A "Public Agency Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Challenge," hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Finance and Economy and organised by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), will be held.

The challenge is a contest for public agencies among the 14 tracks of the nationwide AI competition that opened on March 26. Public agencies taking part in the track will use AI to improve administrative efficiency and identify various innovative services that the public can feel.

The contest will be run in 2 divisions: AI service demonstrations and proof of concept, and best practices in using AI. Entries will be accepted in each division under a free-topic track and a designated-topic track. Public agencies wishing to participate can apply from June 1 to Aug. 28.

After document screening and presentation reviews, the contest will select about 30 final winning cases. It will announce results and hold an awards ceremony in the fourth quarter. The government will provide incentives such as additional points in management evaluations for outstanding public agencies. It will continue to support public agencies so they adopt advanced AI technologies and serve as test beds for private companies. Details and application methods are available on the competition's integrated website.

Hong Seong-wan (홍성완), director general for telecommunications policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "I hope that through the Public Agency AI Innovation Challenge, which is being held for the first time, public agencies will take the lead in creating innovative AI services that the public can feel."

Jang Jeong-jin (장정진), director general for public policy at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, said, "Through this Public Agency AI Innovation Challenge, we will actively identify exemplary cases of field-oriented innovation and spread them across the entire public sector."