Selected as ‘2024 Public Procurement Service Innovative Product Pilot Product’… 206 wearable robots worth a total of 790 million won will be tested on site

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 10th that the 'Forest Fire Extinguishing Wearable Robot' was finally selected as the '2024 Innovative Product Pilot Product' conducted by the Public Procurement Service.

As a result, the Korea Forest Service will receive support from the Public Procurement Service for 206 wearable robots, an innovative product worth a total of 790 million won, and begin full-scale field verification.

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The innovative product trial purchase project is a system in which demand organizations use small and medium-sized products developed through national research and development projects with support from the Public Procurement Service budget.

Development organizations can test the innovativeness of prototypes, and production companies can receive great help in developing early sales channels. Once the verification is completed, the demand agency receives the product from the Public Procurement Service, which kills three birds with one stone by reducing the budget.

The Korea Forest Service signed a business agreement for pilot use of innovative products with the Public Procurement Service and production companies this month and plans to distribute them first to local forest offices in the Gangwon and Yeongnam regions, which are areas at risk of large-scale forest fires, starting in the second half of this year. We plan to intensively monitor the effect of improving muscle strength and muscle fatigue when wearing a wearable robot for 206 workers at forest fire extinguishing sites and forestry sites that require high labor intensity.

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Nam Sung-hyeon, head of the Korea Forest Service, said, “As we have been selected for the first procurement pilot purchase in the forest field, we will promote thorough and multifaceted verification to increase the field use of the prototype,” and added, “We will help small and medium-sized businesses, ventures, and innovative companies become a cornerstone in resolving pending issues in the forest sector.” “We will strengthen the linkage between research and development and public procurement support,” he said.