AI Innovation Hub Leap... Pohang City Completes Next Year's Major Work Plan Report

Among 307 New Projects, 89 AI and Big Data Business Development and Coordination Organizations Established

Full Effort to Advance New Industries, Secure Competitiveness, and Build Pohang-Style Care System

On the 23rd, Pohang City concluded the 2025 major business plan briefing sessions, held five times in total, with the ‘Autonomous Administration Bureau, Nam-gu and Buk-gu Health Centers, and Lifelong Learning Center’ business report meeting presided over by Mayor Lee Kang-deok at the city hall’s main conference room.

This year’s business reports focused on intensively discovering AI and big data projects applicable to city administration to establish a sustainable urban foundation and secure new growth engines amid uncertain domestic and international conditions, thereby expanding the base of advanced knowledge industries.

Accordingly, out of a total of 307 new projects, 89 AI and big data-related projects were identified.

The city plans to widely expand smart farms, indoor farms, and smart aquaculture in the agriculture and fisheries sectors, where rapid AX (AI Transformation) expansion is urgently required due to the aging farming and fishing population and climate crisis.

Additionally, in the fields of construction transportation, water supply and sewage, and environmental management, AI traffic safety systems, AI-based water management platforms, and comprehensive environmental monitoring systems will be established to ensure stable resource management and prompt problem-solving.

Furthermore, the city will establish a general organization to control new AI projects by department, integrating similar and overlapping projects through a platform and swiftly promoting projects that can immediately provide services to citizens.

Alongside this, active efforts will be made to advance and secure competitiveness in new industries such as secondary batteries, bio, hydrogen, and digital sectors.

To ensure the smooth operation of the Pohang International Exhibition & Convention Center (POEX), scheduled for completion at the end of 2026, the city plans to establish a foundation and host a large-scale international conference (tentatively named the World Green Growth Forum, WGGF) centered on the global agenda of carbon neutrality.

Considering the difficult economic conditions, the special guarantee, which has been a great help to small business owners, will be expanded from 111.4 billion won to 200 billion won this year, and a solid Pohang-style care system will be established for each group including children, adolescents, the elderly, and the disabled to provide customized welfare services.

In particular, the memorial park site, selected this year in the Guryongpo area, will have the necessary budget immediately reflected to enable the entire Homigot Peninsula to be designated as a tourism special zone beyond Guryongpo, with all departments cooperating and linking together.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “Using generative AI for business reporting helped greatly improve work capabilities by reviewing current issues and discovering new policies,” adding, “We will spread artificial intelligence technology through the private sector, industry, and academia to become an AI innovation hub city and focus on fostering advanced knowledge industries.”