Gwangju City and Agile Soda Sign Business Agreement to Establish AI Business Foundation

On the morning of the 11th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, took a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement to establish an artificial intelligence business foundation through a non-face-to-face video conference with Choi Dae-woo, CEO of Agile Soda Co., Ltd., at the city hall video conference room. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 11th that Agile Soda Co., Ltd. signed the 32nd business agreement to establish a Gwangju-type artificial intelligence business foundation and decided to actively cooperate in creating the Gwangju AI ecosystem through the establishment of a corporation and a regional office.

The signing ceremony was conducted via non-face-to-face video between Mayor Lee Yong-seop and CEO Choi Dae-woo, considering the spreading COVID-19 situation.

Agile Soda Co., Ltd. is an AI specialized company that supports companies to quickly adopt AI technology and further develop, advance, and manage it themselves through the ‘AI Suite’ (artificial intelligence product group) that supports optimal decision-making.

The ‘AI Suite’ is an AI software group composed of products and services utilizing core AI technologies, including SparklingSoDA, a platform providing an integrated AI analysis and operation environment that unifies data analysis, model development, deployment, and operation; BakingSoDA, an AI agent maker based on reinforcement learning for decision optimization and automation; and TwinSoDA, pre-trained AI models using transfer learning that allow companies to develop and apply AI easily and quickly.

It has already proven its technological capabilities by successfully completing more than 140 AI projects in sectors such as banking, insurance, card companies, manufacturing, and public sectors.

Recently, it received the highest grades, Double (AA) and A, in the technology evaluation for a technology-special listing, making a KOSDAQ listing also foreseeable.

The main contents of the agreement include ▲ technical and policy consultation for creating an AI cluster ecosystem and building a business platform ▲ promotion of establishing a Gwangju corporation and regional office for nurturing AI talent and creating jobs ▲ development, operation, and corporate promotion of various support programs for the AI industry ecosystem ▲ planning and promotion of education and employment programs for AI professionals.

CEO Choi Dae-woo, a top domestic AI analysis expert and current professor of the Department of Statistics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said, “Agile Soda will actively share the experience and know-how gained through various projects and do its best to cooperate to strengthen Gwangju’s AI capabilities,” adding, “I hope this agreement will become a representative success case of AI development projects in the local community.”

Mayor Lee Yong-seop introduced, “Gwangju is building the largest AI cluster in Korea to lead the 4th Industrial Revolution, and in November, a project to build a world-class AI data center and supercomputing system will break ground. Despite the difficulties of COVID-19, we are steadily pushing forward the project to make Gwangju an AI-centered city that supports the success of the Korean New Deal.”

He added, “I expect Agile Soda to become a great driving force in creating Gwangju’s AI cluster, expanding AI business models, and generating good jobs.”