Kakao and Samsung Electronics are stepping up efforts to foster job-ready developers who will lead the artificial intelligence era. The two companies aim to build a healthy developer ecosystem together, beyond simply supporting employment.

Kakao said on June 15 it held the 'SSAFY X Kakao Tech Bootcamp AI Hackathon' jointly with Samsung Electronics for two days on June 13-14 at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

The event was the first joint hackathon created by linking the companies' talent-development programmes, Kakao Tech Bootcamp and Samsung Youth SW and AI Academy (SSAFY). A total of 12 teams and more than 90 trainees selected through preliminaries took part.

The hackathon was held under the main theme of the government's '10 AI projects for people's livelihoods'. Participants chose one of the main tasks, including support for small merchants, 대응 to voice phishing, protection of children and adolescents, and analysis of maritime risks. Over two days without sleep, they designed solutions using AI technology and built them into service prototypes.

Mentors including officials from related ministries and agencies such as the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, as well as industry experts, held in-depth question-and-answer sessions so participants could focus on practical solutions.

In the final judging, five teams won awards including the Minister of Employment and Labor Award, the Kakao CEO Award and the Samsung Electronics CEO Award. Prize money of 3 million won per team, or a total of 15 million won, was awarded. The minister's award went to the Golden Time team, which developed 'DRIFT', a service that analyses the scene with AI to aid rescue even when communications are cut off during maritime distress. The Kakao CEO award went to the SSAIKA team, which implemented 'Mindam', an AI-based service for receiving and processing civil complaints.

Kakao developer Kim Dae-hoon (김대훈) said it was meaningful to try solving social problems with AI technology that are difficult to encounter in the field. He said the process of planning and developing a service with participants from diverse backgrounds provided new perspectives and ideas.

Kakao sustainability management leader Kwon Dae-yeol (권대열) said the hackathon was meaningful as a case that maximised educational impact through cooperation among private companies, beyond being an example of effective public-private education cooperation between government and businesses. He stressed the company plans to expand hands-on projects and collaboration experiences and strengthen support for talent growth needed in the AI era and for the development of the developer ecosystem.