"Leading Future Education, Resolving Learning Inequality" Seoul City Launches Full-Scale Development of 'Edutech Industry'

Operation of an Edutech-Focused Startup Incubation Center in Nowon

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is set to actively foster the ‘Edutech industry’ by discovering competitive edutech startups and supporting their growth. Following the formation of the Seoul Edutech Network, a public-private governance body to identify policy tasks, the city plans to develop the startup incubation center ‘Changup Didimteo’ in Nowon-gu into a specialized hub for nurturing startups in the edutech sector.

On the 27th, Seoul announced that it will house edutech startups at ‘Changup Didimteo’ in Nowon-gu and provide comprehensive support for one year, including expert consulting through co-working spaces, commercialization promotion, and opportunities for overseas expansion via venture capital (VC). To enable startups to demonstrate their technologies in educational settings, platforms such as Seoul Learn and youth centers will be opened as testbeds.

Seoul plans to ensure integrated support through organic collaboration between the city’s education department (Lifelong Education Bureau) and startup support department (Economic Policy Office). The key components of Seoul’s ‘Edutech industry’ development include ▲ Establishing the Seoul Edutech Network ▲ Supporting the growth of edutech startups and facilitating market access for excellent edutech services ▲ Supporting demonstration projects for edutech companies with innovative technologies.

First, Seoul has formed the public-private governance ‘Seoul Edutech Network’ with 14 participants, including startups related to edutech. The plan is to properly listen to voices from the industry and education field and develop support policies accordingly. From this year, to incorporate a ‘future education perspective’ when creating and implementing lifelong education and youth support policies, at least one edutech expert will be appointed to various city education committees such as the Lifelong Education Council.

To nurture startups in the edutech sector, Seoul will specialize some functions and spaces of the existing ‘Changup Didimteo’ for edutech. To discover startups with growth potential, cooperation with private support organizations such as accelerators and venture capitalists (VCs) will be strengthened, and customized startup support programs will be operated.

Additionally, Seoul plans to focus on supporting the scale-up and global expansion of outstanding edutech startups. Together with Kyowon Group, Seoul will provide opportunities for joint technology development and investment attraction through customized accelerating programs and demo days as part of open innovation. For excellent edutech startups, Seoul will assist follow-up investment attraction and overseas expansion through online and offline networking, investor briefings with overseas venture capital, and global marketing.

To allow edutech startups with innovative educational technologies to demonstrate the commercial viability of their technologies in the field without burden, the city will open its online and offline educational sites as testbeds. Support will be provided to conduct demonstrations on learning platforms owned by the city such as Seoul Learn, youth centers, lifelong education facilities, and out-of-school youth support centers.

The first edutech demonstration project is the development of a ‘Minerva-type virtual online class platform’ using artificial intelligence for out-of-school youth. The project will be demonstrated at the Seoul Out-of-School Youth Support Center, and proposals for innovative technologies are currently being accepted to develop a dedicated webpage for pilot operation next year. In 2023, alternative education institutions will be selected through a public contest to expand participating organizations.

Park Dae-woo, Director of Economic and Job Planning at Seoul City, said, “We will discover innovative companies in the education sector that combine new technologies and new businesses such as artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse, and nurture them to become global companies. We will create a new model where excellent edutech startups with growth potential help eliminate learning inequality in educational settings and restore social mobility.”

Lee Dae-hyun, Director of the Lifelong Education Bureau of Seoul City, said, “With the advancement of technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, educational disparities have deepened. The rapid transition to a digital society has accelerated Seoul’s reflection on future education. Through support and cooperation with edutech startups leading future education, Seoul will eliminate learning inequality and create a digital learning city where future talents can be nurtured regardless of social class.”

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