructure to support digital transformation.

The research center was established on the 5th floor of the Centum Technology Startup Town with a total budget of 2.8 billion KRW, 1.4 billion KRW each from national and city funds, and is operated by Busan Technopark.

The research center will focus on ▲building a data integration management platform ▲operating a contact office ▲supporting demonstration commercialization projects.

The "data integration management platform" refers to a simple app and web program that collects, analyzes, and provides necessary information for service companies and analyzes commercial districts.

The "contact office" offers customized consulting and business models to companies wishing to undergo digital transformation based on data.

"Demonstration commercialization" refers to the development of prototypes of business ideas and models and the advancement of services.

The city expects that this research center will promote the digital transformation of local service companies and create new digital services.

On the 24th at 3 p.m., an opening ceremony for the "Service Convergence Research Center" will be held at CENTAP. About 50 people, including representatives from Busan City, Busan Technopark, resident companies, and local universities, will attend the event.

Go Mi-ja, Director of Youth Industry-Academia Startup at Busan City, said, "We will strive to make the Service Convergence Research Center a catalyst for strengthening the competitiveness of service companies and creating high added value in the era of digital innovation, and for Busan to become a leading city in the service industry."

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