- SK Planet to partner with MSIP and KFICT to build a platform for creative education of young students
- Computer class instructors to be trained through T Academy
- Over 1,200 to be trained in coding and 3D printing in Seoul and six major metropolitan cities

Seoul, Korea, March 3, 2015—SK Planet will partner with Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) and The Korea Federation of ICT Organizations (KFICT) on a quest to promote the culture of software development.

SK Planet welcomed the two partners MSIP and KFICT to its headquarter in Pangyo Techno Valley today to sign an MOU for the Creative Talents Promotion Program.

The aim of the initiative is to grow a pool of instructors capable of teaching computer software skills. SK Planet will be responsible for the provision of training at T Academy, its education and training institute, while KFICT will supply the training material.

T Academy was founded in 2010 with the broad goal of fostering an ICT ecosystem by training participants to become competent ICT developers. The academy has contributed to strengthening the foundation for the creative economy, delivering not only programs targeting professional developers but also for high school students, such as Smart Teen App Challenge. The academy has also reached out to vulnerable groups in society by co-hosting with Seoul city government the Heemang App Course catering to the low-income individuals aged eighteen and above.   

In keeping with the MOU, SK Planet will deliver 40 hours of training at T Academy and the regional Creative Economy Innovation Centers located in Seoul and six metropolitan cities. The training program is designed to level up the skills of computer class instructors, and includes modules on 3D modeling software and coding.

MSIP estimates that over 1,200 instructors will be trained annually during the next three years, which will allow for over 200,000 grade school students to receive software skills training each year. The program is expected to help strengthen the groundwork for nurturing creative talents for the future.

SK Planet COO Suh Seong-won laid emphasis on the significance of T Academy as “Korea’s most prestigious ICT training institution with some 85,000 alumni trained in the past 5 years.” Looking towards the future Suh expressed his strong commitment to “having T Academy further contribute to Korea’s emergence as a software powerhouse by delivering software education to young students.”

Gang Sung-joo, Chief of ICT Convergence Policy Bureau of MSIP commented, “The partnership will lead to over 1,200 instructors trained annually for three consecutive years allowing for more than 200,000 primary school students every year to be trained in 3D modeling and coding. This is very much in line with the government’s initiative to train 10 million creative makers skilled in 3D printing.”

SK Planet plans to amplify the outcomes of the program by hosting the Creativity Development Competition annually in partnership with MSIP, KFICT, and Creative Software of Korea (CSK). Through such endeavors SK Planet hopes to encourage more students to actively engage in software education.