Enterprise Organization of National Program of Excellence in Software

SKKU Concludes ‘K-Softvation Showcase’ Industry–Academia Software Competition

Over 150 participants, including Vice President Seo Seong-il of the Korea Artificial Intelligence Software Industry Association (front row, fifth from left), attended the 2025 K-Softvation Showcase.

The “2025 K-Softvation Showcase” project competition, supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) under the University–Industry Cooperation Software Academy Program, was held on August 28 at the CHA Bio Complex in Pangyo. More than 150 participants—including students, corporate mentors, and distinguished guests—took part in the event.

The competition was hosted by Shinsegae I&C and organized by the K-Software Empowerment Bootcamp, led by Professor Kwangsoo Kim of Sungkyunkwan University. The Bootcamp is operated as a consortium among Sungkyunkwan University, Kyonggi University, and Inha University, with the aim of fostering highly skilled software professionals in the Gyeonggi region.

Distinguished attendees included Seo Seong-il (Vice President, Korea Artificial Intelligence Software Industry Association), Professor Kwangsoo Kim and Professor Jaesik Shin (Sungkyunkwan University), Kyungmu Maeng (Director, AI-Enterprise Collaboration Center), Professor Namgi Kim (Kyonggi University), Professor Jangwoo Kwon (Inha University), and Hyunseong Kim (Team Leader, Shinsegae I&C).

A total of 21 teams participated in domain-specific preliminaries held on August 20–21. Eight finalist teams—4 in Artificial Intelligence, 3 in Smart Factory, and 1 in Game—advanced to the final stage to present their results.

The competition also saw active participation from 15 major and mid-sized IT companies, including Shinsegae I&C, SK C&C, MDS Tech, KB Kookmin Bank, OBIGO, Revware, Uplexsoft, Infinitt Healthcare, Ian SIT, IY CNC, S-Tech, Happy Squirrel Group, Anygirin, Webcash, and Fasoo. 

The Korea Artificial Intelligence Software Industry Association further supported the event by providing hiring opportunities and awards.

Awards included the IITP President’s Prize (Grand Prize – 1 team, KRW 2 million; Excellence Prize – 1 team, KRW 1 million; Merit Prize – 3 teams, KRW 500,000 each) and the KSEB Program Director’s Prize (Encouragement Prize – 3 teams, KRW 300,000 each). 

The Grand Prize team will be given the opportunity to participate in GITEX in Dubai this October, gaining firsthand exposure to the global ICT market.

Professor Jaesik Shin of SKKU, the practical director of the program, remarked, “The K-Softvation Showcase has provided students with valuable opportunities to enhance their AI-based software capabilities and experience real-world development culture through collaboration with industry. We will continue to strengthen education and industry cooperation to nurture specialized software talent grounded in the regional industrial base.”

URL: https://www.etnews.com/20250829000152 (전자뉴스)