AI Talent Development Regional Hubs in Busan, Gangwon, Chungbuk, and Gwangju

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 19th that it has finalized four local governments to carry out the 'Regional Hub Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education Project': Busan Metropolitan City, Gangwon Province, Chungcheongbuk Province, and Gwangju Metropolitan City.

The Regional Hub AI Education Project provides AI education and collaborative spaces to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) employees, prospective entrepreneurs, and university students. This year, three competency enhancement hubs and one specialized talent development hub were selected. The competency enhancement hubs are Busan, Gangwon, and Chungcheongbuk, while the specialized talent development hub is Gwangju.

The competency enhancement hubs offer basic, advanced, and business model (BM) courses in 1-2 month units so that local SME employees, prospective entrepreneurs, and university students can acquire and utilize AI development capabilities. The specialized talent development hub operates a long-term intensive training program where participants complete over six months of specialized AI education and then apply AI technology in local industries and plan new services.

The four selected metropolitan local governments will begin recruiting the first batch of trainees from May and plan to train a total of 1,620 AI specialists this year who can be deployed in key regional industries.

Busan plans to establish the 'Southeast Mega City AI Education Platform' by forming a consortium with Ulsan Metropolitan City and Gyeongsangnam Province to cultivate AI specialists needed for specialized industries such as automobiles, shipbuilding, and chemicals. To this end, Busan will provide public data to train AI specialists in intelligent information services, intelligent machinery, and smart marine logistics, dividing the training across Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions.

Gangwon Province, together with Gyeongsangbuk Province, will jointly design an East Sea Rim AI education curriculum specialized in tourism and marine sectors using transportation and weather data. Multiple institutions within the region, including the Gangneung Science Industry Promotion Agency and Gyeongbuk SW Convergence Promotion Center, will collaborate to operate the program. Additionally, a visiting AI course will be conducted to provide field-centered education.

Chungcheongbuk Province will establish education hubs in the Ochang Industrial Complex and Cheongju Industrial Complex to offer customized courses responding to the AI workforce demand of major industrial complex companies in the Chungcheong region. Through AI convergence courses in manufacturing reflecting the region’s high proportion of smart IT component companies, it aims to enhance the competitiveness of local specialized industries.

Gwangju Metropolitan City proposed a self-directed and collaboration-based AI learning model. Through this, it aims to train AI specialists who can be immediately deployed in four major industrial sectors: automobiles, energy, healthcare, and cultural contents, by operating an intensive six-month training course. Furthermore, it plans to create a regional AI industry ecosystem in connection with the currently underway Gwangju AI Cluster.

Song Kyung-hee, Director of Software Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “We will expand policies to cultivate regional AI specialists so that AI technology can be actively introduced into local industries and enhance competitiveness.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.