Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the educational program that aims to promote the participation of young people as agents of change for the progress of their communities, offering them training in emerging professions related to technology, graduated its second class in Panama, after a year of study, effort and learning.
250 young people, whose tuition was fully covered by Samsung Electronics, received their certifications in an act that was attended by the First Lady of the Republic and STEAM ambassador for the Amandrich, Yazmín Colón de Cortizo; the Minister of Education, Maruja Gorday de Villalobos; the Korean Ambassador, His Excellency Jeong Jinkyu; the ITSE Educational Manager Milena Gómez Cedeño; the President of Samsung Central America and the Caribbean, Sang Jik Lee, among other representatives of allied institutions and other Samsung executives.
Launched in 2019, the Samsung Innovation Campus Program offers a curriculum that covers practical skills in technological capability, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, and a foundation course in software, coding, and programming skills. In Latin America, the first courses of this program were implemented in 2020 in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. And since 2021, the program has expanded to the entire region, reaching more than 1,900 students in 14 countries, including Panama.
It should be noted that SIC is not only training, but also constitutes a gateway to the employability of the young participants and the digital transformation of the country, thanks to alliances with the Panamanian Chamber of Information Technology, Innovation and Telecommunications (Capatec) and the Higher Specialized Technical Institute (ITSE).
The president of Samsung Electronics, Sang Jik Lee, thanked the presence and support of the First Lady of the Republic, and reiterated Samsung’s purpose to continue contributing to technological development “with significant innovations, through connected, collaborative and sustainable experiences for our society and the planet.
For her part, María Fernanda Hernández, Samsung Electronics Corporate Citizenship Manager, highlighted the alliance made up of educational organizations, NGOs and other allies, for their commitment and excellence in executing this wonderful opportunity for the education and employability of young people in the region.
Challenges and opportunities
This second SIC course began in August of last year, and during six months the students received a total of 280 academic hours of Programming classes in Python and Artificial Intelligence.
Marvin Castillo, CEO of Fundesteam and partner in the implementation and training of the Samsung Innovation Campus since 2021, said that during this period they faced several challenges that they were happily able to overcome thanks to the joint work with different institutions from the public and private sectors.
“Today, the graduates of the Samsung Innovation Campus are Python back-end Software Developers and Data Analysts in that same programming language, and are able to develop software functions that facilitate or optimize specific processes within a company,” he asserted. .
Additionally, graduates are trained to filter and optimize databases, using classifiers with Machine Learning and Deep Learning, as well as create routines that process data autonomously. It should be noted that these 250 graduates are qualified as Data Scientists with an emphasis on Junior Artificial Intelligence, which enables them to develop software, focused on classifying audio text, images, and patterns through neural networks.
This promotion of the Samsung Innovation Campus will have opportunities to apply to the internship program of companies affiliated with CAPATEC, and other non-affiliated companies, which have also shown their interest in supporting these talented guys.
Innovative projects fair
Parallel to the graduation event, 14 teams made up of graduates had the opportunity to present their degree project in an area dedicated to the exhibition of their work (including the best 3 Hackathon teams) so that company executives and the general public can see the results of this certification materialized.
In this way, new talents are given visibility and real opportunities are promoted with companies to start the job placement of graduates.
For this year 2023, a new edition of SIC is already being planned for the youth of the country. Samsung also hopes to participate in the World Robotics Olympiad, as a sign of commitment to the growth and positioning of both nations through good practices in education.
