Kakao Impact Foundation said on Sept. 3 it will start the 2026 second-semester programme of its 'Tech for Impact Campus' for 355 university students at 13 universities nationwide.

Tech for Impact Campus is a regular university course in which students form teams with social innovation organisations to develop ways to solve social problems using AI and digital technology. It began in 2023 at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) School of Computing, and 482 students at nine universities took part through the first semester.

This semester is the first to expand participating regions and universities based on a memorandum of understanding the foundation signed in April with the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education. Education will be provided at a total of 18 universities this year, including those participating in the second semester.

In the second semester, Kyungwoon University, Dongguk University, Busan University of Foreign Studies, Seoul Women's University and Halla University will participate in connection with the Ministry of Education's AI basic education curriculum project. Classes will also be offered at four science and technology institutes - KAIST, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) - as well as at Gachon University, Korea University Sejong Campus, Seoul National University and the University of Seoul.

Participating majors have expanded beyond engineering to include medicine, social sciences and marketing. Students will carry out cross-disciplinary projects that combine AI and digital technology with knowledge from their majors.

Twenty-one social innovation organisations selected through a nationwide contest will be linked with universities by region. Students plan to visit sites during the semester to define local social issues and work with social innovation organisations and mentors who are Kakao employees to develop technology-based solutions that can be applied on the ground.

Ryu Seok-young (류석영), chair of Kakao Impact Foundation, said that in the AI era it is important not only to be able to use technology but also to have experience identifying and solving problems around oneself. He said the foundation will support university students so they can build experience solving problems in the areas where they live using AI and knowledge from their majors.