KT and NIA Signed AI Education Partnership
The organizations have agreed to launch international AI certification programs in three countries by late 2026.
Updated on Sept. 22, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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KT and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand AI education and certification overseas. The partnership will bring the AI Certificate for Everyone (AICE) program to developing nations to build digital capabilities.
Why it matters
This initiative aims to address global digital divides by leveraging existing infrastructure and volunteer networks to provide standardized AI training. The move helps standardize data analysis skills for international participants without requiring prior coding expertise.
The pilot program will train 300 total participants, with 100 students in each country, and include 20 individuals taking the offline AICE exam per location. These efforts build upon an existing network of 64 Information Access Centers across 48 countries.
The players
KT
KT is a major South Korean telecommunications corporation that provides digital infrastructure and supports talent development.
National Information Society Agency
The National Information Society Agency is a South Korean government-affiliated organization that promotes national informatization policies and digital education.
World Friends Korea IT Volunteer Corps
The World Friends Korea IT Volunteer Corps is an organization that dispatches IT-skilled volunteers to countries globally to support technology adoption.
The details
Participants will undergo online VOD instruction before completing three days of intensive offline training. KT digital talent scholarship recipients are designated to serve as program instructors, utilizing the AICE framework that focuses on data analysis and AI principles.
Timeline
The WFK IT Volunteer Corps was launched in 2001.
The first Information Access Center was established in Cambodia in 2002.
NIA began operating the AICE exam for employee training in 2024.
The pilot AICE program begins in Vietnam in November 2026.
Pilot AICE programs begin in Sri Lanka and Georgia in December 2026.
The Tech Race
This collaboration extends the operational scope of the World Friends Korea IT Volunteer Corps by integrating AI-specific certification into their existing international volunteer deployment framework. The move signals a broader transition toward standardized, non-coding AI training as a prerequisite for global digital workforce participation.
Participants gain access to structured AI literacy training and certification that emphasizes practical data analysis without the barrier of coding knowledge. The program creates new opportunities for scholarship students to gain teaching experience while providing international learners with recognized digital skills.
The takeaway
This initiative demonstrates that fundamental AI literacy can be scaled across borders through existing volunteer networks rather than solely through digital platforms. By removing the coding requirement, the program makes AI skills accessible to a wider demographic of learners in emerging economies.
Further reading
For more on the development of standardized training frameworks, visit the Artificial Intelligence section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by 조선일보.
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