South Korea will establish a private think tank dedicated to artificial intelligence technology like AlphaGo as early as in the first half of this year, according to a plan briefed to President Park Geun-hye by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning on Thursday.

According to the plan, the research center will provide a platform of public-private cooperation to bring together nationwide research capabilities and data for intelligence information.　Six companies - Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK Telecom, KT Corporation, Naver and Hyundai Motor agreed to join the initiative to form the research institute.

The companies will chip in 3 billion won ($2.56 million) each for the center that will kick off with about 50 researchers.

The government’s initial goal is to open the center in the first half of this year and this center is open to researchers at small enterprises, universities and state-invested think tanks, said Kim Yong-soo, director for the ministry’s telecommunication policy.

The research center invested and managed by private companies will conduct flagship research projects funded by the government.

The center’s key role includes R&D and commercialization of intelligent information technology and its applications, as well as data collection and collaboration for the intelligent information industry.

A focus will be placed on developing five advanced intelligent software that can deal with human language, visual intelligence, spatial intelligence, emotional intelligence and summary and creative intelligence.

The government will also support for research on basic disciplines that buttress the development of intelligent information technology: super computer, neural chip, brain science and structure and industrial mathematics.

The research center will also play a central role in building data infrastructure, another pillar of the intelligence information industry.　A vast amount of data that can be read by a machine should be provided to ensure the advancement of artificial intelligence. To this end, data built separately by the government, industry and the research centers will be shared and utilized.

The government will invest a total of 1 trillion won in this area over the next five years and encourage the private sector to invest more than 2.5 trillion won in the same period.

By Seo Chan-dong

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