A stage for a cutting-edge technology competition will open to introduce core technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, to prevent accidents at construction sites and improve the quality of future-oriented infrastructure.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it will hold the 2026 Smart Construction Challenge starting on the 15th, aiming for the construction industry's digital transition and stronger on-site safety.
Marking its seventh year, the event will be co-hosted by related public institutions led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), including the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), Korea National Railway, and Korea Authority of Land & Infrastructure Safety (KALIS). These institutions have served as a stepping stone to help apply excellent innovative technologies directly in the field and commercialize them.
The competition will be divided into five specialized categories. First, in the "safety management" category led by the Korea Authority of Land & Infrastructure Safety (KALIS), hardware and software will be solicited to radically prevent high-risk accidents such as worker falls or being crushed by falling objects. The "complexes and housing" category run by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) will pit convergent technologies that boost productivity, such as drones, Digital Twin, and 3D printing.
The "roads" category of the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) will select AI technologies for performance prediction and damage analysis across the full life cycle from design to maintenance, while the "railways" category of Korea National Railway will discover Robotics and BIM technologies specialized for railway environments. Lastly, the "BIM (building information modeling)" category pursued by the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) will take "new possibilities for BIM in the age of Generative AI" as its main theme, addressing innovative attempts such as design automation and quality verification.
The total prize purse of the competition amounts to 300 million won. The team winning first place in each category will receive the Grand Innovation Award (Minister of MOLIT Award) with a prize of 30 million won. Three teams receiving the heads of public institutions' awards will each be given 10 million won. In particular, corporations honored with the minister's award will receive extra points when selected as government-designated smart construction small giants, and will be given privileges such as support for sales channels at public institutions and priority opportunities to conduct pilot demonstrations to verify technologies at actual sites.
Advanced technologies unearthed through this challenge will be showcased in dedicated booths at the 2026 Smart Construction Expo, to be held for three days from Nov. 25 at KINTEX in Ilsan, and will be open to industry officials and the general public. Corporations, research institutes, or individuals wishing to participate can download the forms from the official website and apply by email by the 14th of next month.
Kim Myeong-jun, director-general for Technology and Safety Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "With the advent of the Generative AI era, it is a more critical time than ever for the construction industry to improve its fundamentals through technological innovation," and added, "We look forward to strong interest and participation from corporations, institutions, and experts with creative ideas that will lead a great transition in the construction industry through this challenge."