Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Park Yong-maan said Wednesday that the organization has managed to receive a greenlight from the government to test artificial intelligence-based drones in the skies above Busan and Daegu.

The chairman on Wednesday uploaded a video to his Facebook account, explaining that the KCCI has won a regulatory sandbox approval for AI drones to inspect the safety of bridges and tall buildings in the two cities after a three-month long negotiation between the KCCI and five government ministries.

“Smart AI drones can scan urban areas that can’t be checked out manually and transmit real-time safety data. These innovative drones couldn’t receive flight authorizations as drones flying above cities and taking aerial photos were directly related to the security of the cities,” said the chairman in the video narrated by himself.

“These AI drones are a meaningful step forward for safe cities. I hope more innovations are propelled via the regulatory sandbox system.”

A regulatory sandbox refers to a small-scale testing of innovations in a controlled environment without changing existing rules.

KCCI in May established the country’s first public-private sandbox support center. Since its launch, the support center has won 26 regulatory sandbox approvals and 20 projects are currently under review.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)