Construction
Gwangju Metropolitan City has enacted an ordinance mandating that 5% of public construction projects incorporate new construction technologies.
Digitalpresso entered Gwangju’s AI and semiconductor ecosystem as early as 2025 and has since been operating an R&D hub and conducting NPU pilot projects. Although the timing differed, these two trends are moving in the same direction.
In this article, we will summarize Gwangju City’s 5% mandatory ordinance and examine how this policy trend aligns with the work Digitalpresso has been conducting in Gwangju.
According to a report by the Korea Specialized Construction News (April 28, 2026), Gwangju City promulgated the “Partial Amendment to the Ordinance on the Promotion of the Utilization of New Construction Technologies in Gwangju Metropolitan City” on April 24, mandating that a 5% quota for new construction technologies be applied to municipal public works projects.
When comparing mandatory application rates nationwide, Gwangju’s 5% is the highest.
Seoul stands at 4%, Gyeonggi at 3%, and Busan at 2%; although Gwangju was a latecomer to adopting this policy, its rate is the highest among the four cities.
The Korea Association of Construction and Transportation New Technologies assessed that this ordinance will expand the environment where new technologies transition from “development” to “application.”
While there have been ongoing criticisms that the on-site application rate of new construction technologies remains low even after receiving national certification, this ordinance is seen as an attempt to bridge that gap through institutional measures.
The significance of this ordinance is clear: the focus of construction new technology policy is shifting from “whether it has been certified” to “whether it has actually been applied on-site.”
Until now, even when new technologies received national certification, they rarely made it to construction sites due to the conservative choices of project owners and the burden of applying unproven technologies.
Gwangju’s 5% mandatory requirement creates an environment where project owners must actively seek out applicable new technologies to change this structure. There is also talk that this trend may spread to other local governments.
This reveals a structural challenge. Even with a mandatory adoption rate, the technologies that clients can actually select are ultimately limited to those backed by “verified empirical data.”
While the mandatory quota opens the door to demand, the technologies that can pass through that door are limited. Technologies that can prove, through data, the results they have achieved in the field—rather than relying on a single certificate—are prioritized.
Consequently, the starting point for companies that have accumulated proof-of-concept data within the region prior to the mandate’s implementation will inevitably differ significantly from those that have not.
This is where Digitalpresso’s track record becomes significant. In 2025, Digitalpresso signed an agreement with Gwangju Metropolitan City, Gwangju Technopark, and local research institutions to join the Gwangju AI and semiconductor ecosystem.
Since then, we have linked RenameDP to the Gwangju AI Cluster through on-device AI demonstrations based on domestically developed NPUs, and have been promoting the employment of local youth and the training of AI professionals through the Gwangju R&D hub.
Together with local universities and research institutions, the company is developing safety and quality management models based on this pilot data. RenameDP is a SaaS solution that uses AI to automatically collect and classify photos and metadata generated at construction sites and public infrastructure (such as utility poles, streetlights, and other facilities), thereby generating regulatory compliance reports and management information.
The ordinance was enacted in April 2026, while Digitalpresso entered the Gwangju market in 2025. Although the timing differed, these two events intersect in three key ways.
First, the accumulation of pilot data. The 5% mandatory adoption of new technologies creates a structure where contracting authorities must identify applicable new technologies, and Digitalpresso has been accumulating pilot data in Gwangju for just over a year. Data that can be immediately utilized during the demand-generation process following the ordinance’s implementation is already in place.
Second, the connection with local networks. Collaboration has been ongoing with a network linking Gwangju Technopark, local universities, research institutions, and the AI cluster. This work, which extended from R&D hubs to local hiring, served as a time to build collaborative relationships within Gwangju.
Third, the alignment of policy direction and business scope.
Gwangju’s 5% mandatory quota aligns with the city’s broader trend of connecting the AI and semiconductor industries with the construction and infrastructure sectors.
Digitalpresso’s focus on NPU on-device AI and the automation of safety and quality data overlaps with the direction this trend is pointing.
Gwangju’s 5% mandate is the fourth such initiative to be introduced, following Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Busan, and there is talk that this trend may spread to other local governments. The pilot data and collaborative relationships we have built in Gwangju serve as a starting point for Digitalpresso to take the next step within this trend.
For a good ordinance to take root, it requires both the empirical data to support it and strong local relationships.
Digitalpresso will continue to work on integrating these two elements in Gwangju.
Korea Specialized Construction - "Gwangju City Mandates 5% Adoption Rate for New Construction Technologies... System for Applying New Construction Technologies Spreads Nationwide"
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