The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would begin accepting applications for the “2025 Smart City Innovation Technology Discovery and Innovative Service Model Verification Project” from March 12. This project is aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises that have innovative technologies applicable to smart cities but face challenges in commercialization due to a lack of a testing environment and cost burdens.
This initiative is designed to help accelerate the early spread of smart city technologies and enhance the competitiveness of private companies. Starting this year, the previously separate ‘Smart City Innovation Technology Discovery Project’ and ‘Smart City Innovative Service Model Verification Project’ will be integrated to streamline the support system. The ‘Smart City Innovation Technology Discovery Project’ operates by matching small and medium enterprises with local governments for testing, while the ‘Smart City Innovative Service Model Verification Project’ involves direct testing of innovative technologies in national pilot cities like Sejong and Busan.
This year’s project will select a total of 10 cases, with 5 cases from the smart city innovation technology discovery project and 5 cases from the smart city innovative service model verification project, providing approximately 200 million won for each project. The project announcement will run from March 12 to April 10, with applications being accepted from April 1 to 10. Details of the project announcement can be found on the websites of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement. A project briefing session is also scheduled for March 20.