KT 'Able School', Ministry of Employment Hackathon Wins Grand Prize for 3 Consecutive Years

KT announced on the 5th that the third cohort of trainees from the youth digital talent development program Able School won the grand prize and excellence award at the ‘4th K-Digital Training Hackathon’ hosted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

In this hackathon, about 800 trainees from K-Digital Training institutions nationwide, including KT, participated as 172 teams, marking the highest competition rate ever. After two preliminary rounds, a total of eight teams competed in the final round held on the 28th. Among them, the ‘SumONE’ team, which won the grand prize, and the ‘Sixth Sense’ team, which received the excellence award, are both trainees from this year’s Able School.

KT Ableschool trainees who won awards at the hackathon finals held in Gangnam, Seoul on the 28th of last month, posing for a commemorative photo
[Photo by KT]

Notably, the ‘SumONE’ team, which won the grand prize, attracted attention by presenting a picture diary application that uses location information and generative artificial intelligence (AI) to record and share daily life. They were highly evaluated for analyzing market trends and understanding user needs, thereby increasing the potential for service commercialization and startup opportunities.

Kim Juhwan, the leader of the SumONE team, said, “Seeing the recent popularity of diary-writing challenges that consistently record daily activities or thoughts, I started planning the service with the idea of making it easier and more special to record small daily moments using AI.” He added, “In a situation where there are many similar services, we utilized generative AI to differentiate ourselves and also introduced a feature that allows users to easily share with each other.” He further stated, “In the era of generative AI, I realized that an excellent developer must have not only development skills but also the ability to understand market trends and business potential during the service planning stage. I also learned that communication and collaboration with various team members who play important roles are crucial factors determining the success or failure of a project.” In particular, the trainees agreed that gaining practical experience in idea generation methodologies and proposal writing during the Able School curriculum was very advantageous for winning the hackathon.

KT Able School is a digital talent development program operated by KT and sponsored by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to enhance youth employment competitiveness and create jobs in new technology fields. A representative from Able School stated, “In the field, practical skills to identify problems and implement solutions are more important than simple coding skills, so we conduct education to allow young people to experience various practical projects.” In fact, the Able School curriculum has received great responses from trainees through mini-projects that apply learned content to projects to develop practical work skills, and big projects that produce service development and proposal strategy outcomes.

Meanwhile, the ‘Satellite Image-Based Urban Maintenance AI Service’ developed by Able School trainees who won the grand prize at the 2nd K-Digital Training Hackathon held last year was introduced in Cheonan City from the first half of this year. In addition, talents nurtured by KT Able School have participated in IT competitions hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science and ICT, accumulating a total of 42 awards to date.

Currently, Able School is in the final stage of the third cohort and is selecting the fourth cohort, which will enter on the 8th of next month.

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