The government will draw up an innovation model for care services using artificial intelligence (AI). It will boost access to government support programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises and small merchants through a platform equipped with an AI agent.

The Ministry of Science and ICT held the seventh meeting of science and technology ministers at the government complex in Seoul on Wednesday. Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈), deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT, chaired the meeting and said he would speed up pan-government efforts so the public, businesses and regions can all share in the benefits and results of science and technology innovation and a major AI shift, and grow.

The meeting confirmed an "AI Care Technology Full Lifecycle Support Strategy (draft)" to innovate care services through AI technology development and ease the public's care burden. It also confirmed a "Public AX Shift Plan (draft)" by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to build a system supporting service access for SMEs and small merchants.

◆Introducing AI to care services, improving access to government programmes for small merchants

The AI care technology full lifecycle support strategy centres on shifting the policy paradigm by introducing AI and other technologies into the care sector. It will pursue three strategies: setting out a service innovation model, supporting technology development, demonstration and diffusion, and improving laws and systems while strengthening on-site capabilities.

Specifically, it will build smart homes and smart welfare facilities using AI, the Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics to support independent living and social participation for people receiving at-home care. It aims to reduce the workload of workers while improving care quality. Based on cooperation between the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the government will pursue mission-oriented R&D and link care projects at each stage from technology development to demonstration, commercialisation and on-site adoption.

Through the public AX shift plan, the government will build an "SME integrated platform" enabling SMEs and small merchants to access and apply for all support programmes with a single login. It will add an AI agent dedicated to SMEs and small merchants to provide tailored programme recommendations and application support, commercial district analysis and consulting.

It will also open public data to expand AI service development projects. Within the ministry and related institutions, it will ease administrative burdens through data-based policymaking and work automation.

◆Region-led growth through science and technology, upgrading the R&D system

The meeting also approved a "Regional Innovation Growth Strategy Through Science and Technology (draft)" to build a virtuous cycle ecosystem of region-based innovation centred on science and technology. It also approved an "R&D Commercialisation System Upgrade Strategy (draft)" aimed at creating an ecosystem to spread results.

The regional innovation growth strategy aims to drive growth led by regions through science and technology. It will form a talent training cluster across wider regions through cooperation between the four institutes of science and technology and local universities. It will support young people settling in regions by creating models linking and cooperating between local universities and government-funded research institutes tailored to regional specialisation. It will expand support for regional researchers and institutes, and strengthen regional R&D centred on advanced strategic technologies such as bio, next-generation SMRs, space and nuclear fusion. It will promote support for deep-tech start-ups and establish funds by stage so research results lead to start-ups and commercialisation.

The R&D commercialisation system upgrade strategy focuses on spreading research results. It will build an "R&D results diffusion highway" that breaks down boundaries between ministries, and create an ecosystem for diffusion by enhancing the expertise and role of technology commercialisation support organisations and introducing investment-type R&D. The government also plans to pursue related system reforms, aiming to foster 5,000 AI and deep-tech start-ups based on public research results by 2030.

Alongside this, a "Plan to Foster the Information Security Industry" was also prepared. The goal is to turn a recent rise in cyber threats into a growth opportunity and achieve 30 trillion won in information security industry sales and 5 trillion won in exports by 2030. It will 추진 strategies centred on nurturing AI-based security companies, expanding converged security, training top-tier global security talent and building regional security ecosystems.