A hackathon to select the champion who handles artificial intelligence (AI) best among public officials and employees of public institutions nationwide will be held.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) said on the 21st that they will hold the "2026 AI Champion Hackathon" at KINTEX in Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi, from Feb. 23 to 24 for one night and two days.
Participants in this competition will stage a tournament-style contest using the "Vibe Coding" method, which has AI write code in everyday natural language.
This hackathon will be conducted in two groups, depending on the participant's choice. Depending on their specialty, applicants can choose either the "technical track," based on AI and digital technology capabilities, or the "planning track," based on planning and problem definition.
An official at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) explained, "The purpose is to show that capability also lies in defining good problems in real administrative settings and planning services that people truly need."
Teams will submit an idea proposal to solve problems in the public field using AI, and after a document review, 12 technical teams and 12 planning teams, for a total of 24 teams, will advance to the finals.
On day one of the finals, 24 teams will implement services with Vibe Coding for four hours in each field, and the eight teams that survive will advance to the championship round. In the championship, the eight teams will again compete fiercely for four hours on the same problem to determine the final rankings.
Public officials wishing to participate should apply as a team of two, with one representative submitting the application form to the operations secretariat by email (databus@nia.or.kr).
Yoon Ho-jung, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), said, "AI-driven administrative innovation does not come from grand systems but begins with small challenges in which the public officials who know on-the-ground problems best create solutions directly with AI," adding, "We will lay the institutional foundation so that creative attempts in the civil service lead to tangible change."