- The "2025 Asia Impact Hackathon" was co-hosted by Yonsei University
- Over 300 teams from 12 countries participated, with the "Global Times" group
- The event aimed to encourage young people to think creatively
Co-hosted by the Korean Policy Association and Yonsei University, extended to an international contest sponsored by Google, and competed with over 300 teams in 12 countries in Asia. The "2025 Asia Impact Hackathon," co-sponsored by the Korean Policy Association and Yonsei University and backed by Google, took place on the 9th at the Sinchon Cam of Yonsei University.
The hackathon aims to find innovative ideas of Asian youth who are interested in resolving social issues through artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology and encourage young people to think more seriously about public issues.
It was initially conducted last year as "Yonsei-KAPS Hackathon for Social Good" for local university students, and this year, it went international with over 300 teams from 12 Asian nations and evolved into "Asia Impact Hackathon."
The hackathon was organized by Yonsei University's Department of Public Administration and BK21 Education Research Group of the Department of Computational Science and Engineering together. Six teams in total - South Korea (2 teams), Vietnam (2 teams), Singapore (1 team), and Malaysia (1 team) - passed the final round after the regional qualifier and finals over two months from March to April. The final round was held in a hybrid form where both online and offline were combined.
Members gave technological solutions to public issues on different themes like AI translation, preventing cyber fraud, waste management, and detecting fake news.
The opening of the last round was welcomed by Hong Soon-man, director of BK21 Education Research Department of Yonsei University. Park Hyung-joon, chairman of Korean Policy Studies, and Lee Ji-seop, external cooperation general manager of platform and device division of Google Korea, made congratulatory speeches.
Shin Won-yong, professor of computational science and engineering at Yonsei University and chairman of the judging committee, explained, "We screened them based on the guidance of making a contribution to society through technology as the primary evaluation standard." Lee Yo-han, Managing Director of Platform and Devices for Google's Asia-Pacific region, had positive comments about the high execution and creativity of the participants.
The "Global Times" group from Seogyeong University, representing Korea, took away the grand prize in this hackathon. Their work was strongly appreciated for building an AI-assisted news summarization and perception platform that can make anyone obtain news and trending information in multiple global viewpoints freely without language problems.
"It was a significant location where Asian students from different backgrounds could reflect on one another's public issues and exchange solutions," Hong said. "The participants' creativity, execution skill, and earnest approach to public issues were greatly impressive."
At the same time, Yonsei University and Ajou University issued a joint statement on the 8th to enhance research power and innovate education in the AI area with Google. The key cooperation contents are promotion of AI joint task curriculum development and curriculum planning program to seek opportunities for practice and workshops.
They will also address policies and social effects in the AI sector for the secure development and growth of the international AI ecosystem.
