Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Begins Recruiting Participants Today (June 1) for the Global Data Hackathon “DIVE 2026”

내용

Busan Metropolitan City, under Acting Mayor Kim Kyung-duk, announced that it will recruit participants for DIVE 2026, an event organized to revitalize the data industry ecosystem and strengthen its self-sustaining capacity, from today (June 1) through June 24.

DIVE (Data Innovation Venture Event) is a global data hackathon promoted by the city. Since its inaugural event in 2024, it has expanded in both participation and technological sophistication each year, establishing itself as a leading platform for data-driven problem-solving and industry collaboration.

Marking its third edition this year, the competition introduces a new collaborative consortium model in which public institutions and private companies jointly participate, focusing on practical problem-solving closely connected to industrial sites.

A hackathon is a practical competition in which participants solve assigned challenges within a limited time. The finals will be held over two days, from July 25 to July 26, at Exhibition Hall 2 of BEXCO. Participants from Korea and abroad will undertake the entire process, from discovering data-driven ideas to developing service applications.

The competition consists of thematic pre-event workshops, participant team-building sessions, intensive hackathon activities focused on data-driven problem-solving, service and application development, and expert mentoring.

In particular, this year’s event will be centered on presenter consortiums formed by public institutions and private companies. These consortiums will provide data that can be applied in industrial settings and offer practical challenges designed to strengthen participants’ problem-solving capabilities.

A total of nine consortiums will participate as challenge presenters: Busan Metropolitan City–Korea Credit Bureau (KCB), Busan Techno Park–Korea Data Agency (KODATA), Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation–inCHA, Busan Metropolitan Corporation–Sundosoft, Busan Infrastructure Corporation–WillChair, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology–3D Labs, Busan Transportation Corporation–Gymcarry, BNK Financial Group, and Korea Maritime and Ocean Training Institute–National Maritime Museum–Santa–DD Sam.

In addition, local small and medium-sized enterprises will participate not merely as sponsors or mentors but as challenge presenters alongside public institutions, providing participants with industry-linked data and mentoring opportunities.

Applications are open from today (June 1) through June 24 via the Busan Big Data Innovation Center website (https://www.dxchallenge.co.kr/dive-2026). University students, office workers, and members of the general public from Korea and abroad are all eligible to participate.

Teams may apply in groups of two to four members with diverse roles such as planning, design, and development. Additional evaluation points will be awarded to encourage greater participation by international applicants, including international students.

Through an online preliminary screening process, 80 teams will be selected to advance to the finals, with results scheduled to be announced at the end of June. Finalist teams will receive support through pre-event activities, including online orientation sessions, sample datasets provided by challenge presenters, and one-on-one feedback programs to help them produce high-quality outcomes.

Participants will compete for total prize money worth 10 million won. In the overall awards category, one Grand Prize team, one Excellence Award team, and one Merit Award team will each receive the Busan Metropolitan City Mayor’s Award. Outstanding teams selected by individual challenge presenters will also receive awards from the heads of the respective organizing institutions.

Kim Dong-hyun, Director General of the Future Technology Strategy Bureau, stated, “Through DIVE 2026, built on a collaborative consortium model involving both public and private sectors, we will accelerate the creation of data-driven innovative services and create momentum for Busan to emerge as a key hub city leading the data industry.”