We will build a "Seoul-style AI-bio open innovation ecosystem" in which corporations, universities, hospitals, investment institutions, and certification bodies work together to support the global expansion of innovative technologies.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is accelerating efforts to build an ecosystem linking industry-academia-research-hospital cooperation and investment institutions to foster artificial intelligence (AI) and bio as next-generation growth engines. From AI-driven new drug development to medical data standardization and next-generation bio technologies based on quantum computing, a blueprint for the future healthcare industry was presented in one place.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Seoul Business Agency (SBA), and Yonsei University's RISE Project Group co-hosted the 2026 Seoul Tech Summit on the 16th at The Plaza Seoul hotel on Sogong-ro in Jung-gu, Seoul. This year's event moved beyond a focus on technology showcases and was expanded and reorganized into an open innovation platform where corporations, universities, hospitals, and investment institutions explore technology commercialization and joint research together.
◇"Building a Seoul-style AI-bio open innovation ecosystem"
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon presented a blueprint in his opening remarks to foster AI and bio as Seoul's future core industries.
Mayor Oh said, "Seoul is a research and development (R&D) city recognized by the world," adding, "In last year's global city competitiveness assessment, Seoul ranked fifth in the world in AI, and the foundation for this achievement is Seoul-style R&D accumulated over the past 20 years."
Through support for Seoul-style R&D, the city generated more than 500 billion won in corporations' sales over the past five years, and 23 corporations entered KOSDAQ. Oh said, "This year as well, we will back corporations' challenges through 42.5 billion won in technology development support."
Oh said, "We will make the growth ladder, spanning from technology development to investment and global expansion, even denser so corporations can focus solely on innovation." He added, "The ultimate goal of technological advancement is to change citizens' lives," and, "Seoul will move beyond being the world's best technology city to become a 'special city for quality of life' where citizens feel technological change first, and a global top technology city."
Yonsei University President Yun Dong-seop stressed in his congratulatory remarks, "Future competitiveness cannot be built on the capabilities of a single institution or a single field alone. Innovation that changes society is possible when different expertise and experiences are connected and cooperate."
Yun said, "Yonsei University, together with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is promoting the AI bio cluster anchor project linking the Hongneung specialized zone and the Magok Industrial District," adding, "We will contribute to building Seoul's innovation ecosystem through industry-academia-research-hospital cooperation."
◇"After AI comes quantum computing… A new paradigm for new drug development"
"In 10 years, anticancer drugs designed by Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft could emerge."
Jeong Jae-ho, head of the Yonsei Institute of Convergence Science and Technology, who delivered the keynote speech that day, presented quantum computing as the next-generation technology after AI. Yonsei University has introduced a quantum computer with more than 100 qubits, among the first in Korea, and is conducting research on new drug development combining AI and quantum computing.
Jeong first cited the hemophilia gene therapy as an example and said, "Technology has solved problems facing humanity, but a paradox has emerged in which prices continue to rise whenever a new therapy comes out."
He presented an average new drug development cost of $3 billion, a development period of 15 years, and a success rate of 4%, and diagnosed, "The reason new drug development is difficult is not a lack of researchers, but that the chemical space to be explored is too vast."
He added, "In the 1980s, a $1 billion investment could win approval for about 20 new drugs, but now it is difficult to get even one new drug approved with $1 billion."
Jeong pointed out that while AI has already become the standard technology for new drug development at global pharmaceutical companies, its limitations are also clear.
He said, "It is possible to generate drug molecules, but simultaneously optimizing the myriad conditions of toxicity, metabolism, and distribution in the body is an entirely different problem," adding, "The current limits of new drug development match exactly the limits of computing resources."
As a solution, he presented quantum computing.
Jeong said, "Quantum technology is not a technology that replaces AI, but an accelerator for AI," forecasting, "A hybrid structure in which AI does what it does well and a quantum computer performs the calculations it does well will be the future."
He said, "In 10 years, anticancer drugs or new therapies designed by Nvidia, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft could appear," and predicted, "There is a possibility that existing pharmaceutical companies will handle production while AI and tech companies design the drugs."
He also said, "Not only sovereign AI but 'sovereign bio' that protects the people's health is also national competitiveness," stressing, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government, universities, and corporations must work together to secure bio sovereignty."
◇ "AI will also automate cancer staging"
"In the future, AI will enter data in place of medical staff, and medical staff will review it."
In the presentation of outstanding corporations supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, DNLife, a faculty startup from Asan Medical Center, introduced AI-based medical data standardization technology.
Kim Tae-won, CEO of DNLife, said, "Cancer staging is the starting point that determines all treatments and prognoses," adding, "But currently, staging relies on unstructured data such as imaging records, pathology records, surgical records, and medical records, so the criteria can vary by medical staff and most of the work is done manually."
He said, "In fact, in the staging process, human error occurs at a level of 10% to 15%," adding, "There is also inefficiency in which hospitals, national institutions, and research institutions repeat the same tasks."
DNLife is developing a solution in which AI automatically extracts key information from medical records, automatically determines cancer stages according to the international TNM standard, and presents the grounds for the determination.
Kim said, "If AI enters medical records and medical staff review them, we can improve both accuracy and efficiency," adding, "Based on a local AI that can operate within hospitals, we secured privacy protection and high accuracy."
He added, "We have completed the proof of concept (PoC) and plan to pursue commercialization after confirmatory clinical trials and medical device approvals," and said, "We will expand the scope of application to various fields, including not only hospitals but also the national cancer registry project, clinical research by pharmaceutical companies, and risk rate analysis by insurers."
At the venue, following the keynote speech and the presentations by outstanding corporations, breakout sessions in AI and bio and a 1-on-1 partnering program between investment institutions and corporations were held together. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to use this Seoul Tech Summit as an opportunity to fully expand the AI-bio open innovation ecosystem that connects universities, hospitals, corporations, and investment institutions to enhance global competitiveness.