Dongseo University Successfully Concludes Global Capstone Design '2024 Han-La SDGs Ideathon'

The "2024 Korea-Laos SDGs Ideathon," involving Dongseo University (President Jang Je-guk) and National University of Laos (NUoL), was successfully held recently in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency's (NIPA) "K-Lab Laos Cooperation Support Project."

The team including Bae Su-jeong, a student of the Game Department at Dongseo University, won the grand prize along with a cash award of 5 million LAK. Provided by Dongseo University

The "K-Lab Laos Cooperation Support Project" is a program supported by NIPA aimed at nurturing digital talents in developing countries and discovering economic opportunities in the ICT sector. Dongseo University's Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation formed a consortium with the Korea Wireless Internet Solution Association and Primo M to operate K-Lab Vientiane at the National University of Laos.

This program was conducted in the form of teams composed of 40 students from the National University of Laos and 10 students from Dongseo University's Department of Game Studies, who developed innovative ideas on the theme of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Laos, investigated their economic and social ripple effects, and presented their findings. Prior to departure to the local site, two weeks of preliminary team work, including team matching and topic discussions, were conducted using Google Meet and WhatsApp.

The activities held on the first day at Vientiane Plaza featured passionate discussions and team presentations that dispelled any awkwardness of the first meeting between Korean and Laotian students, selecting four teams to proceed to the final presentations.

The final presentations of the "2024 Korea-Laos SDGs Ideathon," held the next day at Vientiane Center, were graced by the presence of over 20 officials from the Laos Ministry of Education and National University, representatives from NIPA, and the Ambassador of Korea to Laos.

As a result of the final presentations, the team including Dongseo University Game Studies student Bae Su-jeong, with the theme "Go2Green to CleanCity," won the grand prize along with a cash award of 5 million LAK.

Student Bae Su-jeong said, "I believe this is the result of all the hard work by the Laotian students and team members. Although it was a short activity, I am grateful that all the team members enjoyed it, and it was a joyful time."

Professor Park Young-jun (Department of Game Studies), who led the Korean students and participated in the final judging, commented, "The Dongseo University students who participated stood out for their concrete theme delivery using various images and the incorporation of gamification that enhanced the immersion of their ideas."

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