Children Designing Smart Cities Themselves... Yeongdeungpo-gu Hosts YDP Hackathon Competition

7.27~28 Hackathon on "Creating Sustainable Smart Cities"
100 Elementary and Middle School Students Use AI to Explore Local Issues and Solutions in Teams
Committed to Fostering Future Science Talent and Engaging All Residents in Science Culture

Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Choi Ho-kwon) announced that it will hold the ‘YDP Hackathon Competition’ to lay the foundation for nurturing next-generation scientific talents who will lead future industries, and is recruiting participants until July 5.

A hackathon, a compound word of Hacking and Marathon, is an activity that uses core technologies of the 4th industrial revolution such as artificial intelligence (AI) and data to derive solutions to given problems and produce results within a limited time.

The district holds the hackathon competition annually to enhance students’ creative thinking skills and strengthen their scientific capabilities. It provides educational opportunities that integrate various fields such as information and communication technology (IT) and architectural engineering, aiming to help children grow into talents who can proactively respond to the rapidly changing future society.

This year’s competition, themed ‘Re:play: Yeongdeungpo, Creating a Joyful City Together,’ will be held from July 27 to 28, from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM at the 5th floor YDP Hall of the YDP Future Lifelong Learning Center.

Teams of 10 will use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and learning tools (Spike Prime) to find problems and solutions for ‘building a sustainable smart city.’ After completing the tasks, each team will present and share their finished work.

In particular, university students from the College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University will participate as mentors for each team, helping to deepen understanding of the theme and encouraging student participation and interest, thereby raising the level of the competition.

Before the main competition begins, on the first day, Dr. Hwang Jun-ho, a convergence architect, will give a special lecture titled ‘A City for Everyone’ to inspire curiosity and interest among the children. Additionally, various lectures related to the competition, such as ‘Imagining Future Cities with Artificial Intelligence (AI)’ and ‘How to Use Spike Prime,’ are prepared.

The target participants are 100 students in grades 5 to 6 of elementary schools and grades 1 to 3 of middle schools within Yeongdeungpo-gu. The participation fee is 10,000 KRW, and students wishing to participate can apply through the integrated reservation board on the district’s website by July 5. To provide equal opportunities to socially disadvantaged groups such as low-income families, people with disabilities, and multicultural students, participant recommendations through local community centers are also being conducted.

Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, stated, “Yeongdeungpo has been striving to nurture scientific talents who will lead the changing 4th industrial revolution era, including AI, coding, and robotics,” and added, “We will continue to do our best not only to nurture future talents responsible for Korea’s science but also to create an environment where all residents can take an interest in scientific culture.”