The present invention relates to a system and method for operating a smart service robot. The system comprises: an integrated control server for storing and managing a plurality of service applications and providing a relevant service application according to a service application request from an intelligent service robot; and the intelligent service robot for requesting a specific service application from the integrated control server and downloading the application in order to provide a corresponding service. Accordingly, according to the present invention, when a user using the intelligent service robot needs an application which is related to the operation of the intelligent service robot and which is for a specific purpose, the application for the specific purpose may be easily downloaded online in order to be applied to the intelligent service robot of the user. Thus, the services that the robot provides may be optimized for certain purposes and used.