Park Yoon-kyu, Vice Minister of Science and ICT, Holds Meeting on 'Training 1 Million Digital Talents'

Discussion on Measures to Train Master's and Doctoral Students as Top-tier Talent

Park Yoon-kyu, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, is attending the '1 Million Digital Talent Development' meeting held at Sejong University in Seoul, listening to opinions.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] On the 15th, Park Yoon-kyu, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, held the '9th Digital National Agenda Continuous On-site Meeting' at Sejong University in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, to listen to the opinions of research and education fields for the smooth promotion of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's major national agenda, 'Training 1 Million Digital Talents.'

At the meeting, in-depth discussions were held on practical measures to nurture master's and doctoral students as top-tier talents, focusing on the key support needs for training advanced talents within the 'Training 1 Million Digital Talents' initiative. Professors from more than 20 universities nationwide participated in the meeting.

The government plans to establish and expand specialized graduate schools in five core technology fields, including the establishment of a Metaverse Graduate School this year and an Artificial Intelligence Semiconductor Graduate School next year, to cultivate advanced talents who will secure world-class technological capabilities in the global technology hegemony competition. Additionally, the scale of the University Information and Communication Technology Center, which has played a pivotal role in nurturing research and development talents in the digital field, will be expanded from 48 centers this year to 80 by 2026.

The number of regional research and development talent training hubs (universities) will be increased by two next year and expanded to 14 nationwide at the city and provincial levels by 2026 to strengthen the supply of talents within regions. The government plans to comprehensively strengthen support for advanced talent training by continuously supporting the innovation of regional universities (through the Brain Korea 21 project) to enhance their competitiveness as research-oriented universities.

The attendees agreed that for the practical implementation of the national agenda goal of 'Training 1 Million Digital Talents,' both the private sector and government must unite and make efforts together, and especially requested significant government interest and support for training advanced talents. They also promised to participate in the upcoming 'Digital Talent Alliance,' which is scheduled to be launched to revitalize public-private cooperation in talent training.

Vice Minister Park emphasized, "To enhance our country's national competitiveness and to lead in the digital technology hegemony competition, nurturing advanced talents is of utmost importance."

Meanwhile, prior to the meeting, Vice Minister Park also attended a joint plaque presentation ceremony for 11 newly selected universities for master's and doctoral training in the digital field. The University Information and Communication Technology Research Center project, which was the subject of the plaque presentation, supports advanced research projects in core ICT technology fields at universities to enhance technological competitiveness and cultivate research talents who will drive industrial growth. Among these 11 universities, six have been designated as University Information and Communication Technology Research Centers (ITRCs) and will conduct advanced research projects in next-generation mobile communications (Chung-Ang University), AI semiconductors (Seoul National University of Science and Technology), digital content (Sejong University), quantum information communication (Pohang University of Science and Technology), cybersecurity (Korea University), and ICT convergence (Kwangwoon University) with government support.

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