Ministry of Economy and Finance Launches 'AI Competency Enhancement Training' in Collaboration with KAIST... First Case Among Government Agencies

Eight Sessions Over Four Months Until December
"AI Proficiency Is a Fundamental Skill for Public Officials"

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has become the first government agency to collaborate with a domestic graduate school to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) education program. As the AI transformation accelerates, the ministry aims to enhance staff capabilities and improve policy outcomes.

On September 9, the Ministry held a launch ceremony for the "AI Competency Enhancement Training" at the Government Complex Sejong. At the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol stated, "AI proficiency is a fundamental skill that public officials must possess to realize a super-innovative economy," adding, "I hope you will view this AI training as an excellent opportunity to strengthen the ministry's cutting-edge work capabilities and participate actively."

Unlike previous theory-focused or one-off seminars, the Ministry's AI education program is distinguished by its partnership with the KAIST AI Graduate School, offering a practice-oriented and systematic professional curriculum. This is the first instance of a government agency establishing a professional course in collaboration with a domestic graduate school. The Ministry expects this initiative to become a new milestone in public sector AI education.

The training period runs from September 9 to December 16, with a total of eight sessions held biweekly. Jang Dongin, lead professor at the KAIST AI Graduate School, will be in charge of the program, covering topics such as: introduction and utilization of large language models (LLMs); AI coding practice and application development; chatbot implementation; use of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) technology; implementation of AI agents and workflows; and data analysis using machine learning.

Approximately 50 Ministry employees will participate in this training. The Ministry selected participants in advance through an application process. The sessions will be conducted on-site at the Ministry, and for those unable to attend in person, recorded videos of the sessions will be uploaded online. A Ministry official explained, "Since this is the first time we are conducting training in this manner, we plan to conduct a demand survey at the end of the program to review the process for next year's training."

Deputy Prime Minister Koo commented, "Given the extensive and complex nature of the Ministry's work across all sectors of the economy, integrating AI technology can generate significant synergies." He added, "By leveraging AI's ability to process vast amounts of data and its sophisticated pattern analysis capabilities in our work, we can further enhance the effectiveness and accuracy of our policies, keeping in mind that analyzing data through the lens of AI can add depth to our policymaking."

Meanwhile, in February, the Ministry became the first government agency to establish its own platform, "AI Hub," enabling the use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity in its work. This month, the Ministry will also launch the "MOEF AI Lounge," a new space for freely sharing AI-related information and experiences, to further promote an AI learning culture. The Ministry stated, "We will continue to strengthen our organizational capabilities in line with the era of AI transformation and deliver policy outcomes that the public can truly experience."