Jungnang-gu held a special lecture Tuesday on "Changes in the Small Business Policy Environment and the Role of Local Government," drawing about 80 participants including small business owners and traditional market merchants association representatives.
The lecture was designed to help the district explore policy directions for supporting small businesses amid the spread of AI technology and a rapidly shifting digital economy, while clarifying the role local government can play.
Author Kim Hyeon-seong, who wrote "AI That Abandoned Small Businesses," led the session. Topics covered changes facing small businesses in the AI age, shifts in the platform-centered economic structure, policy response directions for local governments, and the need for public support of digital transformation.
Kim said AI technology should serve as a social foundation accessible to everyone — not just a select group of companies — and that local governments must create an environment where small businesses can make use of AI and data.
Participants examined the impact of AI advances on small businesses and exchanged views on the role local government should play and the direction of support needed to respond to the changing policy landscape.
The district is pursuing a range of initiatives to boost the local economy, including issuing Jungnang Love gift certificates and Jungnang Delivery gift certificates, providing business stabilization support for small businesses, and backing traditional market revitalization efforts. It plans to continue expanding small business support policies linked to digital transformation.
"Small businesses are a core pillar of the local economy, so it is important to build a support system that can keep pace with a rapidly changing industrial environment," District Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi said. "We will continue to identify effective support policies that reflect the voices of those on the ground."
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