LG Electronics said on the 14th it will host the Korea competition of the "2026 Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities (GITC)" to boost the AI proficiency of youths with disabilities and support their advancement to higher education and employment.
The competition will be held on the 15th-16th at Ramada by Wyndham Daejeon in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon. LG and the Ministry of Health and Welfare are the hosts, and LG Electronics and the Korea Disabled People's Rehabilitation Association are the organizers.
GITC began in 2011 to improve the IT skills of youths with disabilities and help them enter society. About 5,000 people from 41 countries have participated over the past 15 years. Last year's competition was held in Korea as an official side event of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Sixty youths with disabilities from 17 regions nationwide will participate in the Korea competition. Participants will compete in four events: "e-Combination," which assesses AI-based information search and document work skills; "e-Creative," an Autonomous Driving car programming event; "e-Content," which tests video production skills; and "e-Interactive," which uses AI to create games that respond to movements, voice, and facial expressions. Four finalists will compete at the world competition in Da Nang, Vietnam, for three days starting Oct. 27.
Before the competition, LG Electronics, together with the Korea Disabled People's Rehabilitation Association, provided participants with online and offline training in Generative AI use, video production, and block coding. Those advancing to the world competition will receive separate intensive training in September.
Yoon Dae-sik, executive vice president and head of external relations at LG Electronics, said, "We will support youths who have dreams and talent in the IT field so they can grow into future talent equipped with AI capabilities."