Advancing Smarter Energy with AI and Blockchain: New ITU – Konkuk University Collaboration

A new collaboration between Istanbul Technical University and Konkuk University (South Korea) has been approved under the İkili İşbirliği Projesi (IKIP – Bilateral Cooperation Project) program, supported by ITU’s BAP Coordination Unit.

The project, titled “Reinforcement Learning for Power Consumption Prediction: Adopting Multi-Criteria Performance Metrics,” is led by Assoc. Prof. Gülcihan Özdemir (ITU), with Dr. Sarah Al-Shareeda (ITU/BTS R&D Labs) and Prof. Heung-Seok Jeon (Konkuk University) as researchers. Over the next 18 months, the team will develop an intelligent framework that integrates AI, secure blockchain, and Digital Twin technologies to adaptively optimize power usage in smart building campus environments. The system will also facilitate cost-effective utilization of surplus power, supporting real-time, scalable, and sustainable energy planning.

This partnership strengthens ITU’s leadership in AI innovation, energy efficiency, and smart city technologies while fostering international research cooperation for sustainable infrastructure development.