The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 18th that it has selected 10 new projects for 2025 under the “Ministry Collaboration-Based AI Expansion Project,” which integrates artificial intelligence (AI) in the public sector in cooperation with government ministries, and it will be calling for project-performing organizations.
The “Ministry Collaboration-Based AI Expansion Project,” which the Ministry has been promoting since 2022, is a project to develop and demonstrate AI services applicable to the public sector in collaboration with related ministries. Public AI utilization projects are solicited from each ministry, and those with high innovation and public impact are selected.
The selected projects are detailed through collaboration with the relevant ministries and the specialized agency, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), followed by a public call for and selection of performing companies. The relevant ministries provide public data and a demonstration environment necessary for the development of corporate AI services and promote the introduction and application of the developed services in the public sector after verification.
In this year’s new project call, 71 projects were submitted from 26 institutions, and after expert evaluation, 10 projects were finally selected. These projects will undergo a month-long public competition to select performing companies by the 18th of next month. Selected companies will receive support amounting to 900 million KRW annually for two years, covering everything from AI service development to field demonstration.
Since 2022, a total of 17 projects have been carried out under the “Ministry Collaboration-Based AI Expansion Project,” with some at the stage of planned field introduction following pilot application. A notable example is the “Forest Pest Management Support Service,” which uses AI to automatically detect and analyze pine wood nematodes. This service began pilot application at the Southern Regional Forest Service last year and is planned to be introduced to other sites through discussions with the relevant ministries.
Additionally, the “National AI Coaching Solution,” which analyzes video data to provide tailored training methods, was piloted in the badminton sport at the Paris Paralympics last year, successfully reducing competition video analysis time by more than fourfold (from 8 hours to 2 hours). Plans are in place to expand its use to the entire disabled national team in coordination with the relevant ministries.
Kim Kyung-man, the AI-based policy director of the Ministry, stated, “As we enter the AI transformation era, where AI is revolutionizing the nation, leading AI utilization in the public sector is more important than ever,” and added, “The Ministry will continue to closely cooperate with related ministries to discover innovative public services and strive to create results that the public can feel.”