Ulsan Metropolitan City is partnering with a global big tech company to foster artificial intelligence (AI) talent and promote AI transformation (AX) across industries. The strategy is to establish an educational hub in the region, restructure the industrial landscape around AI, and advance toward becoming the “AI capital.”

Ulsan City announced on the 1st that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ulsan University, Ulsan College, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Upstage for “AI Talent Development and AX Acceleration.” This agreement is a follow-up measure that gives concrete shape to the “Ulsan-type AI Vision” established in February this year, with a focus on building a foundation for nurturing talent to support AI transformation across industry and the city as a whole.

Under the agreement, Ulsan University and Ulsan College will jointly develop and operate specialized curricula using AWS cloud and AI infrastructure. In addition to current students, they will run practical training programs for employees of local companies in parallel, with the aim of cultivating the universities as hubs for AI talent development.

The core initiative is the establishment of AWS training centers. Ulsan College will begin operations first in the second half of this year, and Ulsan University will also set up a separate center and commence operations in stages. Ulsan University plans to design programs linked to its AX graduate school course and put them into full-scale operation from next year.

For the curricula, AWS will provide global standard programs, and relevant certifications will be issued upon completion of the courses and successful passage of certification exams. Lectures will be delivered by faculty members at local universities who have completed AWS training. Approximately KRW 200 million will be invested in establishing the Ulsan College training center, funded through the RISE talent development project budget.

In addition to educational programs, AWS will support industrial implementation by providing research support, AI services, and AX guidelines. Upstage plans to support expanded AI utilization in the public sector and on industrial sites through education design that reflects industry demand, technological cooperation, and expert mentoring.

Ulsan City expects that, through this agreement, local universities will establish themselves as forward bases for cloud and AI workforce development, and students will be able to enhance their employment competitiveness through global certifications. The city also emphasized that companies will be able to secure talent ready for immediate deployment. In particular, it expects to secure in advance, from within the region, the personnel needed for the SK-AWS Ulsan AI Data Center, which is scheduled to start operations in 2027.

Leveraging this initiative, the city plans to upgrade its existing industrial structure—centered on automobiles, shipbuilding, and petrochemicals—on an AI basis and to fully push ahead with a transition from “industrial capital” to “AI capital.”

Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom stated, “It is highly meaningful that a cooperative model has been established involving a global big tech company, a domestic AI company, and local universities,” and added, “The city will provide active support so that local talent can grow into world-class experts and companies can gain new opportunities for a leap forward through AI.”

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