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Busan City (Mayor Park Hyung-jun) and the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency (Director Kim Tae-yeol) have ranked first nationwide for two consecutive years in the annual evaluation of the ‘Southeast Region ICT Innovation Square Expansion Project,’ hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency.
Accordingly, they secured an additional 430 million KRW in national funding and plan to proceed with the project this year based on a total budget of 6.65 billion KRW.
The ‘Southeast Region ICT Innovation Square Expansion Project’ has been underway since 2020, aiming to cultivate digital talent in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions, support the digital transformation of region-specific industries, and foster a startup ecosystem for local companies.
Last year, through this project, the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency trained 1,606 local digital talents in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, data, Internet of Things (IoT), and networks. Additionally, they operated 52 ‘Corporate Cooperation Projects’ that support matching between local companies and youth, steadily contributing over five years to the digital transformation of specialized industries and the creation of favorable conditions for talent retention.
Notable achievements were also made in employment and startup programs. The local developer club ‘Atti (ATTI),’ which participated in the AI developer community conference, won first place for the first time in Korea at the global competition ‘2024 Solution Challenge’ hosted by Google.
Moreover, in the ‘2024 Digital New Technology Competition National Championship,’ all four teams, including the Southeast Region participant team ‘Wateria,’ received awards, demonstrating the excellence of local digital talents.
The Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency has also played a central role in supporting youth startups and corporate innovation beyond education. Five companies participating in the youth startup support project took part in an approximately eight-month investment attraction capability enhancement program, achieving investment attraction results of 405 million KRW. Furthermore, through support for network formation and expert mentoring, they strengthened the sustainable growth foundation of local startup companies.
Kim Tae-yeol, Director of the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency, said, “We are pleased that the Southeast Region ICT Innovation Square Expansion Project ranked first for two consecutive years,” and added, “We have planned various education and programs this year to continue the region’s digital innovation growth, so we encourage active participation.”
The additionally secured national funding of 430 million KRW will be used for project-based education such as the ‘Iraegakko Project’ and ‘Big Tech Company Certification Education’ aimed at the global advancement of local talent.
Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency is receiving an award and taking a commemorative photo at the '2024 Digital Innovation Insight (Tech-Day)'. Photo by Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency
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