'Digital Leading Company Academy' Launches to Train One Million Digital Talents

Hyundai Construction, KEPCO Krafton, and 4 More Companies Join... Total Reaches 14 Companies

Source: Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), entrusted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and working together with private companies, is operating the 'Digital Leading Companies Academy' project, which has become a model of excellent training in the digital industry sector through steady scale-up from its first year.

On the 31st of last month, six new companies, including Hyundai Construction, were newly approved, increasing the number of companies operating training courses to 14. The six newly selected companies will train about 1,000 young talents annually in advanced and digital fields such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and semiconductors.

Including the eight existing participating companies, it is expected that from next year, about 5,000 advanced and digital talents will be produced annually through the academy.

A New Model of Training Projects, Digital Leading Companies Academy

According to KCCI on the 14th, the Digital Leading Companies Academy is being promoted as part of the 'One Million Digital Talent Development' policy, which aims to strengthen workforce training and education in response to the 'digital transformation era,' where industries are rapidly reorganizing based on digital technologies and demand for talent continues. Particularly, it is significant that, based on a 'public-private partnership,' companies have taken the lead as the main agents in nurturing talent in advanced and digital fields.

The characteristic of the Digital Leading Companies Academy can be summarized as "the government guarantees and actively supports voluntary training by companies." Participating companies directly develop and operate the training courses necessary for talent development, and after the government reviews and approves the courses, it focuses on budget support and other administrative tasks without special intervention. KCCI, as the overall operating institution of the academy project, oversees discovering participating companies and supporting the development and operation of training courses.

Participating companies have high satisfaction because they can 'pinpoint nurture' talents equipped with practical skills needed in the field. Moreover, more than 70% of trainees who completed training by the first half of this year have been directly hired by participating companies (such as KT, POSCO) or employed by related companies, showing high performance.

Companies selected to participate in the academy program can diversify their existing in-house programs more extensively based on government support and expand trainee recruitment, leading to continuous inquiries from participating companies.

According to a representative of a participating company, "Since being selected for the Digital Leading Companies Academy, the types of technical lectures provided to trainees have increased, which has strengthened the trainees' capabilities. It is very meaningful not only for nurturing talents needed by our company but also for developing talents required by the domestic digital industry."

Lee Sang-shin, team leader of the Digital Academy Task Force (TF) at KCCI, said, "There is significant interest from companies because training autonomy is guaranteed to nurture talents needed by companies, and government support is also available. We plan to continuously add training courses through coordination with companies."

Expanding Beyond the Digital Industry to Advanced Industries such as Secondary Batteries, Displays, and Bio

Last month, the government announced the ‘National Strategic Technology Development Plan,’ selecting and fostering 12 national strategic technologies that will contribute to South Korea’s future growth and economic security in the era of technological hegemony competition.

In line with this, KCCI plans to continue discussions with companies in future growth industries such as secondary batteries, displays, and bio sectors to nurture young talents. In particular, the academy project’s purpose?that leading companies in each industry directly engage in talent development to alleviate workforce shortages as part of their social contribution?will be extended to other advanced industry sectors. KCCI intends to actively collaborate with major companies highly interested in talent development to realize this goal.

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