The Ministry of Science and ICT will set up a dedicated organisation and hire private-sector experts to quickly develop AI-based public services that citizens can feel.

The ministry said on Aug. 26 it will establish the "National AI Service Innovation Task Force" and openly recruit private-sector experts to handle service development.

The task force will be set up under the ministry in line with a Prime Minister directive, "Regulations on the establishment and operation of the National AI Service Innovation Task Force," which took effect on July 30.

Its goal is to respond to demand for AI-based public services and quickly develop and provide services that citizens can feel. It plans to develop services to improve the efficiency of administrative work using AI, as well as public AI agents that find and notify citizens in advance of the public services they need and help them apply.

The task force will have a total of 61 members. It will hire 26 private-sector experts, including its head, as fixed-term civil servants. It plans to appoint a private-sector expert with experience in AI service development as task force head so that the person can directly decide the direction of service planning and development. It will also accept seconded local government officials who completed the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's "AI Champion Course" to support AI service development in the public sector.

The ministry will also run a policy consultative body and a public-private consultative body to link data and cooperation among ministries, related agencies and local governments. The policy consultative body will include officials from central administrative agencies and local governments, and the public-private consultative body will gather opinions from the industry, private-sector experts and civic groups.

This open recruitment covers 26 specialists by field, including the head, in areas such as AI service planning and development. Applications will be accepted starting Sept. 2. It plans to announce final successful candidates in September after document screening and interviews.

Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈), deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT, said it was "a new attempt in which private-sector experts create AI-based services inside a government organisation and provide them quickly." He said the ministry would support the provision of various AI services that citizens can feel.