Gyeongbuk Province and World's Leading German Fraunhofer Institute Collaborate on International Metaverse Technology Cooperation

Fraunhofer Institute Germany - Gumi City - GERI Sign 'Metaverse Joint Technology Cooperation' MOU

Collaborative Technology Development Platform and Organization Formation ... Accelerating Creation of Global Metaverse Innovation Zone

Implementing traditional industrial applications of AR in the metaverse. [Image source=Fraunhofer IKTS]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] The footsteps of the project ‘Digital Land of Opportunity! Metaverse Capital Gyeongbuk!’ are getting faster.

On the 22nd, Gyeongbuk Province signed a partnership agreement for global metaverse technology cooperation with Fraunhofer IKTS, Gumi City, and Gumi Electronics and Information Technology Institute (GERI) at the provincial office.

The signing ceremony was attended by Kang Seong-jo, Deputy Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, Alexander Michaelis, Director of Fraunhofer IKTS in Germany, the Deputy Mayor of Gumi, and Woo Byung-gu, Director of GERI.

Through this agreement, the four organizations agreed to ▲promote a global joint technology development project for the metaverse ▲establish platforms and business organizations for joint research and development and business activities ▲pursue other forms of cooperation to promote mutual benefits and achieve mutual goals.

The Fraunhofer Society is a leading applied science research institution representing Germany alongside the Max Planck Institute, operating 75 research institutes across Germany.

‘Fraunhofer IKTS’ is Europe’s largest advanced ceramic materials research institute, leading the development of metaverse convergence industrial diagnostic inspection equipment and artificial intelligence (AI)-based machine learning.

It is also actively conducting research and development on the smart factory concept to implement the 4th Industrial Revolution, promoted by the German government.

This agreement can be seen as the starting signal for the global metaverse innovation special zone project promoted by Gyeongbuk Province.

The province is preparing a global metaverse innovation special zone project to build a world-class metaverse testbed, support challenging research and development, and lead the domestic metaverse convergence industry as a forward base for global expansion, in connection with the government’s ‘Global New Industry Innovation Special Zone Policy.’

Additionally, based on basic infrastructure such as 5G testbed infrastructure, public data centers, and XR device development support centers?strengths of the region?shared by companies and research institutes, the plan is to create a global metaverse innovation special zone where corporate complexes, research complexes, and content service complexes are concentrated.

Kang Seong-jo, Deputy Governor of the province, emphasized, “Just as Gyeongbuk led the manufacturing industry in the 1970s, it must now lead Korea’s industrial transformation with the metaverse new industry through the global metaverse innovation special zone. Let’s make Gyeongbuk a world-leading metaverse hub by attracting and collaborating with international research institutes like Fraunhofer IKTS and global companies.”

Starting with joint metaverse technology development, Gyeongbuk Province plans to actively promote the attraction of a joint research center with the Fraunhofer Institute, joint research on core metaverse technologies, and technology commercialization to lead the R&D self-reliance and innovation of metaverse-related companies in the province.

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