Ministry of Industry to Train 12,750 AI Convergence Professionals... 8 Support Areas Confirmed

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government plans to train 12,750 AI convergence-type industrial personnel by 2025 and will officially launch the project.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 23rd that it has finalized eight support areas for the 'AI Convergence-type Industrial On-site Technical Workforce Innovation Capacity Enhancement' project, which promotes AI technology convergence in manufacturing industry sites.

The project support areas include future-oriented automobiles, digital healthcare, semiconductors, Internet of Things (IoT) home appliances, machinery, textiles, displays, and shipbuilding. These areas balance promising new industries and core industries aiming for a leap forward.

The Ministry plans to start training 1,280 personnel this year across the eight industrial sectors and train a total of 12,750 by 2025.

This was planned as a detailed task of the 'Korean New Deal' policy announced in June last year. As global market competition in new industries intensifies and the need for digital transformation in core industries increases, the goal is to cultivate key personnel through AI convergence education for manufacturing site workers.

The Ministry selected project-performing institutions in the form of consortia, including industry-specific associations and private educational institutions specialized in AI education. In the Big 3 new industries, the future car sector, AI convergence personnel will be trained focusing on five areas requiring AI integration in cooperation with Hyundai Motor's training center, NGV: autonomous driving, connected vehicles, eco-friendly electrification, vehicle reliability evaluation, and automotive research and development (R&D) demonstration. For the shipbuilding industry, which is making a comeback with recent achievements such as securing the top order volume, education support will focus on areas with high demand for on-site AI convergence education such as smart welding technology, welding quality inspection, and production management, centered on Geoje University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, to promote industrial innovation and strengthen competitiveness.

The Ministry and KIAT plan to create various innovation cases centered on the eight selected fields this year, such as advancing the industrial value chain, and to expand support areas and targets continuously by spreading successful cases.

Hwang Suseong, Director of Industrial Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, emphasized, "Even the world's top companies will be left behind if they cannot flexibly respond to the major trend of digital transformation," adding, "We will spare no interest and support to train AI technical personnel centered on manufacturing sites where we have strengths, so that our industry can actively respond to changes and enhance competitiveness."

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