On May 3, the Seongnam-KAIST Research Center for Next Generation ICT in Seongnam city announced a new program to strengthen KAIST-industry relationships. Named as KAIST Advanced Consulting Service (KACE), the format will provide free technical consulting services for small and medium-sized businesses that lack resources for continuous research and development. 

With strict social distancing measures in place, the demand for an online consultation service to continue KAIST-industry cooperation has increased. As such, the research center launched KACE, which aims to offer advice on a wide variety of fields of research. The service will replace the face-to-face consultations that the center previously provided for tech firms in the region. 

Currently, KACE is focusing on ICT technologies that have huge potential in industry applications, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), and autonomous driving. The KACE mentoring team is composed mainly of KAIST professors in the School of Electrical Engineering and other ICT experts who are familiar with ICT-related R&D. 

KACE will regularly hold online sessions in which prospective researchers in the industry can meet KAIST professors who will provide technological advice for relevant directions of research in the field. These sessions will work in a similar fashion to the online Zoom lectures students are familiar with. Depending on the specific needs of participating firms and available resources, the sessions may be held for groups of industry professionals, or one-on-one. 

This program is an extension of joint efforts between KAIST and Seongnam city to make the region AI- and research-friendly. In October 2019, the two parties reached an agreement to further their efforts in training AI researchers in the city. 

“Online consultations were possible for a long time, but [businesses] favoring a face-to-face consult delayed the online transition”, said Youjip Won, Director of Seongnam-KAIST Research Center for Next Generation ICT. “I hope that this program will be a catalyst for an accelerated cooperation between KAIST and ICT industries”.