South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said it held the 2026 K-Data Conference and Hackathon from Sept. 9 to 11 at Hotel Susung in Daegu.

The ministry has promoted a data science convergence talent training programme since 2022 to develop master's and doctoral-level personnel with data expertise such as AI and statistical analysis, and specialisation in fields including bio and energy, manufacturing and robots, and management, economics and finance.

The event consisted of a hackathon and a conference. The hackathon ran from Sept. 9 to Friday. Of 56 teams that applied, 26 teams and 81 people who passed the preliminaries advanced to the finals. Participants developed programmes that solve problems using AI and data science technologies based on actual demand in industrial workplaces.

In the hackathon, the University of Seoul's Xdoctors team, which developed an "explainable clinical decision support system capable of linking evidence and suspending judgment", received the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Award.

At the conference, a graduate student poster session and research presentations were held. Of 59 research topics submitted, 28 selected in the first round were presented. Jun-hyeong Lee (이준형), a doctoral student at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), presented "Recovering Predictions without Regretting Decisions-A Cone-constrained Prediction Recovery for Decision-Focused Learning" and received the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Award.

A job fair linked to the Suseong District Office was also operated. Companies in various fields including data science and AI participated, providing students with company and recruitment information and introducing career paths and job opportunities.

Yoon Kyung-sook (윤경숙), director general for basic and fundamental research policy at the ministry, said, "Now is a historic moment when AI is changing the paradigm of science and technology." She added, "I hope South Korea's data science academia will pioneer new areas of research and industry and play an important role in innovation in the coming AI era."