Serbia Integrates Korean Experience in Government AI Transformation

Korea Shares Experience in Public Sector AI Transformation
Discussions Held at 'R&D Management Workshop'

The European country of Serbia is pushing forward with public sector artificial intelligence (AI) transformation, drawing attention to Korea's experience in managing public research and development (R&D) data as a model for cooperation.

Mariya Gnjatovich, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology, Development, and Innovation of Serbia, is delivering a speech introducing her country's commitment to public AI transformation. Photo by Paek Jongmin, Tech Specialist

On May 29, at Korea University, the Society for Technology Management and Economics hosted the "R&D Management Workshop." The event focused on Korea's policy experiences and implementation strategies regarding the introduction of AI in Serbia's public sector, which is being carried out as part of the Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP).

KSP is a knowledge-based development cooperation program that provides tailored policy recommendations to partner countries based on Korea's economic development experiences and policy expertise. The current KSP project in Serbia has attracted attention as it seeks to apply Korea's experience with electronic government, public data, and national R&D information management to the public sector AI transformation abroad. The approach to public sector AI adoption goes beyond simply introducing new technology; it is seen as a policy transformation encompassing data governance, legal and regulatory frameworks, administrative capacity, and innovation in public services.

Mariya Gnjatovic, Deputy Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of Serbia, stated, "Serbia is a country fully committed to advancing the field of AI. We are investing not only in infrastructure, supercomputers, and data centers, but also at the national level in data governance and the cultivation of human capital."

Professor Junmo Ahn of Korea University assessed Serbia's potential for AI transformation as extremely high, but emphasized the need to reference Korea's experience. Professor Ahn explained, "Korea's transformation journey did not start with an AI government, but with electronic government. The accumulated experience of opening public data, standardizing data, data-driven administration, and the digital platform government is what made today's AI transformation possible."

Professor Junmo Ahn of Korea University is speaking at the 'R&D Management Workshop 2026 in Seoul' event held at Korea University on the 29th of last month. Photo by The Society of Technology Management and Economics

Professor Ahn referred to Serbia's public R&D system's shift to AI as a "Journey of transformation." He clarified that this means not simply transplanting Korea's system, but redesigning it to fit Serbia's administrative environment, data, and institutional context. "Collecting, correcting, and making data function in practice requires patience, time, and continuous effort," he emphasized.

As a representative example from Korea, Professor Ahn introduced the National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS). NTIS is a pan-governmental R&D information platform that collects and shares research data from ministry-led R&D projects, universities, government-funded research institutes, and other research organizations.

He explained, "Through NTIS, we can identify how much has been invested in each field and who the key researchers are. Having such a database made it possible to push forward with AI transformation." He added, "NTIS is both the cornerstone and the starting point of AI transformation."

Jeong Byungseon, former Vice Minister of Science and ICT, introduced examples of AI utilization that he promoted while he was president of the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP). He said, "AI agents can work as our partners. When given a goal, they can collect the necessary information from the internet and internal databases and present results in a short period of time."

However, he emphasized that AI utilization in public institutions must be premised on security and data sovereignty. Former Vice Minister Jeong explained, "Because we handle data related to national strategy, internal data must always be managed within the organization."

He also introduced ways to enhance the reliability of AI. By having AI search first through internally accumulated reports and materials and then answer based on these, it is possible to reduce the likelihood of generating inaccurate information and to improve the reliability of the output.

Participants of the 'R&D Management Workshop 2026 in Seoul' held at Korea University on the 29th of last month are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by The Korean Society of Technology Innovation and Economics

Meanwhile, the workshop, held under the theme "R&D Innovation in the AI Era," featured prominent scholars in technology innovation and management, including Professor Tim Minshall of the University of Cambridge, Professor Alberto Di Minin of Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, Professor Lee Jeongdong of Seoul National University, and Professor Lee Keun.

In his keynote speech, Professor Tim Minshall emphasized that even in the AI era, people ultimately remain at the center of manufacturing innovation. He explained that AI and robots should be used to augment human capabilities rather than replace humans, and that the core of manufacturing competitiveness lies in "process knowledge" accumulated through real-world experience.

The event featured 36 sessions covering topics such as AI strategy and governance, AI-based evaluation and decision-making systems, AI and labor/human capital, open innovation, national strategic technologies, and industrial transformation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.