Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Achieves Triple Crown in Robot Contest Project
Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Noh Gwan-gyu) announced that it has achieved a triple crown in robot contest projects this year as well, following last year, becoming the first local government to do so.
This year, the city was selected for the “Large-scale Convergence Robot Demonstration Project,” “Regulatory Innovation Robot Demonstration Project,” and “Robot Creative Education Project” conducted by the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement, securing a total project budget of 2.5 billion KRW.
Building on the success in robot contest projects, the city is setting the standard for local government-led robot initiatives.
The city is conducting a robot creative talent development project targeting elementary and middle schools in the area, and care robots to assist the daily independence of people with developmental disabilities are scheduled to be expanded throughout Suncheon in August.
The Robot Education Science Center, where citizens can view and experience advanced robots, will be established in September this year on the first floor of Suncheonman Job World, covering an area of 284.27㎡, welcoming citizens.
Additionally, a robot festival open to all citizens will be held. Planned events include robot camps for elementary, middle, and high school students, a large-scale robot festival for citizen participation, and expert lectures aimed at fostering a robot ecosystem.
Through these, various streets and attractions where people can experience and enjoy robots in daily life will be provided.
The city’s robot projects began in 2022 when it was first selected for the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement’s “Robot Convergence Business Support Project.”
Securing a total of 80 million KRW including national funds, the city conducted emotional support projects for people with developmental disabilities and workers, creative education, welfare robot ecosystem seminars, and robot festivals, striving to spread the necessity of robots throughout the city.
Suncheon City’s prediction was accurate. In 2023, the city achieved a triple crown in three fields: “Socially Vulnerable Benefit Support Project,” “Robot Convergence Business Support Project,” and “Robot Creative Education Project.”
Through this, it secured approximately 300 million KRW in project funds including national subsidies.
The city supported the settlement conditions of companies to foster robot education enterprises and conducted robot-based education for digital learning for the disabled and elderly.
Two developmental disability support centers were selected and utilized as welfare robot and independence robot hub centers to supply robots.
As the city is sincerely committed to robots, there are various directions to move forward.
To increase the productivity of local companies through the introduction of collaborative robots, measures to support companies with robot applications will be prepared, including special lectures on company application cases, visits to excellent companies, and public hearings.
Furthermore, the city plans to support the attraction of Suncheon University Medical School by creating an environment for the distribution and expansion of medical robots.
Mayor Noh Gwan-gyu of Suncheon said, “We will foster future growth industries related to robots, aerospace, defense, mobility, and magnesium lightweighting to create an advanced industrial city and provide jobs for young people.”
Meanwhile, the city plans to generate synergy effects linked to its specialized projects, such as establishing a testbed for space exploration robots, developing and distributing marine debris and smart farm robots, and robots supporting the independent living of people with disabilities, as part of the five core future strategic projects including robots.
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