Gyeongbuk Establishes Robot Industry Ecosystem... Agreement Among 8 Organizations Including KT

Gyeongbuk has embarked on building a cooperative network with various institutions to create a robot industry ecosystem.

On the 21st, eight organizations including Gyeongbuk Province, Gumi City, Bear Robotics, Intops, KT, Gyeongbuk Technopark, Gyeongsangbuk-do Economic Promotion Agency, and Korea Institute of Robot Convergence signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Office to establish a global ecosystem for AI service robot manufacturing.

This agreement was promoted to strengthen mutual cooperation systems among Gyeongbuk Province, Gumi City, companies, and research institutions to build a virtuous cycle ecosystem for the robot industry and to elevate Gyeongbuk Province as a hub for the robot industry.

On the 28th of last month, at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 held in Barcelona, Spain, Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, met with KT and Bear Robotics to discuss the establishment of a global ecosystem for AI service robot manufacturing, which led to the preparation of concrete cooperation plans.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office

The main contents of the agreement include joint response to the smart livelihood economy transformation through fostering the AI service robot industry, cooperation in domestic production of AI service robot parts and technology development ecosystem, collaboration in AI service robot research and development and practical professional workforce training, and establishment of a mutual cooperation system for AI service robot design, production, and operation.

Through the creation of an AI service robot cluster, plans will be made to expand the nationwide distribution of robots and parts manufactured in Gyeongbuk and to promote the revitalization of local commercial districts through the use of service robots. Additionally, by training practical professional personnel, the policy aims to actively promote the provision of high-quality services and job creation.

To create synergy among local manufacturing companies, collaboration between manufacturers and parts companies will be strengthened, and by fostering the lacking professional workforce and utilizing distribution networks, Gyeongbuk plans to build the world’s top global manufacturing base for AI service robots.

Following the joint announcement of the ‘Advanced Robot Regulatory Innovation Plan’ by related ministries this year, Gyeongbuk Province is establishing a cooperative system with research institutions, academia, and companies, along with Ha Jung-woo, CEO of Bear Robotics, who was appointed as a science and technology policy advisor for Gyeongbuk Province, to formulate a local-led robot industry development plan using robot demonstration centers established in the province (safety, underwater, agriculture, education). Gyeongbuk plans to focus on fostering three specialized fields: agriculture (Farmbot), logistics (AMR), and safety (Cobot) robots.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo stated, “Service robots provide useful services in fields such as home, education, and healthcare by replacing humans due to aging and labor shortages, making them essential content for local realities,” and added, “We will strive to make this a turning point for Gyeongbuk Province to leap forward as a core region of the global robot industry through cooperation among companies, research institutes, and organizations.”

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