AI Innovation with Public Data... Ministry of SMEs and Startups Recruiting Participants for 'AI+ Open Data Challenge'

Providing Field Data from Public Institutions to Discover AI Solutions
Startups Less Than 10 Years Old Eligible to Participate... Applications Open Until June 5

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is holding the 'Second AI+ Open Data Challenge' to release public data to AI (artificial intelligence) startups and discover solutions that provide tangible benefits to the public.

The Ministry announced on May 11 that it will be recruiting participating companies for the 'Second AI+ Open Data Challenge' until June 5, and will hold an information session at the Korea Venture Investment meeting room on May 12.

The 2nd AI+ Open Data Challenge Promotion Procedure. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

This challenge has been organized to open field data used by public institutions to AI startups in order to discover AI models that benefit the public. Any startup with less than 10 years of history as of the announcement date is eligible to participate and can apply through the K-Startup website.

A total of six assignments will be presented, and the assignment types are divided into contract-linked and general categories. One company per assignment will be selected as a winner, resulting in a total of six winning companies. Regardless of the assignment type, each winning company will receive a prize of 100 million won.

The contract-linked assignments are: ▲ Automatic generation of policy fund loan applications (Korea SMEs and Startups Agency), ▲ Decision-making model for financial support to small businesses (Small Enterprise and Market Service), and ▲ AI model for generating growth records of startup companies (Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development). The general assignments are: ▲ Policy effect prediction and analysis (Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade), ▲ Automated service for identifying companies engaged in innovative growth industries (Korea Technology Finance Corporation), and ▲ Market entry strategy recommendation (Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and Korea Venture Investment Corp.).

The challenge will proceed in three stages: document screening, main round, and final evaluation. Thirty companies (five per assignment) will be selected through document screening to advance to the main round.

The 30 companies advancing to the main round will be provided with data information for each assignment and begin developing their AI models. To support technology development, each company will receive 20 million won in development and demonstration funds. The necessary infrastructure for AI solution development, such as graphic processing units (GPUs), will also be provided.

The final evaluation will include not only in-person evaluations (expert evaluations), but also the results of user experience panels comprised of small business and SME representatives.

The AI solutions developed by the three winning companies in the contract-linked assignments will be introduced into actual public service sites through purchase contracts with the assigning institutions. The winning companies will also receive preferential consideration for support programs such as startup packages, super-gap projects, and technology innovation R&D.

Han Sung-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "This challenge will serve as an opportunity to dramatically improve administrative services by combining public data with cutting-edge AI technology from startups," and added, "We will actively support capable startups in the AI field so they can fully demonstrate their abilities."

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