Our university has been selected for both the “Project for Nurturing Innovative Growth and Young Talent,” sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT and organized by the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion (IITP), and the “Big Data Young Talent Fostering Campus Project” hosted by the Korea Data Agency.

The Project for Nurturing Innovative Growth and Young Talent is one of the key government projects that provides college graduates-to-be and young job seekers with project-oriented software education for the top eight innovative growth industries. This is expected to relieve labor shortages in industry while addressing the youth unemployment problem by nurturing talent in preparation for the coming era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Appointed as project director, Prof. Joo Hae-jong of Computer Engineering at Dongkuk University will focus on fostering young talents in the big data field who will lead the new technology era with 2.4 billion won of full subsidies from the government over three years.

The curriculum will consist of a total of 900 hours (about six months) of “nurturing experts in intelligent software based on big data analysis,” including 450 hours of theory education in big data analysis and artificial intelligence algorithms required for corporate projects and 450 hours of hands-on training to experience projects in the field with corporate mentors.

Prof. Joo said, “While the youth unemployment problem is serious, 25 participating organizations and corporate partners are complaining about the lack of adequate workforce; it is imperative to solve this job mismatch issue.” He added, “This project is expected to provide trainees with the opportunity to develop project-oriented problem-solving skills sought after by companies as well as to meet new challenges to become the leaders of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Since 2012, Dongguk University has produced experts in the interdisciplinary field of “Big Data + Intelligent Software,” through the Executive Program on Big Data, the Humanities Program for Planning and Analyzing Big Data, BIC School for Nurturing Talent for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the Big Data Talent Fostering Leading University Program.

Prof. Joo Hae-jong has also won “The Big Data Young Talent Fostering Campus Project” and will receive 116 million won this year. Through this project, data science-based intelligent software courses will be established, which will provide participating students with a total of 300 hours of education.