[Seoul District News] Jungnang-gu Recruiting Companies for Jungnang Startup Support Center Until the 13th; Startup Support Center to Open in January Next Year at Sinnae-dong Knowledge Industry Center 2... Mapo-gu Replacing 7 Street Vendor Booths at Mangwon Station, Gongdeok Station, and Seongsan 2-dong Public Apartments... Songpa-gu Activates Emergency Cold Wave Response System for Residents... 'Human and Robot Integration' Gangnam-gu Hosts Special Lecture by Jeong Jae-seung and Operates AI Experience Zone... Geumcheon-gu Exhibits Small Business Design Development Support Project Results in District Office Lobby from 6th to 10th... Gwangjin-gu, 2021 Seoul
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi) is recruiting companies to move into the Jungnang Startup Support Center until the 13th. The district is actively fostering promising new startups in the 4th industrial sector.
The Jungnang Startup Support Center will be located in the Sinnae 3 District Knowledge Industry Center 2 (111 Sinnae-yeok-ro, Jungnang-gu, Sinnae SK V1 Center 6th floor). It is expected to serve as a testbed for the Jungnang Startup Support Center (195-1 Sinnae-dong), which will be built in 2025.
The recruitment targets are new companies within 7 years of establishment as of the announcement date and prospective entrepreneurs. The target industries include new technologies in the 4th industrial sector, with preference given to youth and women entrepreneurs. Contracts are on a yearly basis and can be extended up to 5 years. Detailed information can be found in the announcement on the Jungnang-gu Office website.
The Startup Support Center will open in January next year, providing workspaces tailored to MZ generation trends, lounges for networking and communication between industries, meeting rooms for discovering ideas and demonstrating prototypes, and education centers for startup and business growth, helping startups build a foundation for growth.
In addition to space support, various programs and funding for systematic development will be provided. First, to secure corporate competitiveness, dedicated accelerators residing in the center will offer one-on-one customized consulting and incubation programs. Along with support for professional (non-)degree courses linked with graduate schools of entrepreneurship, regular networking events for attracting investment to promising companies will be held, and funding will be provided through the Jungnang Startup Support Fund directly established by the district, creating a professional incubation system for business growth.
Ryu Gyeong-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, "We will nurture the center as a new startup growth hub to secure new growth engines for the local economy," and added, "We ask for the interest of prospective entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas but are considering starting a business and startups seeking a big leap and growth."
Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) announced that it will renovate a total of seven old street vendors near Mangwon Station, Gongdeok Station, and Seongsan 2-dong Shiyeong Apartments.
The district added that although street vendors have long been loved for satisfying citizens' hunger, this project was initiated to improve problems such as poor management damaging urban aesthetics and excessive occupation of pedestrian paths causing inconvenience.
The project budget is 100 million KRW, supported by Seoul City, and will improve four locations near Mangwon Station, one near Gongdeok Station, and two near Seongsan 2-dong Shiyeong Apartments, areas with high foot traffic.
Since May, several meetings have been held with street vendor operators in the renovation areas, and through on-site briefings, the opinions of street vendor owners were reflected to finalize a standardized booth-type street vendor design plan.
In November, a proposal evaluation committee was held to select a manufacturer for the booth-type street vendors, choosing a company to produce distinctive Mapo-style booths, which are currently under production.
A district official said, "This street vendor improvement project will enhance business environments for operators to increase profits, while reducing the area occupied by street vendors to create a safe pedestrian environment and improve urban aesthetics, realizing the value of coexistence and mutual growth."
The district plans to expand booth-type street vendors to areas such as Sinchon and Ewha next year, starting with this year's improvement project.
Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, "Both citizens who frowned upon street vendors that impaired urban aesthetics and street vendor operators struggling with sales declines due to COVID-19 will welcome this project," and added, "We will continue to discover and implement projects that realize the values of coexistence and mutual growth, like this street vendor improvement project."
Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) will implement the 'Comprehensive Winter Cold Wave Countermeasure' until March next year. Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, "We have made special efforts to prepare measures for vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone so that all residents can spend a safe and warm winter with proactive preparedness."
To this end, Mayor Park operates a cold wave task force centered on the Disaster Safety Division, activating an emergency duty system and operating a 24-hour comprehensive cold wave situation room when cold wave warnings are issued.
When cold wave warnings are issued, cold wave preparedness guidelines will be promoted in real-time through SNS media (Songpa-gu Office blog, Twitter, Facebook) and large electronic billboards to help residents prepare quickly. Rapid disaster text message services will be provided to prevent cold-related illnesses.
In particular, disaster helpers will focus on caring for vulnerable groups during cold waves. About 1,500 people including community leaders, Happy Fence members, and voluntary disaster prevention groups act as disaster helpers, visiting vulnerable groups and making welfare calls to monitor health and minimize cold wave damage.
Songpa-gu Health Center has organized 37 visiting nurses as dedicated personnel to provide direct health management services for elderly requiring intensive care.
For residents' convenience, 91 locations such as senior centers and welfare centers equipped with heating facilities are designated and operated as cold wave shelters. Among them, Namcheon Senior Center and Obongsan Senior Center operate as temporary shelters, available when heating is unavailable due to power outages. The district also designates overall managers and ensures thorough COVID-19 prevention management.
Additionally, the district continues safety management in welfare blind spots through public-private cooperation with the district office, Songpa Fire Station, Korea Gas Safety Corporation, and voluntary disaster prevention groups. Safety inspections of fire, electrical, and gas facilities, as well as pre-inspections of boiler pipes and water meters, will be conducted to prevent pipe freezing.
Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) will hold the ‘Smart City Gangnam-gu - Robot Artificial Intelligence Distinguished Lecture’ at the Gangnam-gu Citizens’ Hall on the 10th.
Professor Jung Jae-seung of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will give a lecture on the future of robots and artificial intelligence (AI), which are gaining attention in the non-face-to-face era, under the theme ‘Brain Engineering Era: Humans Combine with Robots’.
On the day of the lecture, a ‘Robot Experience Zone’ will also be operated where participants can experience the latest robot technologies and AI. Participants can directly operate quadruped robot dogs, collaborative robots, social robots, educational robots, or even create AI robots.
Detailed information can be found on the Gangnam-gu Office and Korea Institute of Robot Convergence websites, and online applications are accepted until the 8th.
Yoon Jong-min, Director of the Smart City Division, said, "'Ontact Leader Gangnam' uses the AI robot ‘Riku’ to help seniors use digital devices and provides age-specific customized English education at daycare centers," adding, "We will continue to strive to provide the best smart services to Gangnam residents."
Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Seong-hoon) will exhibit the results of the ‘Small and Medium Enterprise Design Development Support Project’ in the lobby on the first floor of Geumcheon-gu Office from December 6 to 10.
Geumcheon-gu has been promoting design support projects since March this year in cooperation with the Korea Institute of Design Promotion to assist local small and medium manufacturing companies struggling with design development due to lack of in-house design personnel and facilities, following last year’s agreement.
Under the ‘DK WORKS Seoul Design-led Manufacturing Innovation Center’ affiliated with the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, consulting has been conducted since April, selecting beneficiary companies and matching them one-on-one with design professional companies to support customized design development.
At this exhibition, visitors can see the design development results of 15 participating companies’ products, packaging, and logos, including vacuum mop cleaners, electronic taekwondo protective gear, wearable air purifiers, and dental hand X-ray devices. Improvements to existing products are also displayed with before-and-after comparisons.
Yoo Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, "As COVID-19 has prolonged, we expanded support from 10 companies last year to 15 this year," adding, "We hope design improvements will lead to enhanced product value and market development through brand promotion for participating companies."
Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) was selected as the best autonomous district in Seoul’s 2021 ‘Construction Project Fair Subcontracting Promotion Evaluation’.
Seoul City enacted the ‘Seoul Fair Subcontracting and Win-Win Cooperation Ordinance’ last year to improve unfair subcontracting practices at construction sites and evaluates subcontracting management status and policy implementation for the main office, autonomous districts, and affiliated organizations.
The evaluation targets subcontracting status and policy implementation for construction projects with contract amounts over 30 million KRW ordered by Seoul City, autonomous districts, and affiliated organizations. The evaluation method uses quantitative assessment based on seven indicators across four fields, including direct payment of subcontracting fees, payment of weekly holiday allowances, and implementation of subcontractor interview systems.
Gwangjin-gu achieved the highest scores in self-inspection and on-site inspection of subcontracting status, payment of weekly holiday allowances, and implementation of subcontractor interview systems, ranking as the best institution among Seoul’s 25 autonomous districts.
In particular, the district received high evaluation for conducting prior contract reviews on all subcontracted construction projects it orders and continuously monitoring direct payment of fees using a system.
Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, "We are pleased to achieve the valuable result of being selected as the best institution in Seoul’s construction project fair subcontracting promotion evaluation," adding, "We will continue to work hard for regional economic development and fostering a culture of integrity through win-win cooperation in the construction sector."
Dongjak-gu (Mayor Lee Chang-woo) announced that it will recruit the first batch of participants for the ‘2022 Senior Job and Social Activity Support Project’ for 10 days from the 6th to the 17th.
The district plans to recruit 2,738 people in 2022 to support seniors in leading active and healthy lives through various jobs.
A total of 45 projects are divided into three types: 2,387 for public interest activities, 245 for social service type, and 106 for market type. Participants will be recruited in three rounds until February next year, with 2,127 recruited in the first round.
Public interest activities target basic pension recipients aged 65 or older, performing tasks such as senior care, support for vulnerable groups, elementary school meal helpers, happiness clean helpers, and nodeul clean volunteer groups for 10 to 12 months (30 hours per month).
The social service type involves seniors aged 65 or older supporting daycare centers or local children’s centers as daycare helpers or senior teachers in study rooms.
The market type provides social activity opportunities such as operating Dongjak Turtle Delivery and coffee sales booths, recruiting those aged 60 or older who can perform these tasks.
In particular, Dongjak Turtle Delivery is a silver delivery service where delivery workers aged 60 or older use public transportation such as subways and buses to deliver safely at a slower pace, receiving high satisfaction and great response from both users and workers.
Seniors wishing to participate can visit the respective executing organizations (Daebang Comprehensive Social Welfare Center, Dongjak-gu Senior Job Center, etc., 10 locations) with the required documents by the 17th to apply. Details on individual projects and required documents can be found on the district website under ‘Recruitment Announcements’ and the Job Policy Division.
After interviews and selection, activities will begin in January 2022. However, recipients of livelihood benefits under the National Basic Livelihood Security Act, those participating in two or more job projects promoted by government ministries or local governments, workplace health insurance subscribers, and those with long-term care grades (1-5, cognitive support grade) are excluded.
Jeon Hye-young, Director of the Job Policy Division, said, "We hope this job project will help seniors economically and enable them to spend a vibrant old age," adding, "We will continue to discover quality senior job projects."
Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Seo Yang-ho) is providing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of local residents.
On the 7th, Jung-gu announced it will supply 436,930 KF94 masks to multi-use facilities such as restaurants, cafes, and traditional markets, as well as welfare centers, daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary, middle, and high schools mainly used by vulnerable groups such as children, adolescents, disabled persons, and the elderly.
Additionally, due to social concerns that children are experiencing difficulties in language acquisition from prolonged mask-wearing, 15,560 transparent masks will be additionally delivered to daycare centers, kindergartens, and children’s libraries.
Accordingly, 259,630 KF94 masks will be distributed to 9,433 private multi-use facilities, 120,000 KF94 masks and 15,350 transparent masks to 114 childcare and educational facilities, and 57,300 KF94 masks and 300 transparent masks will be stocked at 88 public facilities. All mask support will be completed within this month.
This mask distribution was implemented to respond to the recent surge in COVID-19 and to remind residents of the importance of infection prevention activities. The masks were procured with the Jung-gu Disaster Management Fund, costing about 220 million KRW in total.
Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, "We quickly promoted this mask support in line with the government’s strengthened quarantine measures," adding, "As confirmed cases continue to rise, we will promptly prepare various measures to reduce residents’ anxiety."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
