What distinguishes INNOPOLIS AI Friends from other existing programs is that it focuses on establishing linkages between public laboratories and private industries at the nascent stage of AI solution development. The existing research support programs are mainly concerned with the post-technology-transfer stage from prototype to mass manufacturing. For emerging technologies such as AI, however, the division between industrial, academic, and research areas is quite rigid, and technology transfer contracts are difficult to arise. In order to fix such a problem, INNOPOLIS AI Friends connects AI technology suppliers such as researchers, and academics, to ordinary citizens and entrepreneurs via open networking events, business incubation centers, and AI solution consulting services. By supporting both hardware and software aspects of AI solution development in one package, INNOPOLIS AI Friends facilitates AI knowledge spillover from the laboratory to the private sector and even to citizens.

As of 2022, the AI Friends project is ongoing with various events occurring from time to time. In July in cooperation with 28 bodies which include government, universities, research institutes, and private companies, the fourth AI Festival was held with 550 participants mainly from innovative bodies and citizens. Last year, the fruit of the AI Friends project was harvested. The professionals from industry, academia, and research institutes came together privately and created a study group called AI Friends. This study group was created with the goal of sharing knowledge cross-sectors. Until today, the study group is held regularly at the AI co-working space called Space-S.

From 2019 to the present, INNOPOLIS AI Friends has operated in cooperation with AI-related experts from universities, public research institutes, non-profit organizations, and private AI consulting firms. Our organization, as an agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea, plays the role as a bridge of the knowledge from the public and private organizations’ AI expertise to SMEs by finding the demanded professionals from the innovative bodies.

Small and medium-sized companies can benefit from the program by having the opportunity to develop AI systems in their business through consulting. Further, the solution providers such as public research institutes and universities can benefit by proliferating the AI market locally, with the goal of finding potential demanders for public AI technology transfer. Lastly, citizens (including students) are the potential stakeholders. Therefore, some features of the AI festival are targeted at students.

AI Friends impacted greatly in accelerating the adoption process of the fourth industrial revolution in Daedeok INNOPOLIS by operating four programs. Especially at the company level, the AI Clinic program increased the usage of AI systems by operating an education program for the companies. Over the last two years, 376 people from the local companies in our science and technology park participated in AI courses. And last year, 72 companies participated in AI solution consulting and discovered the possibility of 29 companies applying AI in the company business. Currently, those companies are working on pilot tests with the help of AI experts from the research institutes, and AI specialized consulting firms with our organization's support. A survey was done to improve the program on the participants and discovered that on average the satisfaction was over 90%. The high rate of satisfaction can be understood as the helpfulness of the program for the participants.

At the initial stage, AI Friends faced challenges in gathering local companies for the program. This project is visibly helpful from the social perspective since AI technology can support local companies' output to increase and ultimately can lead to the social welfare of the local citizens. However, AI is an unfamiliar area for companies to recognize the applicability of AI in their business. Although INNOPOLIS companies are mostly technology-oriented, unless certain experts that work in AI-related fields have spinned-off from a research center to create a firm, in the job market there were barriers for local companies to find AI technology experts(KDI Survey on 500 companies). This is the area where our organization intervened. AI Clinic program and AI festivals program supported local companies to perceive various applicability of using AI and the number of companies participating in the AI Friends program gradually increased.

In the case of AI Friends, the goal was to spread the usage of AI technology. By achieving this goal, our organization saw that it can contribute to the increase in production and service of the companies. When this project was initially planned in 2018, three problems were recognized and need to be eradicated to achieve the goal. First and second were the low awareness and demand for AI technology. In light of the recognition, AI Festival and AI Clinic were prepared to show and spread the innumerable applicability of AI. The third problem was the high barriers to applying AI to business. Companies faced difficulty in collecting data and finding experts in the AI field. Thankfully, many of the government bodies in Daedeok INNOPOLIS publicized data for the public to use and AI began to be recognized as one of the blue-chip industries for entrepreneurs. The public begins to perceive that introduction of AI into the business can greatly improve the value of the company.

This program(solution) is an ongoing project so it has not yet been applied in other countries yet. If a developing country is hoping to operate the AI Friends program, it is easily replicable under a few conditions:

• AI Friends was operated at the science and technology park in Korea called INNOPOLIS. There should be a group like the research institutes and universities with high AI capability.
• There should be a governmental body that is financially capable and willing to bring change to the local society.
• The governmental body should have a cordial relationship with AI-related organizations like research institutes and universities.
• There should be companies concentrated in the local area. The higher the concentration of the companies, the impact of the program will be stronger.

AI Friends contributed to increasing the competitiveness of the Daedeok INNOPOLIS companies. During the process, there were some lessons learned which might be helpful for those groups who wish to replicate these programs.

• Unlike governmental organization, which pursues welfare of the society, companies discover business opportunities in places that governmental body sometimes can not foresee. In the case of AI Clinic education, the class also served as an opportunity for the trainees to interact with companies from various fields, and some discussed doing pilot projects together on an item.
• Operating the series of AI programs gave us the insight that the impact of the AI Clinic is greater when the CEO-level learners participated in the education and consulting.
• AI Festival has a stronger impact on society when it is focused on citizens' interests than on company's.

As we progressed in this program, we realized that in order to strengthen a company’s AI capabilities, the program should not be a one-time experience program. Consequently, AI Clinic was reorganized into two-track to enhance its effectiveness. Track 1 was organized for the group that is new to AI and track 2 was for the group that already has knowledge of AI. Track 1 focused on education and mentoring for companies that were trying to find ways to apply AI to their businesses. Track 2 focused on providing AI solutions which may include issues related to collecting data, business modeling, analyzing the model, and dispersing the AI technology.