Daegu Metropolitan City Launches Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development

【Financial News Daegu—Reporter Kim Jang-wook】Daegu Metropolitan City has officially launched the Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development Project.
Daegu Metropolitan City has completed preparations, including the establishment of a dedicated project unit, for the Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development Project, a multi-ministry initiative led by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). It will now move ahead with full-scale implementation, including a project steering committee meeting and the signing of an overarching agreement.
The project's total budget was reduced from the initial 551 billion won to 420.7 billion won after the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) incorporated the integration of similar and overlapping R&D projects and adjustments to infrastructure scale during its appropriateness review.
Unlike previous R&D preliminary feasibility projects, whose total budgets were typically adjusted by around 30% to 40% during appropriateness reviews, Daegu Metropolitan City's AX project retained 76.4% of the original proposal.
Mayor Choo Kyung-ho said at the meeting, "After passing the project's appropriateness review and undergoing thorough advance preparations, the Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development Project has finally moved onto a full-scale track. Through systematic, region-centered project management and stronger links among industry, academia, and research institutions, we will develop Suseong Alphacity into a leading AX R&D hub representing Korea and extending beyond the southern region, while driving the broad-based AI transformation of industry."
The Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development Project was finalized at a total cost of 420.7 billion won for the five-year period from 2026 to 2030, comprising 228.6 billion won in national funds, 83.9 billion won in local funds, and 108.2 billion won in private investment. This followed its exemption from a preliminary feasibility study in August last year and KISTEP's appropriateness review, completed in June this year.
To launch the project swiftly, Daegu Metropolitan City established the dedicated Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development Project Unit as an affiliated organization within the Daegu Digital Innovation Promotion Agency (DIP) at the end of June. After completing procedures for seconding existing employees and hiring new staff, it formed an operational team of 15 people.
A project steering committee will meet in Sejong City on the 18th to discuss and finalize detailed implementation plans for the Regional Hub AX Innovation Technology Development Project. By the end of September, Daegu Metropolitan City, the central ministries, specialized institutions, and the project unit will sign an overarching agreement, and an open recruitment process will be launched for the head of the project unit. Project announcements and applications are scheduled to begin in October.

[email protected] Kim Jang-wook Reporter