“Smart city regulations lifted to increase sales by KRW 209 billion… Attracting 167 billion won in investment”
“WSCE has emerged as a global event… “Create specialized ideas for each local government.”
Kim Oh-jin, First Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, announced his intention to actively utilize the 'Smart City Regulatory Sandbox' system to help innovative companies' new technologies enter domestic and overseas markets.
Vice Minister Kim met with <News 6> at the ‘World Smart City Expo (WSCE) 2023’ held at KINTEX, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 1th and said, “We will continue to help innovative technologies overcome institutional barriers and be released into the market and help companies grow.” “I will try my best,” he said.
◇”Let’s lift regulations and attract investment of 167 billion won… “Good response from DRT buses.”
The Smart City Regulatory Sandbox is a system that temporarily suspends related regulations since 2020 to allow smart city-related innovative companies to demonstrate new products and services or launch them into the market. To date, 44 service demonstrations have been approved. Vice Minister Kim explained that through this, companies that received special treatment increased their sales by 209 billion won and succeeded in attracting investments worth 167 billion won.
Vice Minister Kim selected the delivery robot Mobin, which is being demonstrated in Hwaseong apartment complexes in Gyeonggi Province, as a representative example of special application. Vice Minister Kim said, “Last year, a startup developed a self-driving robot that could easily go up and down stairs, overcoming the limitations of existing robots that could only run on flat roads, but they were unable to demonstrate it due to the Road Act and the Personal Information Protection Act. He said, “MOLIT has approved the smart city regulatory sandbox verification special case and is expanding its business area by starting verification starting in March of this year.”
Vice Minister Kim explained that smart city technologies developed in this way have been introduced in various ways in Korea. He said, “Demand response (DRT) buses are being operated throughout the country, including Sejong and Incheon, and the response from citizens who use them is very good.”
DRT buses do not have pre-determined routes, but operate flexibly with operating sections and stops depending on passenger demand. It is a means of transportation that allows users to use a vehicle by setting a destination through an application (app), setting the optimal route according to demand and guiding them to a nearby boarding location.
Vice Minister Kim evaluated, “We have been successfully creating a smart city through close cooperation between the central government, local governments, companies, and citizens.”
◇”Efforts to expand domestic smart city technology overseas... “It’s disappointing that there is little differentiation between local governments.”
In addition, Vice Minister Kim explained that all policy support is being provided to enable smart city technology to advance overseas.
He said, “We are running a program called K-City Network to promote and export our country’s smart cities overseas.” He added, “In particular, at this Expo, we will hold G2G cooperation meetings with Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and the Netherlands to discover businesses and collaborate with our companies.” “We plan to provide networking opportunities for overseas governments,” he said.
Next, Vice Minister Kim met with Brunei's Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Mohmad Yusof, and reported that he had received a request to strengthen cooperation. He said, “We signed a smart city-related business agreement with Brunei in 2019, but it almost expired during the COVID-XNUMX period,” and added, “At this event, the Brunei Vice Minister proposed to continue the agreement and strengthen cooperation.”
It was also mentioned that the smart city market has a bright outlook overseas. Vice Minister Kim said, “There is significant demand for smart cities overseas, including in Vietnam, Indonesia, and B’nai,” and predicted, “It is a field with very high export potential in the future.”
In fact, at a luncheon with Saudi Arabian Assistant Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Housing Musad Al-Oteibi, Vice Minister Kim said, “When I asked how the expo was, the one word he gave me was ‘amazing.’ He said that the water management technology was the most impressive because Saudi Arabia sometimes gets heavy rains too. “He hinted.
Regarding the WSCE held on this day, he said, “This year, 34 conferences and side events were held, including a market forum in which city mayors from around the world participated,” and “About 320 companies participated in the exhibition, making it a global event in the smart city field.”
However, he emphasized, “There are many things that were surprising, but considering Korea’s reputation as the world’s strongest ICT country, it is unfortunate that the differences as smart cities were not clearly distinguished by local government.” He added, “We will strive to maximize the advantages according to the characteristics of the region.”
◆Kim Oh-jin, MOLIT 1st Vice Minister Profile
△September 1966, 9 △Gimcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do △Daegu High School △Graduated from Hanyang University's Department of Political Science and Diplomacy △Master's and Doctorate in Political Science and Diplomacy from the same graduate school △Department of Political Science from Missouri State University, USA △Full-time Deputy Spokesperson of the Grand National Party △Researcher at the Yeouido Institute △Senior Administrator, 18st Secretary to the President's Office △ Yoon Seok-yeol, head of the political affairs planning team at the National Camp △Chief of Division 1 of the 20th Presidential Transition Committee Blue House Relocation T/F △Administrative Secretary of the Presidential Secretariat
(Goyang = News 1) Kim Hee-jun, head of the Construction and Real Estate Department, interview, reporter Park Ki-hyun