Samjong KPMG Hosts 'KPMG Idea Tone' for University Students

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Samjeong KPMG announced on the 18th that it will hold the ‘KPMG Ideathon’ for university students at the JW Marriott Hotel on the 20th.

This event targets university students majoring in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) as well as business and economics.

The KPMG Ideathon is a competition that solves real corporate problems and improves business efficiency through AI-centered ideas and solutions. Microsoft Korea is participating as a sponsor, and 20 teams comprising 100 university students are participating.

Before the competition, participating teams submitted 20 ideas that use AI technologies such as machine learning, data science, NLP, automation, and APIs to reduce wasted time on various data types including patents, videos, SNS, receipts, and real estate.

During the 28-hour competition period, students will have time to develop prototypes of their ideas, including programming. Afterwards, each team will present their refined ideas, and the winning team will be selected based on criteria such as relevance to the theme, technical feasibility, prototype completeness, and innovativeness.

The winning team will receive a prize of 10 million KRW, with 5 million KRW for second place, 3 million KRW for third place, totaling 18 million KRW in prize money. In addition, the winning team will qualify to participate in the international finals, the ‘KPMG Ideation Challenge,’ hosted by global KPMG, and will be offered internship opportunities at Samjeong KPMG Lighthouse.

Samjeong KPMG Lighthouse is composed of diverse talents such as data scientists, software engineers, and programmers. It is engaged in introducing new technologies to improve work efficiency, including audit automation tools, accounting audit chatbots, data-driven deal sourcing support, and tax and consulting service support using AI technology.

Previously, Samjeong KPMG held an orientation session for participants of this competition to share domestic competition judging criteria and trends and issues in the AI technology market. Microsoft Korea also attended to broaden understanding of hackathons and ideathons and provided separate training on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service used in the competition.

A Samjeong KPMG official said, “To prevent COVID-19, we have coordinated with the hotel hosting the competition to prepare the event with participants’ health and safety in mind, including fever checks through thermal monitoring systems and providing individual meals.”