Goyang Prepares for the Future with AI Innovation
Full-Scale Push for AI-Based Administrative Innovation and Talent Development
Opening of Goyang Smart City Center and Northern Gyeonggi AI Campus
Securing Hubs for Nurturing Future Talent
Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Donghwan) is taking full-scale steps to drive administrative innovation using artificial intelligence (AI).
Lee Donghwan, mayor of Goyang Special City, visiting the site of a regional innovation AI company. Photo by Goyang Special City
According to Goyang Special City on September 12, since declaring "AI-nomics" as part of the "G-nomics Five-Year Plan" in July, the city has been gradually introducing AI systems across all areas of administration.
This innovation spans a wide range of fields, including internal administration, civil services, talent development, and industrial cooperation, with a focus on delivering customized services that citizens can tangibly experience.
To begin with, in March this year, the city established an AI Innovation Task Force led by private sector experts to lay the foundation for administrative transformation. In May, Goyang enacted the "Ordinance on Fostering and Supporting the Artificial Intelligence Industry," thereby establishing an AI-based administrative and industrial framework both organizationally and institutionally.
By introducing artificial intelligence (AI) across all areas of administration, Goyang is gradually implementing a variety of innovative services that citizens can directly experience.
In June, the proposal for an "AI-based automatic verification system for permits and licenses," which was selected as the top idea in the "AI Administration Idea Contest" for city employees, is now undergoing patent application in the city's name after consultation with a patent attorney.
In addition, excellent ideas such as the "AI-powered unmanned civil document issuance kiosk" and "enhanced management of foreign substances in food using AI" are being reviewed for actual policy implementation, demonstrating how creative thinking within the organization is leading to administrative innovation.
Civil services are also evolving to the next level. The city plans to establish a KakaoTalk-based generative AI civil service system that operates 24/7 year-round, connecting Goyang’s and central government’s administrative systems for certificate issuance, tax payments, welfare, health, and more.
The goal is to realize customized administration that citizens can access anytime and anywhere by implementing an intelligent administrative service capable of accurately answering even complex questions.
In May, the city also achieved results in bridging the digital gap in administrative records. Over 130,000 pages of old land registers, created between 1910 and 1975, were fully digitized and converted to Korean using AI, enabling personalized real estate services such as finding ancestral land and checking individual land status.
In the past, each document written in classical Chinese had to be deciphered manually, but now land information can be quickly accessed with a single search.
AI implementation is also being promoted to improve internal administrative efficiency. A recent employee survey identified demand for automating simple and repetitive tasks such as legal and guideline Q&A, information searches, document summarization, and drafting. Accordingly, the city is considering introducing an AI assistant, aiming to automate routine work so that public officials can focus on more creative and strategic tasks.
Goyang is also steadily expanding its hubs for nurturing AI talent and building an innovation ecosystem.
On October 29, the "Goyang Smart City Center" will officially open in the Seongsa Creative Innovation Center. The center will feature exhibition spaces for smart city achievements, an open lab for technology development and demonstration, and classrooms for citizen education. It will also operate training and practice programs in conjunction with the AI campus, including intelligent IoT (AIoT) and digital twin education. The city envisions this center as a platform to drive regional innovation.
Additionally, the "Northern Gyeonggi AI Campus," opening at the same location, will launch specialized education programs for young people. In collaboration with Baekseok High School, which was selected as an autonomous public high school, the city will promote AI education linked across elementary, middle, and high schools, creating a virtuous cycle for future talent development.
Collaboration with businesses is also expanding. In June, the city signed an agreement with Lotte Shopping to create an "AI-based regional coexistence and smart distribution ecosystem," jointly promoting initiatives such as priority hiring of citizens, smart distribution cooperation, and operation of AI experience education programs. In addition, an AI experience and promotion center for citizens will be established in unused space inside the Lotte logistics center.
Meanwhile, the city has also established an institutional foundation for fostering and supporting the AI industry, and plans to stably promote policies for AI industry development, including establishing basic plans, support projects, and cooperation systems.
Lee Donghwan, mayor of Goyang Special City, visited AI-related companies last March. Photo by Goyang Special City
Mayor Lee Donghwan of Goyang Special City stated, "AI is no longer just a technological stage, but a basic requirement for all industries, including administration, logistics, and construction. We will implement digital administration based on AI and data, and actively introduce it across all industries to leap forward as an 'AI Special City.'"
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