Gwangju Local Governments, Industry, and Universities Join Forces for Regional and Educational Innovation

Sharing Five Years of RIS Achievements... Building a Foundation for Win-Win Cooperation
Mayor Kang: "RISE is the Key to Solving Population Issues"

Gwangju Mayor Kang Kijeong attended the 'Local Government-University Cooperation-Based Regional Innovation Project Performance Sharing Meeting' held on the morning of the 6th at the Kim Daejung Convention Center in Seo-gu, delivering a keynote speech on the topic of 'Future Industry Direction of Gwangju.' Provided by Gwangju City

Gwangju City will support the successful establishment of the RISE (Regional Innovation System & Education) project, which aims to build a university support system centered on regional innovation, based on the achievements of the local innovation project (RIS).

On the 6th, Gwangju City held the "Regional Government-University Cooperation-Based Regional Innovation Project (RIS) Performance Sharing and Regional Development Forum" at the Kimdaejung Convention Center.

The regional innovation project was promoted to overcome the crisis of regional extinction caused by the outflow of local talent to the Seoul metropolitan area and the decline in the school-age population, and to establish local universities as hubs of regional innovation based on university-local partnerships.

Over the past five years since 2020, efforts have been made to innovate university education and enhance the technological competitiveness of companies in the region's key industries (energy, mobility), which has been evaluated as contributing to the foundation of mutually beneficial cooperation between the region and universities.

This event was organized to share the achievements of the regional innovation project over the past five years and to pledge the expansion to a university support system centered on regional innovation in the future.

The RISE project is an "educational innovation for fostering local talent," integrating five existing university financial support projects (regional innovation, industry-academia cooperation, university lifelong education, professional vocational education, and local university revitalization) and establishing a co-growth system between the region and universities. In particular, local governments take the lead in driving cooperation between industries and universities and pursuing educational innovation.

About 700 people attended the event, including Mayor Kang Gijung, Gwangju City Council Chairperson Shin Sujeong, Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Lee Jeongseon, Chonnam National University Acting President Kim Byeongin, National Assembly member Ko Minjeong, and representatives from universities, companies, and local innovation institutions participating in the project based on university-local partnerships.

Mayor Kang expressed his aspirations for the success of the RISE project in his keynote speech.

He said, "The core solution to population problems and the crisis of regional extinction is to nurture talent and increase industry through education. The RISE project will lead the way in this effort," and added, "Local governments, industries, and academia are working together to build a solid ladder for nurturing talent from the ground up, and this unique experience of Gwangju will greatly help solve the problem of regional extinction."

He continued, "Gwangju is seeing new hope, as five semiconductor design companies have recently signed investment agreements with the city. These companies chose Gwangju because of its AI infrastructure and talent. The day when one, two, ten, and eventually 1,000 companies decide to invest in Gwangju after seeing its talent will be the day the Gwangju RISE project succeeds," he emphasized.

Mayor Kang presented specific goals for the RISE project, stating, "By 2029, we aim to produce 1,000 master's and doctoral-level professionals in Gwangju's key industries of mobility, energy, semiconductors, and AI mechatronics, achieve the creation of 35,000 startups, and reach a local employment rate of 40% for university graduates who find jobs in local companies or institutions after graduation."

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