The city of Ulsan has launched a comprehensive effort to spread artificial intelligence transformation (AX) across its regional manufacturing industry and to begin cultivating specialized personnel for AI data centers, a core infrastructure.
Ulsan said on the 9th that it signed a "Business Agreement for Spreading Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX) in Ulsan's Manufacturing Industry" in the main conference room of city hall and officially launched the "Ulsan Industry Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX) Council," a public-private cooperation body to implement the policy.
The agreement drew broad participation from 13 large companies, universities, and research institutions, including Hyundai Motor, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Energy, Naver Cloud, SK Telecom, UNIST, University of Ulsan, Chonnam National University, and Kyungpook National University.
Through the agreement, the participating organizations agreed to cooperate on establishing an industry-academia-research-government council, building infrastructure and sharing data to create an AX demonstration research complex, jointly researching and developing manufacturing-specialized small language models (sLLM) and physical AI, and creating digital jobs. The newly launched council will handle policy advisory functions and take on a central role in swiftly spreading AI models validated in the advanced processes of large firms to small and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, an "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Center Operating Personnel Training Government-Industry-Academia Roundtable" was held consecutively in the international conference room of city hall to cultivate field-tailored talent. The event aimed to preemptively resolve the shortage of maintenance specialists, such as those for server management and cooling systems, as demand for data centers has surged amid the accelerating AX across the industrial sector.
Officials from SK Telecom and local universities discussed in depth a virtuous jobs cycle model directly linked to youth employment, including the joint development of AI data center-specialized curricula, corporate internships and field training, and the establishment of contract departments. Ulsan said it plans to actively reflect the opinions raised that day in the basic plan for the "Ulsan Regional Growth Talent Cultivation System" and to continue providing administrative and financial support.
Kim Sang-wook, Mayor of Ulsan, stressed, "Ulsan's industrial artificial intelligence transformation is not a choice but a task on which the future depends." He added, "We will create models that actually work in the field by fusing manufacturing site data, universities' research capabilities, and the technology of leading AI companies, and we will firmly build a hub for cultivating AI specialists with the combined strength of government, industry, and academia."
