Aging Seoul to evolve with robot helpers

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 07:48

Tech

Aging Seoul to evolve with robot helpers

Posted : 2023-07-26 08:15

Updated : 2023-07-26 17:14

Senior citizens of Seoul learn how to better use smartphones with the help of robots. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Gov't to subsidize robot developers, ramp up services, support tech innovation

By Ko Dong-hwan

As Seoul becomes an aging society, the city is running out of working hands while the population is in ever greater need of medical and welfare services. The widening gap in supply and demand for the city's labor force can be offset by the use of robots, the city government has announced.

The Economic Policy Division under the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Economic Policy Office said Monday that the city is entering the phase of an ultra-aging society starting in 2025. To counter the trend, the city said it will start nurturing robotic developers, employing robots in broader service sectors and investing in relevant technologies. Under the three major directions to be completed by 2026, the city authority will launch 15 sub-projects and invest over 200 billion won ($156 million) in total during the period.

The announcement came as the city currently accounts for 18 percent of the country's entire revenue generated from robotic businesses, claiming the biggest share of the domestic market for robots. As of 2021, the country's robotic market was scaled at 5.6 trillion won with over 2,500 companies and over 31,000 employees in the industry. Seoul accounts for almost 1 trillion won with over 400 relevant firms and almost 6,000 employees.

Kim Tae-kyun, chief of the Economic Policy Bureau, said that robots are the city's "new future growth engine and effective tools to resolve the growing social problems."

He added that through the city government's latest initiative, the city will foster more robot-friendly environments ― such as the Suseo Cluster slated to open in the future ― and support robotic firms' innovative growth and further popularize robotic services.

Children listen to a robot telling a story at a daycare center in Seoul. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

To provide the necessary financial boost to the startups and other robotic firms that are still in their early stages of development, the city authority said they will prepare a "robot industry growth fund" worth 200 billion won by 2026 to help the companies with their research and development projects. Another 10 billion won will be prepared for the same year to provide grants to the top companies regarded to have the highest potential and feasibility.

The city authority also plans to prepare 700 robotic field experts by 2026. The workforce will be educated and put into practice through the Digital Innovation Park that opened in the city's southern district of Gangnam in 2022.

With the new initiative, the city government is putting robots to work in a broader range of service sectors. The authority said those sectors will be divided largely into public services ― which seek to implement robots in the public sector that has traditionally been overseen by humans ― and private robotic businesses ― which will diversify the range of services where robots can play pivotal roles and thus improve convenience for humans.

A computer graphic image of the Seoul Robot and AI Museum that will open in Chang-dong, Dobong District in March 2024 / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Starting in August, the city authority is implementing robots that are dedicated to human care at the Seoul Medical Center. They will further expand their presence in the city's hospitals including the Children's Hospital in the southern district of Seocho which is run by the city government.

To bring robots closer to residents in day-to-day life, the city authority also plans to deploy the machines in libraries and museums as well as use them to deliver food or patrol neighborhoods. Daycare centers will also use them to read books to children, while robots currently in use to teach seniors how to better use their smartphones will be expanded in number from 240 this year to 500 by 2026.

At the Seoul Robot and AI Museum, which is expected to open next March in the northern district of Dobong, various programs will be introduced for visitors to experience the latest trends in robotics.

To boost developing robotic technologies, the city authority is set to build a new robot tech center at Suseo, Gangnam District, in 2026. The city government said it will be their main hub for robotics startups.

aoshima11@koreatimes.co.kr