Martial Arts, Gangnam-gu Hosts First Startup Open Innovation with Local Governments

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and Gangnam-gu have become the first local government in Korea to integrate innovative business models and technologies from startups into Gangnam-gu's public administration, while providing startups with scale-up opportunities such as technology verification through testbeds.

KITA and Gangnam-gu announced that on the 23rd, they held the ‘Startup Open Innovation Demo Day’ at COEX in Samseong-dong to innovate Gangnam-gu’s administration and services.

At the event, KITA Chairman Kim Young-joo, Gangnam-gu Mayor Jung Soon-gyun, and about 50 officials from various departments attended to observe presentations and exhibitions by the final 10 startups selected through preliminary screening.

BitSensing, which has a real-time smart traffic control system; 4S Mapper, which possesses a drone-based road management solution; Alt-A, which developed a closed-circuit (CC) TV-based back road management and navigation system; and Bandis, a mobile meal ticket app, proposed innovative technologies and services in various fields such as smart city, internal administration, civil service, and road and traffic management to Gangnam-gu.

Gangnam-gu plans to select partner companies by relevant departments for focused discussions and testing on applying these technologies to actual work. In October, the results of the innovation application in district administration will be announced at the Gangnam-gu Startup Festival.

KITA, which has been working with Gangnam-gu from startup recruitment to screening, will support connections with domestic and international companies and investors wishing to collaborate, while expanding successful cases of work innovation.

Park Sun-kyung, Head of KITA’s Innovation Ecosystem Office, stated, "Gangnam-gu’s open innovation is the first case where the public and private sectors jointly discover startups and attempt to introduce new services and innovations in the public sector," adding, "We will ensure this becomes a benchmark and spreads to other local governments and public institutions in the future."