A system and method for operating a smart service robot includes: 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, 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 is easily downloaded online in order to be applied to the intelligent service robot of the user. Thus, the services that the robot provides are optimized for certain purposes and used.