Pohang City Expands Digital Ecosystem... Hosts 'Gyeongbuk Digital Innovation Vision Declaration Ceremony'

Pohang City and Gyeongbuk Province Lead Regional Future Innovation with Digital Technology... Leading the New Local Era

Mayor Lee Kang-deok: "Creating a Digital Ecosystem, Realizing Pohang as Gyeongbuk's Digital Industry Innovation City"

Pohang City, together with Gyeongbuk Province, presented the beginning and vision of digital innovation preparing for the "New Future 100 Years."

On the 23rd, Pohang City and Gyeongbuk Province held the "Gyeongbuk Digital Innovation Vision" proclamation ceremony at Changeup Ground, with participation from the Ministry of Science and ICT, local universities, related organizations, and company representatives.

Gyeongbuk Digital Innovation Vision Proclamation Ceremony.

The event was attended by about 200 people, including Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang, Lee Dal-hee, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gyeongbuk Province, Baek In-gyu, Chairman of Pohang City Council, Park Yong-seon, Vice Chairman of Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, Congressman Kim Byung-wook, Kim Jong-gyu, Vice President for External Affairs of POSTECH, Eom Yeol, Director of AI-based Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, representatives of related organizations in the Gyeongbuk region, and digital company leaders within Gyeongbuk Province.

This event was significant as it brought together the government, local governments, companies, universities, and research institutions?the driving forces behind the "Digital Great Transformation of Korea"?to share the Gyeongbuk-type "Digital Innovation Vision."

On this day, the "Gyeongbuk Digital Innovation Promotion Group," a joint response task force dedicated to discovering new digital industries and spreading an innovation ecosystem in Gyeongbuk, held its launching ceremony to mark its beginning. The task force is led by the Deputy Governor for Economy and includes 16 heads of industry-academia-research institutions representing Pohang, Gumi, Gyeongsan, Andong, and other areas in Gyeongbuk.

Alongside this, the "Gyeongbuk Digital Alliance," consisting of 69 digital companies within the province to promote value chain linkage and cooperation among private-sector digital companies, was also launched.

At the event, Kang Eun-hee, Director of the 4th Industrial Foundation Division of Gyeongbuk Province, presented the "Gyeongsangbuk-do Digital Innovation Strategy," outlining future directions and goals for fostering the digital ecosystem and industry in Gyeongbuk and Pohang.

The innovation strategy includes four key strategies: ▲building a cloud-based infrastructure ▲creating a digital ecosystem ▲digital transformation and expansion in five major sectors ▲establishing a public-private joint governance system.

As the first phase of creating a digital ecosystem, the strategy aims to concentrate digital companies and talent around the (tentatively named) Pohang Jigok Valley and expand this concentration to Andong, Gumi, Gimcheon, Gyeongsan, and other areas within Gyeongbuk Province. It also announced the "2030 Future of Gyeongbuk Innovating through Digital," which targets nurturing an additional 1,000 digital companies and training 10,000 digital talents by 2030.

In particular, Pohang is a city with strong concentration of innovation actors such as companies, universities, and research institutes. As a rare city where traditional manufacturing steel industry coexists with future new industries like batteries, bio, and hydrogen, it is expected that digital convergence will be promoted, serving as a catalyst for the digital industrial transformation of Gyeongbuk beyond the local economy.

Lee Dal-hee, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gyeongbuk Province, said, "To overcome complex crises such as population decline and industrial competitiveness deterioration, we will realize a greater Gyeongbuk by spreading digital innovation across all areas of technology, economy, and society."

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, "Starting with this proclamation ceremony, we will create an ecosystem gathered around 'digital' through nurturing and settling digital talents, attracting global big tech companies, and boundaryless cooperation with local universities, realizing Pohang as an innovative city leading Gyeongbuk's digital industry."

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