Smart Village Distribution Project Contest... 8 Billion KRW Support for 4 Consortia

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 9th that it will hold a public contest for the ‘Smart Village Distribution and Expansion Project’ targeting metropolitan and basic local governments of the ‘Rural Hub Activation Start-up District’ for one month until the 9th of next month.

Now in its second year, the ‘Smart Village Distribution and Expansion Project’ aims to provide and expand productivity improvement, safety enhancement, and convenience services by integrating intelligent information technology so that the benefits of the 4th Industrial Revolution can be enjoyed in rural and fishing villages.

Last year, 4 billion KRW was supported in Gangwon-do (Geundeok-myeon, Samcheok-si) and Muan-gun (Muan-eup), developing and distributing 10 services including ‘ICT Convergence-based Cattle Management,’ ‘Drone-based Precision Agriculture,’ ‘Solar-powered Information Boards,’ ‘Intelligent Video Security Guards,’ ‘Interactive Communication Elderly Care,’ and ‘Smart Trash Cans.’

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to support 8 billion KRW to four consortia composed of local governments and participating companies this year. In addition to the expansion services distributed last year, five new services and region-specific services will be selected per region, distributing a total of 20 services.

After surveying the local governments’ demand for solving current issues by the 13th, the project will identify the technologies and solutions held by companies corresponding to these demands and share information mutually to support matching between local governments and companies wishing to participate. Consortia (local governments and participating companies) wishing to participate in the project should submit the relevant documents to the National Information Society Agency (NIA) by April 9.

Park Yoon-gyu, Director of Information and Communication Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “Through this project, we will not only expand and demonstrate service models to solve issues in rural and fishing areas but also plan to promote large-scale expansion of services that have produced results in the future.” He added, “We hope many consortia participate in this contest and propose diverse and innovative services.”