Gyeonggi Province is moving in earnest to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) into construction site safety and quality management while fostering "ConTech" companies. As the nation's largest construction industry hub, Gyeonggi Province aims to break through the structural vulnerabilities of small and medium-sized construction firms with innovative technology.
Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Research Institute announced Thursday that they have launched a research project on "measures to utilize AI in the construction sector and foster ConTech companies within the province." The core of the research is to derive a strategy for fostering AI and ConTech companies suited to the province's conditions.
The province is a key hub of Korea's construction industry, holding about 22% of the nation's registered construction firms and 29.4% of its construction workforce. However, more than 90% of construction firms in the province are small, medium-sized, and specialized construction companies, whose survival is being threatened as economic downturn and polarization deepen.
The province plans to address this through innovative technology. The keys it has identified are "ConTech" and "construction AI." ConTech, a combination of "Construction" and "Technology," refers to innovative technology that integrates advanced IT technologies such as drone surveying, big data analysis, robotics, 3D printing, and BIM (building information modeling) into construction sites.
This is combined with construction AI technology, which embeds AI throughout the entire design, procurement, and construction process to analyze field data and proactively prevent issues in safety and quality management. Recently, the market paradigm has been rapidly reshaping around "physical AI," which performs physical tasks through technologies such as autonomous excavators and construction robots.
Through this research, the province will diagnose the state of construction AI and ConTech adoption within the province and survey the status of smart construction small, medium-sized, and startup companies with innovative technology. It plans to analyze domestic and international commercialization stages and establish a practical fostering strategy suited to Gyeonggi Province's circumstances.
Specific support measures under consideration include an excellent company certification system, the creation of public markets, and support for technology demonstration (test beds). The aim is to open a pathway for strong small firms with technological capabilities to enter the public procurement market and to create an environment where new technologies can be verified in the field.
"Please carefully prepare measures to intensively foster strong small firms so that construction technology companies with technological capabilities can demonstrate their competence," said Bae Sung-ho, director of the Gyeonggi Province Construction Bureau. "We will spare no administrative support so that Gyeonggi Province can firmly establish itself as the smart construction capital representing the Republic of Korea."
