The Ministry of Science and ICT said it would begin providing a trial service of “Dr. Answer,” an artificial intelligence-based precision medicine service, in December.

Dr. Answer will help a patient use 119 ambulance and get urgent diagnose in all stages, the ministry said in a policy plan for 2019. It unveiled Dr. Answer for the first time at a medical industry exhibition in August last year.

The ministry is to spend 13.8 billion won ($12.1 million) on building Dr. Answer system this year and operate a trial program in December.

It also designated new drug development as the core technology for the future, vowing to support developing innovative medicines through the government’s mid- and long-term investment in research and development.

In May, the ministry is to conduct a preliminary feasibility study on the 2 trillion won worth “pan-governmental full-cycle new drug development project,” planned for the next decade.

It also plans to nurture research doctors to promote research-based hospitals and entrepreneurship.

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