Encore, an AI and data company that is a unit of SK Networks, said on Oct. 14 that cumulative offline enrolment for its IT and AI education institute PlayData has exceeded 3,500.

The company said PlayData runs hands-on training through team projects and mentoring by working professionals so that trainees can apply AI technology to solving real problems and implementing services.

PlayData has continued offline-focused IT education for 10 years since it began training in 2017, expanding its programme areas to data, software (SW), cloud and AI.

Based on its experience, PlayData is strengthening the training of job-ready AI talent in line with companies' changing demand for talent in the AI era. It also opened the "Encore AI Campus" in July and built its curriculum around practical capabilities needed at corporate sites. It teaches technologies needed to introduce and use AI, such as AI agents, AI-ready data and AI machine learning, through projects and hands-on training.

Kwon-sik Kim (김권식), head of the PlayData centre, said, "AI ultimately starts with data, and in the AI era it is becoming more important to have the capability to understand high-quality data and use it in actual business and services." He added, "Based on the industrial field experience that Encore has accumulated and PlayData's education operations know-how, we will continue to develop job-ready talent that can use AI and data to solve problems in real industrial settings."