Kyungnam University has been selected as a participating institution for the 'Softwarecentered University Project' in 2023. Let's explore what Super-Giant AI and Softwarecentered University are.
What is a Super-Giant AI?
The Super-Giant AI is at the forefront of related initiatives. Government stated “Just as Korea has set an example for other countries as a leading nation in the era of informatization, we will do our best to become a model for the new digital order based on Super-Giant AI.” There are also opinions that it could be a way to revitalize local governments in danger of extinction. Super-Giant AI is the next generation of AI that evolves beyond the existing artificial intelligence (AI). It can perform comprehensive inference like humans by learning from large amounts of data. In other words, it is an improved form of AI with the ability to learn and judge in a manner very similar to the human brain by learning from hundreds of times more data than traditional AI. Representative examples of Super-Giant AI are Google's Switch Transformer and OpenAI's GPT-3. Within domestic companies, examples of Super-Giant AI include Naver's Hyper CLOVA, Kakao Brain's KoGPT, LG's EXAONE, and more. Countries that possess Super-Giant AI models number approximately four, including the United States, China, Israel, and Korea.
What is a Software-centered University?
The Software-centered University Project, initiated in 2015, is a project under the Ministry of Science and ICT aimed at nurturing specialized and interdisciplinary software talents. This project involves revising software education programs based on industry demand, expanding the capacity for software major students, and providing software convergence education for non-majors. Over the past eight years until last year, a total of 40,419 software major professionals and 27,136 interdisciplinary professionals have graduated from this project.
Software-centered Universities receive support for up to eight years. In addition to digital education within the university, they engage in various projects tailored to the characteristics of each university. These projects include supporting basic SW (software) education for elementary and middle school students, developing and sharing high-quality online educational content, and fostering collaboration between local companies and universities.
Selection Process and Vision of Kyungnam University’s Software-centered University Project
Lawmaker Choi Hyung-du's office announced that "In the 2023 selection results of the Ministry of Science and ICT's Software-centered University Project, Kyungnam University is the only university selected in the South Gyeongsang Province."
This allows our province, South Gyeongsang Province, to nurture core software talents essential for the digital industrial revolution. Kyungnam University's inclusion marked it among the 11 universities selected out of 36 general track universities (with an admission quota of more than 100 students and mandatory SW-related departments and graduate programs). The competition rate was 3.3 to 1.
Oh Yong-soo, Director of Software Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "As Software-centered universities establish themselves as the breeding grounds for SW talents leading the digital era through cooperation with regions and businesses, we will continue to expand support and contribute to addressing the industry's personnel shortages." Lawmaker Choi Hyung-du's office has maintained ongoing communication with the Ministry of Science and ICT to build Kyungnam University as a Software-centered university.
Lawmaker Choi secured the national budget for the 'Gyeongnam Global Game Center' to strategically support the fostering of the game industry, one of the key sectors in the fourth industrial revolution, during the budget review process last year and this year. In April of last year, along with Kyungnam University (KU), Changwon City, NCSOFT, and Gyeongnam Culture and Arts Foundation, a 'Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Promotion and Activation of the Game Industry in Changwon City' was signed. Accordingly, KU plans to apply Super-Giant AI to the manufacturing industry, the leading industry in South Gyeongsang Province, to lead the growth of new industries, and establish and operate a related research center to develop Changwon's Masanhappo district, where the university is located, into a global innovation hub for super AI industries. Furthermore, KU aims to activate the game industry and cultivate specialized professionals, and thus, plans to establish the first-ever game department in South Gyeongsang Province and recruit its first freshman class in 2024.
Kyungnam University is set to be fostered as a leading university in the field of smart manufacturing ICT and the convergence of AI and Software for future industries.
Lawmaker Choi Hyung-du stated, "The day is not far off when our local IT talents will surpass Steve Jobs and Elon Musk." And he added, "As KU stands tall as the sole Software-centered university in Gyeongnam and as the global game center is set to be established in Hanma Hall in KU by the end of this year, we will make efforts together to usher in the era of Masanhappo Detgori* Valley, which will rival Silicon Valley in the United States." Not only the government but also global companies like Samsung are requesting to initiate youth development programs in South Gyeongsang Province as well.
