Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) has moved to establish a large-scale cooperative framework involving regional innovation institutions and major companies to actively respond to the policy of fostering hub national universities for balanced national development.

JBNU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on fostering hub national universities with five institutions and eight companies at 2:30 PM on November 28 in the Conference Room (3rd floor) of Jinsudang. The parties agreed to jointly create a research, education, and industrial ecosystem linked to future industries.

The agreement involved regional leading innovation organizations such as Jeonbuk Technopark, Camtic Comprehensive Technology Institute, Jeonbuk Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) Jeonbuk Regional Headquarters, and Jeonbuk Economic & Trade Promotion Agency, as well as eight companies including the Manufacturing Innovation Physical AI Association, Nineiz, NC AI, SpearAX, Incon, Flitto, Innodep, and DH Autorid.

Under the agreement, JBNU and the participating institutions and companies will establish joint research and platform initiatives in strategic areas to achieve the goals of balanced national development and fostering hub national universities. They will also devise a cooperation system for customized education and training based on corporate demand.

They will pursue joint R&D on AI-based future core technologies, share testing and analysis equipment and research facilities, build a region-based employment and startup ecosystem, and provide support for technology transfer and commercialization among other multilayered collaborations. To concretize these efforts, they will form a working-level consultative body to jointly undertake project planning and operation, and performance management.

JBNU expects this collaboration, aligned with the government’s ongoing hub national university development policy, to contribute to its future transition into a specialized research university, to undergraduate education innovation, and to the co-development of regional universities through RISE.

JBNU President Yang Oh-bong said, "This agreement declares that the university will become a driving force for balanced national development beyond being a mere educational institution," and added, "We will work closely with companies and organizations to build a world-class research, education, and industrial ecosystem in the region."