South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission on Wednesday visited Gwangju Techno Park and the Artificial Intelligence Industry Convergence Project Group (AICA) and held a meeting with local companies, institutions and researchers in AI medical and healthcare fields in the Jeonnam-Gwangju region.

Song Kyung-hee (송경희), chairperson of the commission, first met companies, institutions and researchers in AI medical and healthcare fields at Gwangju Techno Park for a discussion on innovative data use. Participants proposed various ideas to promote data use in the region, including simplifying procedures for combining and processing pseudonymised data, requesting the establishment of a new pseudonymised data use support centre and expanding consulting on the use of pseudonymised data for regional research institutions and companies.

Song later visited Gwangju Techno Park's Personal Information Innovation Zone to inspect its facilities and operations.

Through the Personal Information Innovation Zone, Gwangju Techno Park is building a cooperation framework with hospitals and clinics, research institutions and companies in the Jeonnam-Gwangju region, including Jeonnam National University Hospital and Chosun University Hospital, which are regional hub hospitals, to support in-depth analysis and longitudinal studies of data needed for the Honam region's medical and healthcare industry.

The commission said demand is rising rapidly for high-quality data and safe analysis environments as AI technology advances. It said it plans to work with related agencies to create a trust-based environment for data use. "In the AI era, just as important as securing a large amount of high-quality data is the capability to use data safely and responsibly," Song said. "We will actively support AI medical and healthcare research and industrial innovation in the Jeonnam-Gwangju region so they can move forward while securing public trust in personal information protection," she said.