Gwangju Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Intelligence Investment Competition Call for Entries

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on the 29th that it is calling for entries for the ‘2022 AI Test-Bed Korea Industrial Intelligence Investment Competition’ with a total prize of 15 million KRW.

According to Gwangju Chamber of Commerce, since Gwangju’s key industries have recently been reorganized into eight major sectors including future mobility, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, medicare, energy, optical industry, smart home appliances, and root industries, and with the need to foster AI-based future new industries such as establishing a data-centered cutting-edge AI industrial convergence complex by 2024, this competition was planned.

The competition is being promoted as part of the 2022 Gwangju Job Creation Innovation Project ‘Support Package for Promising Companies’ Future Core Technology Convergence’ supported by Gwangju Metropolitan City and the Gwangju Regional Employment and Labor Office, and is jointly hosted with Gwangju Technopark, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Chonnam National University LINC3.0 Project Group, and the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association.

The call for entries theme is ‘Business Models Utilizing AI Technology,’ and additional points will be awarded for ideas related to Gwangju’s eight major industries.

Participants include prospective entrepreneurs in the AI field, startups, university students, and the general public nationwide. The competition announcement can be found on the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry website.

Key schedule details show that ideas will be accepted until September 16, and through a mid-term evaluation, 10 teams will be selected to advance to the final stage.

Subsequently, a business advancement camp will be held for the 10 selected teams, and on the 28th, at the special stage of the AI-TECH+ exhibition at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center, 5 teams will be finally selected through IR presentations.

The total prize money is 15 million KRW, with the grand prize of 5 million KRW and the Gwangju Metropolitan City Mayor’s Award given to one team; two teams will receive the excellence award with 3 million KRW each along with the Gwangju Regional Employment and Labor Office Director’s Award and the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry President’s Award respectively; and two teams will receive the merit award with 2 million KRW each along with the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology Applied Science Research Group Director’s Award and the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association President’s Award respectively.

Choi Jong-man, the full-time vice president of the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated, “Through this competition, we aim to discover talented individuals with creative ideas, match them with promising companies in the Gwangju region, and utilize the winning works to advance Gwangju’s eight major industries. To ensure this is not a one-time event, from September 28 to 30, we will provide separate booths at the AI-TECH+ exhibition for the 10 teams advancing to the final stage, and operate a technology trading market where they can conduct IRs and sign contracts with overseas buyers and promising AI companies, thereby creating a practical transaction platform for the winning teams.”