Gwangju Metropolitan City is contributing to the advancement of autonomous driving technology for low-speed, unmanned special purpose vehicles for public services and the creation of an environment for research and development through the Regulatory Free Zone project.

The Southwest Branch of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology held a performance report meeting for the Gwangju Regulatory Free Zone at the Gwangju Holiday Inn Hotel on the 9th and announced the major achievements to date.

At the performance report meeting held that day, a presentation was made on the 'Unmanned Low-Speed Special Vehicle Regulatory Free Zone' project that Gwangju Metropolitan City has been carrying out since January 2020.

An unmanned low-speed special purpose vehicle is a special purpose vehicle that operates autonomously at a speed of less than 5 km/h for public services such as road cleaning, waste collection, and traffic information collection.

The regulatory-free special zone project being promoted by Gwangju Metropolitan City includes the demonstration operation of unmanned special vehicles such as unmanned street sweepers, unmanned industrial waste collection vehicles, unmanned residential waste collection vehicles, and unmanned public information collection vehicles in the area around Gwangju Pyeongdong Station and Uchi Park.

This is expected to contribute to the advancement of autonomous driving technology for unmanned special purpose vehicles and the creation of an environment for the development of related technologies.

At this performance report meeting, the results of the verification safety review, progress on BM development, new employment, and patent applications were shared to improve the legal system. Additionally, performance reports were made on investment performance such as job creation, factory construction, ripple effects such as investment attraction and sales channel development, and technological effects.

Additionally, an MOU was signed between Gwangju Metropolitan City Regulatory Free Zone operators and LG Uplus for cooperation in 5G-based autonomous driving business for unmanned special purpose vehicles, and a joint venture MOU was signed to form a business consortium to provide an environment for research and development of related technologies, such as unmanned public information collection vehicle technology.

At this performance report meeting, Center Director Cha Hyeon-rok of the Southwest Headquarters of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology stated, “It is expected that the industrial capacity of the Gwangju region will expand further in the future.” He added, “This is expected to lead to increased sales for companies, economic performance in demonstration facilities and spaces for companies relocated to Gwangju, and intellectual performance in the form of increased intellectual property rights for supported companies. In addition, it is expected to lead to an increase in the number of new jobs, including for young people.”