Selected from 30 employee proposals, the program incorporates feedback from community center staff to automate scheduling, tuition collection and enrollment management
AI is rapidly making its way into the day-to-day work of local government.
Gwanak-gu has developed a tailored work automation program in-house, marking a push toward employee-led administrative innovation.
The Hyeoksin AI Club — a voluntary employee research group formed this year — held its inaugural meeting in April and began operations in earnest. The club solicited ideas from staff on tasks they wanted to improve using AI, gathering about 30 proposals in the process.
From those submissions, the idea that drew the strongest support — automating Excel-based administrative management — was chosen as the club's first project.
Staff members who handle the work themselves took part in every stage, from planning through development, consulting with community center workers and analyzing existing workflows before completing the program.
The program automates tasks previously handled manually, covering community program scheduling, tuition collection and enrollment management. Gwanak-gu plans to post the program on its internal platform "Gwanak AI Madang" in October so staff can use it in their daily work.
Notably, the district built the program entirely in-house without outside contractors. It expects the tool to cut down on repetitive tasks and free up staff to focus on resident-facing work such as handling inquiries and complaints.
Gwanak-gu has been running AI education courses and competitions to strengthen employees' AI capabilities. In August last year, it launched "Gwanak AI Madang," an internal platform for sharing automation programs and ideas. The district has also produced Ministry of Interior and Safety-certified "AI champions" for two consecutive years — nine in 2025 and 15 through August this year.
Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee said the project was "a meaningful first step in employee-led work innovation, with staff who know the challenges on the ground identifying the functions they need and turning them into a working program." He added that the district would "continue to actively apply digital technologies, including AI, to improve the way we work and raise the quality of administrative services that residents can feel."
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