Gwangju Industry-Academia Convergence Institute and Gwangju Technopark announced Friday that they successfully held the "2026 Opportunity Development Zone Mobility and AI Industry 2nd Technology Exchange Forum and AX Convergence Consulting" over two days Wednesday and Thursday at Hotel de Monde in Damyang.
The forum was organized as part of the "2026 Opportunity Development Zone Demand-Customized Support Project" to help companies investing or already based in the Bitgreen National Industrial Complex and Cheomdan District 3 — both designated as Opportunity Development Zones for mobility and AI in 2024 — establish stable operating conditions and strengthen their technological capabilities.
About 50 executives, employees and officials from regional mobility and AI-related companies and organizations attended.
The event was divided into two sessions: a first-day technology seminar sharing developments in the rapidly changing future vehicle and AI industry landscape and regional policy shifts, and a second-day AX convergence consulting session aimed at helping companies identify practical process-innovation projects.
No Hui-ok, a division head at the Gwangju Future Vehicle Mobility Promotion Institute (GAMA), delivered a presentation titled "Mobility + AI: Demonstrating in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, Evolving through Data," outlining a strategy to build a regional virtuous-cycle ecosystem linking the country's first city-level autonomous driving demonstration zone with a national AI data center and AI factory (AIDX) — connecting demonstration, data, AI and production.
Lee Beom-gyu, an investigator from the South Jeolla Provincial Police Agency's Industrial Technology Protection Investigation Team, gave a lecture on "Industrial Technology Protection and Data Security in the AI Era," sharing cases of internal and external leaks of core technical and management information.
Lee also outlined security protocols and response procedures that small and midsize companies can implement immediately, drawing a positive response from attendees.
The consulting session provided participating companies with tailored project-planning strategies for identifying R&D initiatives to advance AI transformation (AX) in the mobility industry, with a focus on linking to major government support programs — including 2026 AX leading-model cases, regional innovation leader company development R&D, and manufacturing-based production systems.
Yoo Seung-hyeok, a team leader at Gwangju Industry-Academia Convergence Institute, said the Bitgreen industrial complex and Cheomdan District 3 Opportunity Development Zones are "core industrial hubs that will be closely tied not only to various tax incentives and corporate support, but also to the government's key future policy — the mega special zone project and semiconductor investment." He added that the institute would "do its utmost to provide technology exchange and corporate support tailored to on-site demand."
sij@heraldcorp.com
