South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT held an opening ceremony on Oct. 28 for the Daejeon Innovation Academy to foster talent to lead regional industry AI transformation.

The event was held to mark the academy's full launch and to encourage the first Daejeon cohort of trainees in the Korean-style AI and software innovation curriculum, the Codyssey AI All-in-One programme. The Innovation Academy began in Seoul in 2019 and has operated the Ecole 42 programme, a global innovative software education model. It has trained a total of 2,553 digital talents. Their employment rate stands at 83.1 percent.

The ministry introduced Codyssey this year and established new hubs in Daejeon and South Gyeongsang province to expand education participation opportunities for regional talent.

The Daejeon Innovation Academy began a 5-month AI Native programme in July to train talent in using industry-convergence AI. It will also open an 18-month AI All-in-One programme within this month to train practice-oriented AI and software professional developers.

Codyssey is a programme run around self-directed learning and peer learning without professors, textbooks or tuition. AI All-in-One trainees will complete learning based on 40 practical problems and carry out 4 intensive team projects over up to 18 months.

Selected trainees will also be offered support programmes to strengthen capabilities and support employment and start-ups, including scholarships, mentoring by working AI experts and job consulting.

Nam Cheol-gi (남철기), director general for software policy at the ministry, said, "We will support the Daejeon Innovation Academy so it can establish itself as a hub for fostering AI innovation talent representing Daejeon, the science capital."