LG Electronics Hosts Global Disabled Youth IT Challenge... "Continuing Social Responsibility Commitment"

Preliminary Rounds Over Two Days on 10-11th... Over 400 Participants from 16 Countries
Main Event in November... New Category for Disability Lifestyle Improvement Ideas Introduced

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] LG Electronics announced on the 7th that it will hold the preliminary round of the '2022 Global Disabled Youth Information Technology (IT) Challenge' in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disabled Rehabilitation Association.

The preliminary round will be held online over two days, from the 10th to the 11th. This year marks the 11th edition of the competition, with over 400 disabled youths from 16 countries, selected through national representative selection rounds, participating. The top-performing youths will compete for the final championship in the finals scheduled for November.

LG Electronics explained that it has been hosting the competition since 2011 to help bridge the information gap for disabled youths and enhance their information utilization skills, thereby supporting their opportunities for employment and further education. To date, about 4,000 disabled youths worldwide have participated in the competition.

Participants will compete in a total of six categories: three applied categories including the newly established 'eCreative IoT Challenge' this year, and three individual categories. The eCreative IoT Challenge is an applied category that contests ideas for improving the daily lives of people with disabilities, such as accessibility.

For the applied categories, participants can join as teams of up to four members or as individuals. Other applied categories include the 'eContent Challenge,' which evaluates video shooting and editing skills, and the 'eCreative Smart Car Challenge,' which assesses autonomous vehicle programming using the Scratch coding program.

The individual categories include the 'eTool PowerPoint Challenge,' which evaluates PowerPoint slide creation skills; the 'eTool Excel Challenge,' which assesses Excel function usage and data output skills; and the 'eLifeMap Challenge,' which evaluates internet information utilization.

Nahidul Islam, a physically disabled youth from Bangladesh who plans to participate again this year, said, "The Challenge is the best competition to verify the IT capabilities of disabled youths," adding, "I definitely want to win an award this year." Kim In-gyu, Chairperson of the Challenge Organizing Committee, encouraged, "IT transcends all barriers faced by youths, such as country and region," and expressed hope that disabled youths will take on greater challenges through the Challenge.

Yoon Dae-sik, Executive Vice President of External Cooperation at LG Electronics, emphasized, "We hope the Challenge becomes an opportunity to nurture the dreams and passion of disabled youths," and added, "As a global company, we will continue to fulfill our social responsibility so that everyone can communicate with the world equally and conveniently through IT."