Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae Says
TECHWORLD ·
✦ AI Summary
Gyeonggi Province cut the youth AI usage support budget and the public health AI demonstration budget in full because of fiscal strain.
As a result, the youth voucher project and the public medical AI diagnostic aid device demonstration support were suspended.
By contrast, the physical AI project will be pushed ahead with existing funds, with its application areas expanded from manufacturing to firefighting, disaster response and care.
Gyeonggi Province cut the youth AI usage support budget and the public health AI demonstration budget in full, citing fiscal strain. As a result, the youth AI usage support program and the public health AI demonstration project have been suspended. Questions are now being raised over the province's explanation of investment priorities by project.
By contrast, Gyeonggi Province plans to push ahead with its physical AI project using existing budgets while expanding its areas of application from manufacturing to firefighting, disaster response and care. Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae attended the "Gyeonggi Physical AI Great Transformation Declaration Ceremony" held on the 28th at the Future Mobility Building of Seoul National University Siheung Campus and said the province would pursue industrial innovation through physical AI and strengthen the safety of residents' lives. A consultative body involving 66 organizations, including companies, universities, research institutes and local governments, was also launched that day.
Gyeonggi Province has completed adoption consulting for nine manufacturing companies in the Seongnam industrial complex, and is currently pushing ahead with demonstrations of three processes among them. It plans to begin demonstrations in the firefighting and disaster response sectors next year and also start testing care robots. It then plans to expand the scope of application from 2029 to fall prevention and daily assistance for seniors and people with disabilities.
The announcement came about three months after Governor Choo declared a fiscal emergency on August 5. At the time, Choo said the province was in such a difficult fiscal situation that even maintaining existing projects would be hard, and she outlined a policy of suspending one-off events, halting nonessential projects, and reassessing private consignment and agency-run projects.
Choo emphasized at the time that essential budgets related to residents' lives and safety, as well as protection for vulnerable groups, had to be maintained. However, in the subsequent supplementary budget, the youth AI utilization support budget was cut in full, and the budget to support technology verification at public medical sites was also cut in full.
According to the adjustment details for the second supplementary budget bill passed on the 12th by the provincial council, the KRW 1.2 billion budget for the "Gyeonggi Youth AI Growth Voucher" was cut entirely, and the KRW 200 million budget for the "Public Medical Center AI Diagnostic Aid Device Demonstration Support" was also cut entirely. The standing committee had prepared a plan to restore KRW 1.2 billion for the "Gyeonggi Youth AI Growth Voucher" and KRW 80 million for the "Public Medical Center AI Diagnostic Aid Device Demonstration Support," but that restoration plan was not reflected in the final budget committee adjustment.
The youth voucher project was intended to support subscriptions to generative AI and work AI agent services, along with education and consulting, for 16,500 youths and young adults aged 13 to 24 in the province. However, due to delays in administrative procedures, the project had not yet gotten underway.
In this situation, a proposal to cut the budget entirely was submitted, and even under the standing committee's restoration plan, the final budget came to zero won. Investment in physical AI was maintained.
Provincial lawmaker Yoon Do-hee of the Democratic Party criticized the move during the Future Science and Cooperation Committee review on September 7, saying it was hard to trust a promise to pursue the project in 2027 when the original plan had not been carried out. Yoon also demanded that, if full support was impossible, assistance should at least be provided within this year, starting with vulnerable youths.
Assemblyman Seo In-ha of the Democratic Party said the project could not be ended after being cut to zero. He suggested redesigning the project so that it would go beyond simple usage fee support and include practical training and on-site problem solving.
The public medical center AI diagnostic aid device demonstration support project had already completed company selection and had drawn up plans to build a testbed at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center, while pushing ahead with support for demonstration of AI diagnostic aid devices by small and medium-sized companies in the province. However, it failed to secure the relevant budget, causing setbacks to the project.
During the same budget review process, People Power Party provincial lawmaker Bang Seong-hwan criticized cuts to the AI Bureau budget during the same committee's review on September 7. Bang asked about the standards for the cuts and the response measures, saying the budget needed to be increased by KRW 47 billion, yet an additional KRW 4.7 billion was cut.
By contrast, the physical AI project will be carried out from March this year to March next year, with KRW 3.008 billion in provincial funding. Gyeonggi Province explained that the project is already budgeted and is for building a Siheung expansion center, providing company consulting, demonstrating manufacturing processes, and training.
The province said the cuts were an unavoidable restructuring caused by a shortfall in tax revenue and the need to secure funding for essential livelihood projects. Based on the budget proposal submitted by the province, the AI Bureau's cut amounted to KRW 4.787 billion, and the province explained that this KRW 4.787 billion included winning bid savings and returned unused funds, so not all of the cut meant reduced support.
With the youth voucher budget cut in full and the medical AI demonstration budget cut in full, the youth voucher project and the medical AI demonstration project have both been suspended. The suspension of the two projects is a separate matter from the settlement of remaining balances. During the austerity process, the youth voucher and medical AI demonstration projects were suspended.
By contrast, the physical AI investment was maintained during the austerity process. However, the support targets and purposes of physical AI and the two projects are different. Critics say an explanation is needed for the priority given to maintaining physical AI and the basis for that decision. Gyeonggi Province released a press statement on the 28th, and the statement included the current project budget and phased implementation schedule. However, it did not present the total project cost through 2029, nor did it provide an annual financing plan. No follow-up funding plan for the expanded physical AI project has been disclosed.
The AI Bureau said it plans to resume the youth voucher project next year. Whether the suspended support projects will be restarted is expected to be worked out through next year's main budget drafting and review process. The scale of fiscal support for the expanded physical AI project is also expected to be determined through next year's main budget drafting and review process.
Source: TECHWORLD · Kim Seung-gi
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=408342
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Source: TECHWORLD
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