Science and Technology Minister Visiting Innovation Academy: "Establishing a New System for Nurturing SW Talent"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] "Companies are taking the lead in nurturing software talent, and the government is establishing a new software talent development system to support this."

On the morning of the 27th, Minister Lim Hyesook of the Ministry of Science and ICT visited the Innovation Academy located in Gaepo, Seoul, stating, "Securing talent in the software field, a core technology of the non-face-to-face economy and digital transformation, is more important than ever."

Minister Lim emphasized, "Along with expanding government support for software talent development, it is necessary to establish a talent development system where the private sector and government cooperate," adding, "We are preparing a new software talent development system in which companies actively participate in nurturing software talent and the government supports this. Through this, better talent needed by companies will be cultivated, and it is expected to contribute to the development of the software industry."

The Innovation Academy visited by Minister Lim on this day is an institution established in December 2019 by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Seoul Metropolitan Government to foster creative software talent. It has introduced France's ?cole 42, a global software education program, and operates a two-year non-degree education program where students grow into professionals through self-directed projects and peer-to-peer learning.

This visit was arranged to explore support measures for nurturing talent required by companies in response to the rapidly increasing demand for software developers across all industries due to the acceleration of digital transformation and the non-face-to-face economy. The government is promoting a plan to invest 1 trillion won by 2025 and nurture 100,000 core talents in artificial intelligence and software fields through the Korean New Deal.

Minister Lim toured the Innovation Academy's educational site and held a meeting with companies, universities, and government software talent development support organizations.

At the meeting, the ‘Software Officer School Jungle,’ recently graduated its first cohort of 28 students through cooperation between eight companies including Krafton and KAIST, was introduced. Jungle is operated within KAIST and provides intensive education through a five-month residential program (with the university providing dormitories and educational facilities). Students learn subjects highly demanded in the field and undertake advanced operating system development projects. Outstanding graduates are expected to be hired with high priority by eight partner companies including Krafton, Naver, and Woowa Brothers. Additional training will be conducted in the second half of this year.

Next, the ‘NHN Academy’ case, which NHN and 17 universities in the Gyeongnam region plan to operate from the second half of this year, was also disclosed. The academy operates an ‘NHN Track’ as a regular course at 17 universities, followed by a six-month advanced training course for those who complete the NHN Track. It will later expand to the Jeonnam and Gwangju regions.

The meeting was attended by Park Hyungyu, Executive Director of NHN; Lee Beomgyu, CEO of Team Sparta; Cho Junhee, Chairman of the Korea Software Industry Association; Na Yeonmuk, Professor at Dankook University and Chair of the Software-Centered University Council; Lee Seonghwan, Professor at Korea University and Chair of the Graduate School of Artificial Intelligence Council; Lee Minseok, Dean of the Innovation Academy; and Jeon Seongbae, President of the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation.

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