Gwangju City to Establish "Electronics Digital Experience Center" with 12.8 Billion Won Investment

AI and AX Technology Experience Innovation Platform
Showcasing the Identity of the Electronics and Digital Industry

Gwangju City Hall exterior view.

Gwangju City will establish the "Electronics Digital Experience Center" to preserve the historical value of the local electronics industry and create an interactive space that combines the latest digital technologies.

On August 27, Gwangju City announced that it had recently signed an agreement with the Ministry of Science and ICT, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), and the Gwangju Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency (GICON) to push forward with the "Electronics Digital Experience Center" project. The total project budget is 12.8 billion won, with 70% funded by the national government and 30% by the city.

The project site will be the former Senior Citizens' Hall building in Sajik-dong, Nam-gu. Through remodeling, it will be transformed into a new complex cultural space where visitors can experience the digital culture of the past, present, and future. The center will feature "retro culture" as its core content, appealing to both Millennials & Gen Z and the middle-aged generation.

Going beyond simple exhibitions, the center will utilize cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to create a space where citizens can directly experience the development of the electronics industry. In addition, it will display Gwangju's first electronic products and items donated by citizens, helping to preserve the identity of the local electronics industry.

The city plans to operate a variety of programs, including retro culture festivals linked with the Asia Culture Center (ACC), Yangnim-dong Historical and Cultural Village, and the Chungjang Festival, as well as classic game exhibitions combined with e-sports tournaments. These efforts are expected to generate synergistic effects with local tourism resources.

Through this project, the city expects to achieve a "triple benefit": improving the urban landscape by utilizing aging buildings, preserving the identity of the electronics industry, and creating economic effects through the convergence of tourism and industry.

In particular, the experience center is expected to function as an AI-based innovation platform in line with the city's vision of becoming an "AI-centered city." It will serve as a testbed where citizens can directly experience and provide feedback on AI and artificial intelligence transformation (AX) technologies developed by local companies and startups, thereby strengthening the local industrial ecosystem and accelerating the commercialization of new technologies.

Son Dooyoung, Director General for Future Industries, emphasized, "The Electronics Digital Experience Center will become a symbolic space that bridges generations. For the middle-aged, it will offer a journey down memory lane, while for young people, it will provide a new cultural experience. We will develop it into a new cultural and tourism hub in Gwangju where all citizens can enjoy and learn together."

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