Daegu hosts AI and robotics industry innovation forum

Daegu city held the "Korea AI·Robot-Physical AI Industry Innovation Forum" on Friday at the Solar Hall of the Daegu Digital Innovation Promotion Institute.

The forum was organized in line with the government's "five-pole, three-special" regional development framework, bringing together three regions — Daegu, North Jeolla Province and South Gyeongsang Province — to build a broad-area AI transformation (AX) ecosystem and drive manufacturing innovation across the country.

Co-hosted by the Daegyeong ICT Industry Association, the Daegyeong Robot Enterprise Promotion Association, the Manufacturing Innovation Physical AI Association and the South Gyeongsang AI ICT Association, the event drew Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho, People Power Party lawmaker Lee In-seon, Daegu City Council Economy and Environment Committee Chairman Park Jong-pil and Democratic Party of Korea Daegu chapter chairman Park Hyeong-ryong.

More than 70 officials from ICT and robotics companies and institutions in Daegu, North Jeolla Province and South Gyeongsang Province also attended, along with representatives from universities and research institutes including Kyungpook National University, DGIST and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).

The forum featured presentations on key AX initiatives from Daegu and North Jeolla Province. Daegu outlined a vision to develop Suseong Alpha City into a global AX research and development hub through its "Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development Project," a program with a total budget of 420.7 billion won ($314 million) running through 2030.

North Jeolla Province then unveiled its "Collaborative Intelligence Physical AI-Based Software Platform Ecosystem" strategy, presenting a roadmap for commercializing physical AI through the establishment of an open research and demonstration cluster.

During the panel discussion that followed, participants agreed that no single local government has sufficient capacity to cover the full spectrum from technology development and demonstration to data integration.

Attendees discussed a broad range of concrete cooperation measures, including building a broad-area AX and physical AI alliance, securing joint R&D and demonstration project budgets, and expanding support for inter-regional collaboration.

"Connecting Daegu's robot- and biotech-centered AX innovation hub, North Jeolla Province's physical AI ecosystem and South Gyeongsang Province's manufacturing infrastructure into a single broad-area partnership will be a successful model for accelerating manufacturing innovation in Korea," Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho said.