Kakao’s corporate foundation, the Kakao Impact Foundation, said it will sign an MOU on Tuesday afternoon at Kakao Pangyo Agit with the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) to jointly push a project supporting the development of basic artificial intelligence (AI) education courses for universities.

Attending the signing ceremony will be Vice Education Minister Choi Eun-ok (최은옥), KCUE President Lee Ki-jung (이기정) and Ryu Seok-young (류석영), chairman of the Kakao Impact Foundation, among other key officials.

The agreement was set up to expand the Kakao Impact Foundation education program, Tech for Impact Campus, nationwide and step up efforts to foster AI talent. It plans to link with a government project to strengthen AI fundamentals among university students and broaden education opportunities concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area to 20 universities nationwide, focusing on easing regional education gaps.

Each institution will jointly 추진 the project according to its role. The Education Ministry will be responsible for selecting participating universities and providing policy support, while KCUE will manage participating universities and oversee overall project operations. The Kakao Impact Foundation will provide its own education model and content and run the Tech for Impact Campus program. It also plans to support students in gaining field-oriented experience through mentoring by Kakao developers, hands-on projects and performance presentation events.

Tech for Impact Campus is a project-based education program for university students that works with nonprofit organisations to plan and develop technology solutions to address social problems. It started in 2023 at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and about 500 students have participated across 9 universities so far. The foundation plans to expand the base for sustainable social change based on a "collective impact" model involving universities, social innovators and companies.

Ryu Seok-young (류석영), chairman of the Kakao Impact Foundation, said, "This agreement is significant in that the Tech for Impact Campus education model will be linked to a government project and expanded to universities nationwide." He added, "We will continue to discover and cultivate core AI talent with problem-solving skills through hands-on education linked with regional universities."