Park Yoon-kyu, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), announced on the 31st that the ministry held a corporate roundtable with digital companies—spanning data, AI semiconductors, and AI solutions—to strengthen Korea–ASEAN digital cooperation.

This roundtable was part of follow-up measures to the Korea–ASEAN Summit held in September. It was organized to build policy consensus by discussing the implementation direction of the Korea–ASEAN Digital Innovation Flagship Project, and to ensure the project’s successful execution.

In addition to the project’s lead organization, 13 companies attended, including Datastreams, Bigvalue, FuriosaAI, SAPEON Korea, Bit Computer, Multicampus, Greenery, Elcomtech, KT, Kakao Healthcare, Waiscen, VUNO, and AIDOT.

The Korea–ASEAN Digital Innovation Flagship Project aims to work closely with the 10 ASEAN member states to reduce the region’s digital divide and support an economic leap forward. The initiative includes:

• building a shared ecosystem for joint data accumulation and utilization,

• establishing supercomputing infrastructure,

• strengthening human capacity related to AI development,

• supporting the convergence and spread of AI technologies (including carbon neutrality and healthcare).

On the same day, NIA (National Information Society Agency) announced plans to build the Korea–ASEAN Big Data Platform to reinforce the foundation for Korea–ASEAN data development. KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information) also presented plans to establish a High-Performance Computing Center to support joint big data utilization, including the adoption of domestic AI semiconductors.

Companies participating in the meeting shared updates on their global expansion—such as into ASEAN countries—and requested the government’s continued interest and support so that digital firms can enter the ASEAN market more actively.

Digital Daily / 2023.10.31 / Reporter Baek Ji-young