SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group jointly hosted a hackathon bringing together 115 young AI talents on the themes of supporting the digitally underserved and developing ESG services. As the third outcome of the collaboration that has continued since 2023, AI service ideas centered on social value competed.

SK Telecom announced on the 20th that it held the 'TECH4GOOD Hackathon' jointly with Hana Financial Group at the SKT Human Resources Development Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do on the 15th and 16th.

A total of 115 people participated in the competition, with 61 participants from the 9th cohort of SKT's youth AI education program 'FLY AI Challenger' and 54 participants from Hana Financial Group's 'Hana Youth Financial Talent Development Project' joining.

Participants competed with ideas in three areas: solutions for supporting the socially vulnerable and a sustainable society, AI services for the digitally excluded, and financial-telecommunications convergence ESG services.

SKT working-level developers participated as on-site mentors and provided technical advice.

The Grand Prize was awarded to the 'T1' team, which implemented customized AI fairy tales and discipline solutions based on children's experience data.

The top prize went to the 'Haemul Pajeon' team, which developed a service that tells fairy tales in the voices of parents with speech impediments, and the 'Sibiganji' team, which reconstructed stock price information using auditory and tactile cues for the visually impaired.

The winning teams were awarded a total of 10 million won in prize money, including 3 million won for the Grand Prize and 2 million won for the Top Excellence Prize.

Lee Dong-hyeok, a student in the Department of Global Media at Soongsil University and the winner of the grand prize, said, “Over the course of two days, I contemplated various ways to solve the difficulties faced by the socially vulnerable using AI,” adding, “This will serve as motivation for my future growth.”

SKT has been operating the 'FLY AI Challenger' program since 2022, and AI theory & middIt was announced that it supports the enhancement of youth AI capabilities through a diverse curriculum including practical training, ESG special lectures, developer talk concerts, and team building.

Eom Jong-hwan, Head of SKT’s Sustainable Management Office, said, “This hackathon was a time to confirm together the potential to build a better society with AI technology,” adding, “SKT will continue to strive to spread the social value created by AI.”